Have to do a clutch job on my 850. Looking at the procedures, I'm not sure it is that much more difficult--maybe even easier--to pull the engine/transaxle, as a unit, rather than drop the transaxle.

I've never liked being under a big, heavy transaxle--shaking and knocking and waiting for the thing to violently break free. I much prefer the slow, methodical lifting action.

Does anyone have any experience in both methodologies? Can you make a recommendation?

Never did it on an 850, but I have done it on a VW Golf. I removed the transaxle from below. The key is to have a solid support to hold drivetrain as on the Golf you must lower entire drivetrain an inch or so. Second is to have a like minded buddy there for the actual removal of the transaxle from the engine. With the third hand it wasn't that bad, transaxle wasn't as heavy as I thought, but the key is the third hand. Removing the entire drive train is not without it's minuses either. Draining coolant, disconnecting all hoses and electrical connectors, etc. Overall, I'd probably put it at a 6 of one, half a dozen of the other by the time your done. Good luck.