Originally Posted by The Car Connection

Whereas I question, in this day and age, the wisdom of offering side airbags and stability control as mere options, it’s hard to know what to make of other interior features that come as standard equipment. It is, perhaps, a commentary on our times to note that a rear-seat DVD theater, with wireless headphones, is installed in every Relay minivan regardless of price.

Moreover, this DVD player is part of a clever powered-rail system that runs down the center of the cabin. Saturn purveys a variety of optional storage boxes, PDA or cellphone holsters and sunglass bins that clip in and out of these rails. But the masterpiece by far is the optional (and tongue-tying) “Mobile Digital Media Powered by PhatNoise” system that also docks into the rails.
For anybody over 25, a little tutorial is in order: Relay’s PhatNoise option is basically a 40-gigabyte hard drive library that networks into the minivan’s audio and DVD circuits. It’s capable of storing up to 10,000 songs in various digital formats or 40 MPEG movies. Many video games are also compatible, as are audio books transferred from a PC. The PhatNoise unit features “voice browsing” that identifies individual songs aurally by title and artist, which the driver can then select via steering wheel controls. Oh, and don’t forget the XM Satellite Radio option. Then, if that’s not enough, two different “entertainment sources” can be played simultaneously to pacify different media constituencies during road trips.

Originally Posted by Roadstergal

I still don't know why you're looking to tow an RX-8. Get an RX-8 if you want something you can drive to events and toss your family in. If you're towing, get a Radical or Atom or Miata. If your family is in the minivan already, you don't need a fun car that fits them, and you could toss one of those on a dolly and tow it with a minivan.

Originally Posted by bonoboy

but does he want to put an extra 20,000+ miles a year on the RX-8 from driving to events?

Originally Posted by clyde

It's only about 11,000 miles for 2005. But there's the matter of not having enough room in the car for everything. Even with a tire trailer there's still not enough room...particularly if the person in the shotgun seat would like to recline his/her seat slightly instead of sitting bolt upright hours on end and/or we want to bring rain tires. There are two other practical reasons why towing is a better idea. 1) You have something else to drive while the car sits at the event site and 2) If you break something, it doesn't get in the way of you getting back home on time.

Plus, of course, this all assumes that the RX-8 will outlast a tow vehicle, which it almost definitely won't. Having a tow vehicle available opens up future possibilities that will be impossible without a tow vehicle (a 7 or Miata in DM or a Cobra)

Originally Posted by clyde

Having a tow vehicle available opens up future possibilities that will be impossible without a tow vehicle (a 7 or Miata in DM or a Cobra)