New owner observations
 

Interesting things that struck me so far are:
0. This car is like my new girlfriend..i can't stop driving it or messing with stuff!

1. No Passenger side keylock: I like it.

2. Interior/Carpet-like material in the rear wheel wells: Is that supposed to come out? It feels like cardboard and doesn't feel like it was meant for the elements. I can see some east coast ice-slush tearing that stuff to shreads on the first snowy day. Why not plastic?

3. Lots of brakedust: normal but annoying...what brand of brake pad was it that Napa was selling that boasted very little brake dust?

4. HomeLink....make sure you don't use your keychain remote to program...I tried 3 different ones & none worked....Went to the original monster remote..worked like a champ.

5. the jack points are excellent...very solid/very stable/very logically placed

6. the little dual-"fingers" that make up the rear taillight function are so sweet.

7. roto accents in the front/back bumpers are a must...looks like its missing something without.

8. the greenish auto-dim on the nighttime rearview mirror is just like a auto-dimming welder's mask...when there no direct white light you see white lights & under direct white light assault you see green...

9. the parchment like paper in the owners manual really sucks, the index is not well located, & the scheduled maintenance stuff looked canned and not very complete....(comparing to mitsu's manuals as background), stopped at 60k...are our cars disposable after 60k??

10. the radio with all its nine speakers & bose head unit...although clear at low/mid volume, it doesn't really stand out toward upper volume levels..we can fix that! Also the radio had problems with picking up a mainstream san diego radio station 105.3. However it did very well picking up far away AM radio stations (ie 640) which are a problem for most other radios.
Also, on the 6-disc, you have to stop what you're listening to in order to change out one of the 5 other discs. And the wait time to do so is a lot longer than other players.

Please comment or add to what I have noticed to be strange or unusual...good or bad...thanks,
norats

11. The coin box is well hidden.

What coin bucket

The coin holder is to the left & below the Steering Wheel, near the DSC button.

While many folks will probably use it as a coin tray, it's not particularly well suited to that task, as I discovered when I deposited about a dollar's worth of change on the floor while trying to grab the last quarter out of it.

Due to its location, it's almost impossible to get both hands to it, and getting coins out with one hand is awkward if there's more than a couple of coins in there.

The new smaller cell phones actually fit in there quite nicely!

At first I thought the "coin tray" was the fuse panel. Odd placement for whatever it is.

-JiM

Anyone notice an odd noise from the passenger side of the car when the AC is on? Driving into work two days in a row now, I keep hearing this hissing sound periodically. I'm assuming it's the AC compressor cycling, but I'm no expert either.

It's a pretty noticeable sound, and loud enough that I can hear it over the radio.

Keep in mind that the engine kills the compressor under harder acceleration & then it fires back up when you let up..could that be what you're experiencing?

The hissing sound is likely coming from the evaporator - that's the part of the AC that's under the dash. When the compressor cycles off, the expansion valve has a tendency to hiss in many cars - totally normal.

Dale

What troubles me more is the location of the Hood and Trunk releases. They are way too low and far back. I practically have to get out of the car down on me knees to see/reach them.

Oh yeah, the front cup holders will defintely be what people will use for coin trays. Mark my word. I'll do a survey at the next gathering.

Noratz:

Why would you have to turn off the A/C during the mountian rally if the a/c cuts out on its own under hard acceleration?

After adding 3 posts to this thread, I think I've become a "post whore."

Ugh! It's true, this makes it 4!

Not for coins, but I certainly use them to hold my cell phone and PDA. Slide - Grab - Slide is much more convenient than Slide - Flip - Twist (torso) - Rummage - Flip - Slide.

Sunglass holder
 

Apropos of alternative receptacle usage, I've also taken to using the overhead "sunglasses" receptacle for my garage door remote. I almost never leave my sunnies in the car, because if it's bright enough to be wearing them for driving, it's bright enough to wear them while walking across the parking lot too.

Re: Sunglass holder
 

Why are you carrying your garage door remote? You should be able to program it into your homelink and use the button on the mirror to open your garage door.

Well, you certainly can't use them for drinks. You'd knock over the cups every time you shift. What a HORRIBLE place for cupholders. I use mine for storage - cell phone, change, etc...

Re: Re: Sunglass holder
 

Some garage door systems (like mine) aren't compatible with the homelink system. :(

Re: Re: Sunglass holder
 

Sure, if I had Homelink. But I opted for the Sport package. :D

Re: Re: Re: Sunglass holder
 

Sorry Eccles. I ignored your sig. I need to be more observant.

"The RX-8 switches off the A/C compressor for 5 seconds when throttle hits 65%"...so I just shut it off for more power in the 1%-64% range.