Honda has once again outclassed its competition. With the 2010 Honda Element SC you get an SUV that is beyond practical, stylish and beautiful. Let’s start with the body.

Unlike most SUVs, Honda put the style back into sport. Not rounded or curvy, the Element is more like a box square, but that doesn’t mean boring.

It rides low to the ground so you get some road hugging going on and with 18″ alloy wheels you have plenty of grip. There’s lots of cargo space in the back too with the clamshell tailgate, a signature feature of the SC. The butterfly-style cargo doors also make it easy to load the back of the cab, a nice feature if you do a lot of backseat loading.

It’s not really fair to call the Element SC an SUV. It only seats 4, but there is plenty of cargo area so you should just call it a sport cargo vehicle. Maybe that’s what the SC stands for?

The engine is a 2.4-liter, 16-valve 4-cylinder engine that cranks out 166 horsepower at 5,800 rpm and 161 pound feet of torque at 4,000 rpm, perfect for delivering impressive fuel economy. The 5-speed automatic transmission with its 5.6 quart crankcase can deliver 20 mpg in the city and 25 on the highway.

Let’s go back to cargo space. The 2010 Honda Element SC brings 74.6 cubic feet of cargo space to the table. Behind the second row you get 25.1 cubic feet. But there’s also plenty of room for passengers with 103.6 cubic feet of passenger volume.

Standard interior features include:

• Rear ventilation windows
• Power door and tailgate locks
• Steering wheel mounted cruise and audio controls
• Overhead storage compartment
• Urethane-coated utility floor in the cargo area
• 12-volt power outlets in the front, center and rear
• Rear window defroster
• Rear seat heater ducts
• Cargo area storage bins and area hooks

And that’s just a start.

Standard exterior features include:

• Impressive side cargo doors
• Variable windshield wipers
• Roof-mounted antenna
• Remote entry system
• Green-tinted glass
• Privacy glass
• Multi-reflector halogen headlights
• And the impressive clamshell tailgate for easy loading

If that isn’t enough, Honda packed the Element with great safety features and audio as well. Seven speakers with a subwoofer is standard as well as satellite radio provided by XM and MP3/Windows Media Audio playback capability.

The 2010 Honda Element SC has all the style you’d expect of a modern sport vehicle and all the practicality and usefulness of a world-class cargo vehicle. You get utility and sport in one package in a classy vehicle that looks classic with all the best modern features.