Berni

my 98 audi A4 was not noisy

MTLbroker

Things that don't cost a lot but could make the 8 even better:

1] Headlights that turn off when ignition is off
2] 2 level heat setting for seats
3] Seat memory
4] Oil level indicator (like a fuel level indicator)
5] Better location for parking brake (ever see the camouflaged parking brake from the Saab 9-3?)
6] Lighted switches for door lock, trunk release, sunroof controls
7] 120v power outlet

At the car's bargain basement price, I'd be willing to pay a little extra for thes things, no?

8zoom

Try Rain-X Anti Fog (meant for interior surfaces, different from the stuff you put on exterior glass) mixed 10:1 with de-ionized water. Best glass cleaner I've found, cuts through the polyvinyl haze easily.

liqiud

I have the same problem...it drives my gf nuts...we drive away from the parking lights, and she has to remind me to turn on my lights...

rx8cited

This does not work for you? "Lights-On Reminder: If lights are on and the key is removed from the ignition switch, a beep will
sound when the driver’s door is opened."

rx8cited

Yanje

My 3 concerns:

-Fuel/Milege (however, it is improving luckily)
-Difficulty of passengers getting in and out of the rear seats when car is parked
-I keep getting annoying noises from something near the passenger side that i can't figure out whats causing it (so rather than fixing it, i ignore it by turning music up)

rx8cited

I can't imagine what it's like when the car is moving? :D

c2k4-8

1) Passenger window needs AUTO down also!
2) I wish the headlights would come on when I unlock the car with the key fob, alot of cars do this for safety, and so you can see in dark places.
3) Oil dipstick is hard to reach
4) Fuel cap needs holder, I hate having it hang up against the car.

gusmahler

That's a different problem (lights on when car is off). We are talking about the opposite problem (car on and moving, headlights off). Because the dashboard is lit at night, it may take some getting used to for turning the lights on at night.

rx8cited

I misread the problem. Thanks for that clarification.

The dashboard does light a different color for lights off vs lights on right (unless you have the dashboard light dimmer switch clicked to daytime position)?

I suppose the point is the dashboard is not dark, so it's easy to forget that the exterior lights are not on.

rx8cited

canaryrx8

iTrader: (3)

I am utterly disappointed that I can't find anything to bitch about on this car, and i even have the auto!!! I'm also disappointed that I have to leave the car from time to time upon arriving at my destination, too bad I can't find a job (other than courier or pizza dude) that pays me for driving my 8, (or any 8 in general)...sigh.....so disappointed.......lol

Butch Brown

I love the design all except the seat heater switches. Shift gears and end up with a hot seat, very poor placement of switches.

gusmahler

* I picked up clothes from the cleaner today. There is no place to hang the clothes in the back seat. I have to hang it on the handle over the passenger seat.

* The navigation system isn't very bright when the lights are on. I probably turn my lights on sooner than most, but if I turn the lights on before it is very dark, the Nav screen is nearly illegible.

bobclevenger

But any brighter would be too bright when it's dark, and you can always set your nav display to use the "daylight" mode even when the lights are on.
Personally I would like a brighter mode for daytime use when wearing sunglasses (on both nav screen and instruments). I'm always looking over my shades to read small details like time/distance remaining.
OK, so my eyes are as old as the rest of me.

gusmahler

Ah, I didn't know that. How do I go about doing that? I know where you can select the color of the screen in day and night, but I must have overlooked any brightness setting.

bobclevenger

My mistake. There's no brightness setting. I just thought the daylight colour scheme would be bright enough.

nosubstitutec4s

you know, with the original little things thread being stickied, maybe this should go up there too. just a thought. if they're gonna see the positive, they should see the negative too.

sandia8

The red rx-8 light logo,

Hey I already know I'm driving a 7 whoops I mean a 8

kn34

[QUOTE]''The rx-8 is a bit louder when the sunroof is open than the other cars I've driven. For example, with a bmw it seems to have a little thing that pops up, which you can't even notice to dampen the noise a bit.''
why does it seem that everyone that owns a 8 they previously owned a bmw. then they come to the forum and complain how the 8 is bad. my opinioin why did you even switch

bobclevenger

Well, I owned a Mercedes before trading it in on my 8 and I think the 8 is a better car in almost all respects. Yes, there are some small things that the MB did better, but not many.

spork

So far, the only thing that would make me rethink getting the 8 would be the mileage. But even with the bad mileage I'm still really happy with the car. But the things I would change if I could (in order of importance)

1) mileage. 19/24 would be nice. I think I'm getting 15-16 now.

