I've been reading the 'is a 4-cylinder engine big enough' threads for a while, and aside from the fact that my Element manages to get up (and down) mountains with a load of gear and with no problems, I am amazed so many people think this is an issue.
Around most of Europe, partly due to fuel costs, 4-cylinder engines are far more common than V6s. It doesn't prevent people driving up and down the Alps for example, usually with less than 2.4L. And it's not that europeans drive slowly, as anyone who's tried the autostradas or autobahns in Italy and Germany (respectively) or motorways in the UK would atest.
My last car in the UK was a 1.6L 4 cylinder which used to carry me around at speeds up to 85mph (the limit there is 70) including driving in the Welsh mountains and Scottish highlands with no sense of inadequate power, poor acceleration or that I needed something bigger.
It seems to me we're used to V6s and beyond because cars here have traditionally been big and heavy needing more brute force to move them round at a reasonable pace. The E isn't big, and it's not particularly heavy, and I find the 160hp 4-cylinder engine to be more than adequate.