#2 - I went with the Duralast Gold from Autozone, not a true ceramic I believe but quit dustless and they have a lifetime warranty.

#3 - Try a piece of tape wrapped around the trunk lid catch catch bar.

#4 - As stated before these cars like to be driven. I've driven sticks for most of my life and it still took me awhile to get the hang of this tranny. One thing I've noticed is they shift better right around 4K RPM. Even if your just easing up to speed or hitting it hard off the light 4K seems to be the sweet spot on these cars.

#5 - I went with the Alpine iDA X-100 and X-100M on our two Xfires. It's a very easy install with the supplied harness adapter. I used the "M" on the wifes Roadster for two reasons-1) the color of the face closely matches the dash and 2) the "M" stands foe marine use-means it's been designed for boats and such-water resistant to some degree (won't say waterproof though). Also, it handles the i-Pods through the face controls like the circle does on the pod.

BTW-welcome to the Forum