mortimer
04-26-2008, 08:39 PM
Picked up my 2008 Modern Blue this week. Just a few thoughts:
1. Holy $hit. This car launches from a dig like none other. Quite literally made my wife nauseous the first time I did it. She was holding a milkshake I said "hang on to that" She said "OK" I said "No really I mean HANG ON" and slammed the gas. Damn! Fortunately there was no accidental spilling :)
2. Love the seats, comfy as hell, really hug you well in the twisties. Besides the wicked power it's my favorite part I think.
3. Funny how easy it is for me to speed in this car. The ride is so smooth at cruising speeds. I realized the other day I don't even pay attention to the numbers on the speedo -- with my old car, I'm just used to the needle being in the 11 o'clock position, that's 40, and the 1 o'clock position, that's 60. Little different with a 180mph speedo :)
4. Sirius Back Seat TV is positively the coolest thing on the planet. Anyone with kids can surely appreciate this. I haven't taken my 2yr old for a ride yet. I *have* to get someone to take a video of his face the first time I mash the gas when he's in the car.
5. Love the sound. Could be a bit louder I think, but not much. I see a mopar/corsa catback in my future :)
6. MyGig and uConnect are awesome. My only drag is uConnect won't download the address book from my phone automatically. Sucks having to setup all my contacts again.
7. Factory stereo is really nice. Before I picked it up I was bummed out for awhile that I didn't get the Kicker option. I was pleasantly surprised, plenty loud enough for me.
8. I like the attention I'm getting :) Only had it for a few days now, already two strangers have walked up & commented on my car, wondered what I've done to it, wow it looks nice, how much did you drop that, etc. I honestly think I may have the only one in town.
OK now for some gripes:
-1. Front end is pretty low. Maybe it just seems low since my old daily driver was a 4.5" lifed ZJ. I'm scared $hitless I'm going to end up crashing it on some steep driveway or curb in a parking lot. Again I'm coming from driving a lifted ZJ with 33x12.50 tires on it, by habit when I park somewhere I just pull up until it bumps the tires. So far so good tho :) I searched but couldn't find -- anyone done anything to modify the front air dam/bumper to make it a bit higher? Would hate to ruin the look tho.
-2. Voice command stuff is mediocre. Entering an address or something via voice prompts is a LONG LONG ARDUOUS task. Setting up phonebook entries/configuring uConnect is the same. I hate that it prompts you for everything, would rather just read the available optoins off the screen. Lots of waiting for the computer voice to finish talking before I can continue. It SUCKS that I can't do anything with nav except watch it while driving.
-3. Some clicking (not too loud) from the rear end. I noticed it when test driving before I signed the papers, not griding, just a clicking sound, kinda like a playing card in bicycle spokes sound. It's intermittent, only happens at slow speeds usually while decelerating. I mentioned to the salesperson when I picked up, he said the service manager noticed it too and said he checked the diff fluid and it was OK. It seems to be going away on its own I hear it less now, maybe some kindof weird breakin noise.
-4. Ride is a little rough. I love the handling through the twisties but would give a little bit of that up for a bit softer ride on the bumpy rodes I often travel. I hear the OEM tires are a big part of that tho, I'll definitely be looking for something else when these wear out.
-5. Already ran into my first warranty issue. I hope this is not fortelling the way things will go with this car. Went to the store today, tapped the keyfob twice to open the glass in the back, it wouldn't open. Tapped again, no open. Opened the whole hatch myself, loaded my stuff, and left -- but now the EVIC says my liftgate is open and won't go away. I opened & closed it a dozen times, both the glass and the whole hatch, jiggled the handles, still say "liftgate open" and dings at me all the time. Tried to find the sensor button or whatever tells it the gate is open but no luck. Any ideas before I take to the dealer?
-6. Wife doesn't like it so much. Wait, maybe that should be a good thing . . .
1. Holy $hit. This car launches from a dig like none other. Quite literally made my wife nauseous the first time I did it. She was holding a milkshake I said "hang on to that" She said "OK" I said "No really I mean HANG ON" and slammed the gas. Damn! Fortunately there was no accidental spilling :)
2. Love the seats, comfy as hell, really hug you well in the twisties. Besides the wicked power it's my favorite part I think.
3. Funny how easy it is for me to speed in this car. The ride is so smooth at cruising speeds. I realized the other day I don't even pay attention to the numbers on the speedo -- with my old car, I'm just used to the needle being in the 11 o'clock position, that's 40, and the 1 o'clock position, that's 60. Little different with a 180mph speedo :)
4. Sirius Back Seat TV is positively the coolest thing on the planet. Anyone with kids can surely appreciate this. I haven't taken my 2yr old for a ride yet. I *have* to get someone to take a video of his face the first time I mash the gas when he's in the car.
5. Love the sound. Could be a bit louder I think, but not much. I see a mopar/corsa catback in my future :)
6. MyGig and uConnect are awesome. My only drag is uConnect won't download the address book from my phone automatically. Sucks having to setup all my contacts again.
7. Factory stereo is really nice. Before I picked it up I was bummed out for awhile that I didn't get the Kicker option. I was pleasantly surprised, plenty loud enough for me.
8. I like the attention I'm getting :) Only had it for a few days now, already two strangers have walked up & commented on my car, wondered what I've done to it, wow it looks nice, how much did you drop that, etc. I honestly think I may have the only one in town.
OK now for some gripes:
-1. Front end is pretty low. Maybe it just seems low since my old daily driver was a 4.5" lifed ZJ. I'm scared $hitless I'm going to end up crashing it on some steep driveway or curb in a parking lot. Again I'm coming from driving a lifted ZJ with 33x12.50 tires on it, by habit when I park somewhere I just pull up until it bumps the tires. So far so good tho :) I searched but couldn't find -- anyone done anything to modify the front air dam/bumper to make it a bit higher? Would hate to ruin the look tho.
-2. Voice command stuff is mediocre. Entering an address or something via voice prompts is a LONG LONG ARDUOUS task. Setting up phonebook entries/configuring uConnect is the same. I hate that it prompts you for everything, would rather just read the available optoins off the screen. Lots of waiting for the computer voice to finish talking before I can continue. It SUCKS that I can't do anything with nav except watch it while driving.
-3. Some clicking (not too loud) from the rear end. I noticed it when test driving before I signed the papers, not griding, just a clicking sound, kinda like a playing card in bicycle spokes sound. It's intermittent, only happens at slow speeds usually while decelerating. I mentioned to the salesperson when I picked up, he said the service manager noticed it too and said he checked the diff fluid and it was OK. It seems to be going away on its own I hear it less now, maybe some kindof weird breakin noise.
-4. Ride is a little rough. I love the handling through the twisties but would give a little bit of that up for a bit softer ride on the bumpy rodes I often travel. I hear the OEM tires are a big part of that tho, I'll definitely be looking for something else when these wear out.
-5. Already ran into my first warranty issue. I hope this is not fortelling the way things will go with this car. Went to the store today, tapped the keyfob twice to open the glass in the back, it wouldn't open. Tapped again, no open. Opened the whole hatch myself, loaded my stuff, and left -- but now the EVIC says my liftgate is open and won't go away. I opened & closed it a dozen times, both the glass and the whole hatch, jiggled the handles, still say "liftgate open" and dings at me all the time. Tried to find the sensor button or whatever tells it the gate is open but no luck. Any ideas before I take to the dealer?
-6. Wife doesn't like it so much. Wait, maybe that should be a good thing . . .