I have been playing around off road around my house to test her limits so when I am out in the middle of no where I will know what I can and can't do. So far I have been impressed. I have been up steep inclines and declines, through thick mud, around creek beds, and marshy wet lands. I have not gotten stuck or even hung up yet. I am very careful with clearance as we all know is this vehicles achiles heel. You can see from the pictures though that I have had her in some deep puddles and some pretty thick mud.
I am not planning on doing any suspension mods or lifts. I bought this vehicle for camping and kayaking but it is good to know that I can get dirty if I need to. All pictures were takin with a iphone 4g.

This is a pic of one of the trails I went through. I did not go around this or through the little dry spot up the middle. I went back and forth through the mud and puddles. They were about 6 to 7 inches deep.

Thats a sharp looking E!

Ahhh the bottoms off Summer Ave.
I have a 2wd model, so I'm not even going to risk it.

the cattle guard actually looks quite nice on your element.