re: How were German armored divisions so much more elite than their US counterparts

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For a country of that size fighting wars on two fronts and still having a shot at winning is pretty remarkable. From a strictly military standpoint, yes, I'd consider them elite.

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They certainly outclassed the Soviets, who were eventually able to wear them down with sheer industrial capacity and manpower.

Take a look sometime at what assets they were throwing against the Americans and British in the drive to Germany. They still severely outnumbered us and had huge advantages in manpower, armor, artillery, etc on the Western front and yet they Brits and Americans were able to break them within a year of landing in France.

Do not forget that the United States was fighting an entire other war at this time (and the population disparity between Germany and the US wasn't nearly as large then as it is now).

Within a year of reaching contact with the Wehrmacht, the American and British armies were, both, man-for-man every bit the equal that the Germans were.

We never had more than 8% or so of our entire active force at the time on ground in the ETO. We could have wrecked shop if push really came to shove.