I drove my new Crossfire back from dealer in Alabama to my home in Las Vegas. Having taken a long trip and now some shorter DD type stuff, I've noticed a few things and some questions are raised:

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

7. Everybody is right about the cupholder.

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.

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

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

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?

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

Don't take the criticisms too seriously, they're truly minor. I love this car and look forward to many many years (especially considering the lifetime powertrain warranty) of pleasant use.

 

Hi and welcome!
#2 - didn't have the navi radio but the stock unit went bye bye in favor of one that is I-Pod friendly a while ago.
#3 - The umbrella hooks are also a good place to hang your hat too.
#5 - Gotta agree with you here, mine is showing wear at just over 12000 miles. I may have it re dyed.
#9 - Agree!
#10 - I'd generally agree with you on this but I'm going to pick up my car in about an hour from the body shop from when I didn't use the mirrors properly and me and someone else backed up at the same time, OUCH!
Enjoy your Crossfire.

 

1. No.
2. 04s didn't have nav. My 3 year old Garmin will have me driving in the woods from time to time.
3. Don't you use an umbrella to shield yourself from the sun?
8. There have been a number of discussions about whether this thing is a sports car or not. I always thought it was because it handles like one.
9. Woulda thought your friends XLR would be comfortable. Cadillac seats are built with old guys in mind.
10. Whenever I hear someone say they can't see out the back when driving I always want to send them to the "how to adjust your mirrors" thread.
11. The plastic crate that I use to hold my cleaning supplies spends its life bonking about the back end like some kind of berserk hocky puck. Be nice to tie it down.

Edit:
Hey Patpur, Just read your comment. Didn't want to imply backing up is not an issue. I deal with that by never putting myself in a position where I have to back up.

 

I hate to burst everyone's bubble but this car does not handle like it is on rails. Yes it is good and I love it. I am happy with the power and handling... but I have felt better handling! My 2000 Camaro handled 10 times better. You could cut the wheel doing 65 MPH and you would fly out the side window but the car was still on the ground turning with full control! I think it was because the engine was behind the front axle. I felt more in control with that car then I do with the Crossfire.

Not knocking my Crossfire.... I love it and miss it when I am driving a different car. Just giving an honest opinion.

 

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

Didnt know it was there. I'll look when I get home.

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.

Tell me about it! Still have fun with it, tho! Love the British female voice!

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.

NEVER thought of THAT! Gonna carry a bag there for that now that cool weather is here and the top is gonna stay up a LOT!

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.

Thanks for saying that. THis is my first performance/sports car and I sure am impressed. Ignorant but impressed.

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

Me too.... but again, never been in one before.

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

Or at least for those who put the top down!

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

I get that too! NEVER thought I could impress a kid. But honestly, seems like women 30 to 75 are more impressed by the Roadster that other groups are.

 

1-12: Agree. 10-But I still prefer to park in a "pull through" spot rather than trust backing up.

 

Based on my track time with this car, I respectfully disagree with you. If I can chase down and catch full on Spec Miata racers on R-compound tires in my little Limited Roadster on the stock Conti tires and scare the bejeepers out of a dude in a 911, then this car flat out handles. Looking at various test reports this thing is also dynamite in slalom runs, which are a far better indicator of overall handling than mere skidpad stick (although the Crossfire does quite nicely there, too). Edmunds.com put a 4th Gen Camaro SS through the slalom at 62.9mph but they got 65.0mph out of the Crossfire (non SRT6 by the way) and called it "among the best we've ever tested, faster even than a Boxster S". Motor Trend got similar numbers - 63mph for the 4th Gen SS and 65.4 for the Crossfire. Road & Track lists the Crossfire as faster through their slalom than handling icons like the Honda/Acura NSX and Mazda MX-5 Miata and just shy of the Lamborghini Gallardo. That's some pretty heady company.

 

The problem is you are reading and not actually driving. You have never driven a Camaro so you haven't felt the handling. I doubt the Crossfire is just shy of a Lambo.

 

Wow.... that is pretty presumptuous of you to say Mike has never driven a Camaro. As you don't list your age in your profile, I cannot judge your level of experience, but Mike might surprise you by his. On the other hand, maybe you know quite a bit about Mike and the cars he has or has not driven. Interesting!

 

LOL!!! Thanks Mr. Morgan! Yes, I've driven Camaros and I've owned Camaros. As a reference point I've also been fortunate enough to drive a handful of Porsches, a couple of Ferraris, a Cobra, a Viper or three and a handful of Corvettes - mostly the current C6 variants. And a few of those have even been on road courses! And by "road course" I don't mean a Playstation.

I can assure you that "handling" is not judged by a single throw of the steering wheel. Transition, stability, feel, rotation, balance through a variety of corners says so much more than a mere skidpad or flick of the wrist. Rare is the glass smooth, constant radius corner.

No, I'll put the "handling" of a Crossfire up against a 4th gen any day.

And much as you don't want to believe it, the Crossfire is indeed nearly as quick through the slalom as a Gallardo - certainly much closer to the Gallardo than the 4th gen is to the Crossfire. But I suspect what you'll really hate is that the Crossfire is actually quicker than a Murcielago in the same discipline. Then again, the Murcie is not known for being the greatest handling of the supercars - it's much too heavy.

