1. Has anyone ever used the strap on the back of the passenger seat for anything?

I have used it many times to hang clothes when I travel. Not intended to strap a childs seat and would not hold. There are two metal loops for that on the rear of the seat cushion.

2. If you are in a community that has grown at all since 2004, a lot of time is spent driving "off road" according to the navigation system.

There has been a lot of building since the CD was written in '03. I wound up getting a good portable. I travel a lot for work and a portable makes more sense. It is also easier and less expensive to keep up to date.

3. The umbrella hooks would be useless in the desert, but on a long trip they are perfect for hanging a grocery bag for trash.

Lots of things to hang.

4. The engineers on the car spent far too much time finding ways to hide connections (interior and exterior), and functionally nothing can be disassembled.

I agree 100%. Once pulled out the plastic tabs that hold everything together tend to break when trying to replace them. On the other hand all the detail makes the fit and finish look better.

5. Unless I'm very careful, the driver's seat outside bolster will wear out in less than 10k.

I have the Alcantara inserts on my SRT6. After 20K they are starting to "pill" on the edges.

6. It is very easy to take the engine to the rpm cut off (manual trans), and this makes one look silly against the 350z also departing when the light turns green.

Not an issue for me.

7. Everybody is right about the cupholder.

My cupholder went Viagara within a year. A thin strip of velcro holds it shut now. I have found it useful in most cases, but would have liked a better solution.

8. Many are wrong about the suspension/steering--this thing is truly on rails and has the best damper/spring/travel mix I have ever driven. As a former/current owner of other sports cars (Sunbeam Tiger, Jensen Healey, Fiat X 1/9, '92 Vette) and driver of friend's cars ('07 Carrera, '08 Vette, 350z, XLR), there are no flies on the Crossfire at any handling level.

I agree with Mike in Orange on this. I have taken the car to Willow Springs and the California Speedway's interior road course and embarrased race prepped cars. Too many to list. It does corner like on rails. This comes from many years experience with a lot of so called sports cars.

9. Most comfortable 2 seater I've ever driven.

It ranks up there, but the doors could be lower to more comfortably rest your left arm while driving.

10. There is no "blind spot" for those who know how to use mirrors (coupe).

The blind spot is not as much of a problem for me as backing up. It is near impossible to judge where you are in relation to other cars or obstacles. I had fits parallel parking. That has been solved with an improved head unit with a pop up 7" screen and backup camera. Parallel parking is a cinch now.

11. How hard would it have been to install a few tie-downs in the back of the trunk, and is there any use for the pins available at the front of the trunk under the bulkhead lip? For that matter, how hard would it have been to go up one level on the Becker head unit?

One of my first purchases was a fold up cargo carrier. They work great to hold things that like to roll around. If it has velcro on the bottom it won't slide at all.

12. Until I got this car I never heard a 16-20 year old use the word "sexy."

This cars looks appeals to children of all ages (3-93). Most often heard quote from the younger ones is "....cool, when I grow up, I want you to buy me one of those!"

Gotta love it!