2) Having to worry about extra oil. The less non fun "work" you have to do is always better especially for a lazy *** like me.

3) homelink (on the GT). god it frustrates me. i've set homelinks on a lexus and 2 hondas. they were super easy to set up. i try with the 8 and one of the steps is "if it has a steady light you're done. if it blinks then has a steady light you must do these additional steps since it's a rolling signal". These extra steps include hitting the "smart" button on your garage opener installed in your garage. The problem here? I'm not sure if my garage opener has a smart button. also I need to set up the security gate one which I'm almost positive doesn't have a smart button. Both the garage and the security gate give me the blinks then steady. So basically I can't use it right now. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm not. And the honda ones and the lexus worked just fine when I set those.

4) Navigation software. It tells me my parents live on a "street" when they've always lived on an "avenue" and the honda navigation agrees, the street sign says avenue, mapquest and yahoo! maps say it's an avenue. Also I went to a family friend's place recently. It failed to find the address.

5) Trunk opening - would be nice if it were bigger. I tried loading a laundry basket in there. It didn't fit thru the opening though it would've fit if I could've gotten it in there. No biggie though, I just put it in the back seat.

6) Air conditioner. Be nice if it was consistently very cold. It's plenty good enuf to serve it's purpose - just it could be better.

RobDickinson

Theres a clip in the filler cap area for the cable to go behind! Have another look...

Raevik

A few things:

1) The fragility of the center console sliding lid. It sits perfectly in position for my elbow to rest when my hand is on the shifter. However, the slider clip is SO fragile that about 5-7 lbs of downward force will snap it.

2) The speakers. The installation is fairly poor and they rattle when Lars goes nuts on his Bass drums. I have the Bose. (Note: installed sub and turned down OEM stereo bass..problem solved. Reality is, I shouldn't have had to...dealer was no help)

3) Effect of PCM flashes on performance. Yes, you read that right. One of the things that turned me on to the RX8 was it's smooth as silk acceleration. After the flashes (J, then M) the power seems to come in waves at specific RPM ranges. Around 6k rpm, the power falls off and acceleration is mostly flat.

4) Sun Visors. Intriguing idea, but ultimately pretty silly.

5) Of course, fuel economy. Posted 18/24. I shift between 3k and 4k rpm in city driving and routinely get 16-17mpg, 19-20 with some highway cruising at 75ish.

6) Dipstick is buried. Seems stupid since routine oil checks are required for good maintenance.

7) HP benchmarking. It seems silly to design a car that can't be benchmarked easily according to industry defacto standards. Independant verification of performance is a good thing to make customers happy.

gusmahler

It's not just that the dipstick is buried. It's also the color of the dipstick--I can't see the oil line on it! I've never had trouble finding the oil level on any other dipstick I've used.

Another annoying thing, the door can't stay open. Whenever I open the door when I'm inside the car, it closes back on me. Every single time.

I did find out that a previous annoyance that I posted had a solution. I thought, when the lights are on, the NAV system is unusable in daylight. That is still true, but by the dashboard brightness **** has a daylight setting where the dash does not turn orange--and the NAV is the traditional brightness. Very visible during daylight.

reddragonmd

thank god im not the only one. I have to re dip the oil stick 2 or 3 times just to make sure i know what the oil level is. Ill pull it out, whipe it off, slide it all the way down, pull it back up, and there is an oil line, then smears of oil up higher than the line, i guess from oil inside the tube, and the color of the stick makes it ungodly hard to tell at night.

To me, this is the most dissapointing thing. I can get past the lagging performence, or sucky a/c system that is loud, leeches to much power(to me anyway), and never works right. But it is beyond me why someone would make a car that knowingly burns more than average oil in order to function properly, tells you you must check the oil every other fill up, then does not seem to try to make that maintenence easier on the buyer.

I.e. the engine cover needing to be removed to check oil level. (to anyone who says they do not, i dont see how u do it without being a contortionist. The dip stick being so far down to reach. The color of the dip stick isnt easy to clearly see the level of oil in anything but direct sunlight. The oil pressure gauge isnt even functional, its a dummy gauge. And if your oil pressure dropped dramatically, you wouldnt even know it for several moments, which by then could damage your engine if you continue to drive. And not putting in something as simple as an oil level gauge. I know alot of people scoffed at this idea when i made a seperate post, but to me it would be so helpful. Not everyones car burns oil the same, and not everyone always has a convienient time to check the oil. An oil level gauge could at least give you an indication of when your getting low. :o Its just those things that frustrate me, really.