EDIT TO ADD: I'm actually surprised that you're more put off by the Crossfire being "close" to the Gallardo rather than by it being faster than the NSX! That car is an icon of balanced handling so for the little ******* child of Mercedes and Chrysler to outrun it is truly astonishing!

 

i too agree with vegaslegal on his assertions. 6-i don't know about that one. 7-i'm ok with. 8-this cars on rails...it's like my go kart when i was a kid. 10-i'm careful. but then i'm careful. 12-i'm in a small town so its a statement by virtue of rarity alone.

 

I must have had a special Camaro because I remember taking that thing around turns and I never felt a car stick to the ground like that before. A family member is a Nascar racer and I let him drive it after I first bought the car... he was cutting the wheel back and forth around 50 MPH and was impressed. He thought it was amazing. I sold it and bought the Crossfire.... I could tell from the moment I started driving the Crossfire it did not handle as well as my Camaro but made up for it in other areas. At 100+ MPH my Crossfire was much more fun to drive.

 

Yes on #1 -- the strap is for a child safety seat.

My 2 1/2 year old loves to ride "Daddy's red sports car," and we have a car seat for him that uses the LATCH system. There are two hooks inside the void between the seat-bottom and seat-back for hooking the car seat, and there's one on the back of the seat for the third LATCH anchor.

The strap is to keep the long belt for that third anchor from sliding off the top of the seat in either direction.

Please note: always turn off the airbag before putting a car seat in there!

I used to have an FJ Cruiser with a scale built into the passenger seat that would disarm the airbag if a certain weight range was detected. Unfortunately, anything left in the passenger seat (12 pack of Pepsi, briefcase) would set off the seatbelt warning beep. Annoying!

 

Uncle Al - Not to worry, I was in a crowded dealers lot dropping off my wife's car that had caught on fire. The guy from Enterprise told me I needed to move my car which was parked in the lane because there were no open parking spaces. I assumed he meant the one open space which was behind me so he get's in the rental and starts to back out to the right of me and I'm trying to do a 360 check as cars could come from all directions. I was more concerned with what was behind me, not on the side of me. Well I didn't see him and he didn't see me. Crunch. The weird thing was once I got it home there was only a small, maybe 1 inch by 2 inch area where the paint was scuffed off my bumper. I was lucky, no body work, no dents, just a scuffed bumper. Got it back yesterday and its perfect again.....I learned my lesson.
Pat

 

Maybe not special, it may just have had an upgraded suspension or some sticky Z-Rated tires. You did not mention what year the Camero was. I have owned everything from a 1972 Camero to a 1998 Firebird. The handling characteristics of the varying years differ greatly. Was the Camero a V-6... V-8..... RS.... SS.... etc. An SS would have a much stiffer suspension than a regular Camero. In any case, to compare a Camero with its weight and wheelbase to a Crossfire is probably not something that would be easy to quantify. The Crossfire has a shorter wheelbase, is lighter, and has a much lower center of gravity. In the proper hands, I would guarantee that you could do things with a Crossfire that you would not even dare to do with a Camero.

Ohhh..... and don't dangle a carrot out there and not finish it off. Who is the NASCAR driver that is your family member? I am a big NASCAR fan of about 32 years.

Have fun with your XF.

 

Nope, but I recall that is there to serve as a garment hook.

It seems like the nav works a bit better in the NE. I've had good luck with the nav.

Great idea! I have an umbrella in the hatch actually and two smaller ones in the compartment between the seats.

I have over 15k on my car and it seems to be doing ok, but I'm careful with how I enter the car.

The Z should be faster than a regular crossfire regardless of how it's driven. 287 hp (or higher depending on the year) trumps 215 every time.

I seem to be the only person who likes the cupholder!

I'm going to have to disagree with you here. Your own personal experience is with much older cars and I really doubt you pushed your friends cars. The crossfire is a decent compromise in ride and handling, but it's not perfect. It's pretty harsh over bumps, both due to the profile of the tire and suspension setting. And going through turns fairly quickly there's just too much movement in the suspension or tires, so I find stability to be an issue. I really hope it's a tire issue though, as that's an easy fix. I just haven't experienced a car that has as much movement through a turn as the crossfire. Having spent a little time behind the wheel of a lowly 06 boxster, I can tell you it's far more communicative than the crossfire and more fun to drive. I find it hard to believe that a 911 handles worse than a boxster, and by default, a crossfire.

On the right roads, I would agree with you. It's a pretty good daily driver.

Except when you are trying to back out of tight parking spaces. It's very easy for a person or car to hide in the C pillar.

I thought we had a becker HU? I agree with the tie down comments though.

 

1. Hang shirts/pants/suit jacket

5. Worried about this as well but use Lexol cleaner and conditioner to keep my leather nice.

7. It has a wow factor from EVERYONE who tries it.. I personally like it!

11. Use Cargo Magic available through your Chrysler dealer esp fitted for our coupes

 

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!