I just came back from a Honda dealer and looked at the Element. I am considering the vehicle for my wife, we both love manual transmissions but I am very dissapointed that if I want 4 wheel drive I have to get an automatic

I read reports that the auto is sluggish so I'm considering front wheel drive so that I could get the 5 speed:fawk:

What do you guys think of my trade off??

 

Not a biggie. 4 wheel drive is next to useless unless you plan on doing a lot of riding in the mud or snow. Even then, four wheel drive is only going to be usefull when you're going uphill.

Not a big deal IMHO.

 

The element is a real-time AWD. What this means is it is primarily a FWD car until one of the front tires slip, then it transfers power to one of the rear wheels. That means that 90% of the time or more, it will only be a FWD car. My girlfriend and I were looking at it as well, and really besides that, the only difference between a 2WD EX and AWD EX is the skylight in the back. I told her it wasn't worth an extra $3k.

BTW, if you are deadset on an AWD 5 spd it's coming out in the fall.