well first off the craplement....er....element (hehe sorry...I do NOT like the look of the element at all. It looks ugly to me) has a 2.4L engine, I believe. The power potential is more but...ugh...I would never buy one myself. Second, the stock power of the xB is 108 HP w/ 105 ft/lbs of torque out of a 1.5L engien (1NZ-FE again same engine that's in the ECHO) but also consider that the xB is going to have a MUCH larger after market selection than the element has. The element right now doesn't have close to the options that the xB will have available to it on launch. Plus the xB has already got some big names already behind it, like GReddy (in case you couldn't see my avatar
), Motegi, and Blitz (heck yeah!). So my honest opinion, I'd stick with the xB based on after market prevelence, looks, space efficiency, and price. Oh and yes it's cheaper than the Element is...the cheapest element, without options, is 16100 and the most expensive, again before options, is 20850. Even w/ no options the xB at it's lower price has more options already installed (AC, keyless entry, power everything, etc.) at no extra cost. Plus it looks a whole lot better IMO.
Anywho, so simply put, the element has more power and potential BUT has nowhere near the amount of "hop up" parts that the xB will have available to it. LOL ok...me shut up now...me go back to hovel...