[clyde]

The wagon: nix the AWD and get RWD. Add Phatbox. Happy to have the sport package seats and steering wheel (and would have perfered the suspension in the RWD version). Happy to have the ass warmers and headlight washers. Happy to have the power seats. Happy we got the full size spare for a number of reasons. Happy to have the xenons. Happy to not have sunroof. Mixed feelings about not having the rear side airbags. Overall, pretty darn happy with it. Happy with the color combo usually.

The rx-8: If I had to do it again today, I would probably change the color from gray to blue. I might forgo the Sport Package (xenon, fog lights, DSC). I'd really miss the xenons, though.

For both cars, there's the navigation question. When we got the wagon, I really wanted nav. The combination of my wife's desire for AWD and the fact that the BMW nav was pretty bad (and still CD based at the time, DVD was introduced the following MY), led to us getting AWD over the nav...and I've mostly thought I should have gone the other way since then. Nav on the RX-8 was a non-negotiable option...it had to have it. Today, it might be a little different. Having used the new Garmin C330 on a recent trip, I was so thoroughly impressed by it, that I'm not sure that OE nav would be a requirement for me on any new car. There are a lot of advantages to OE nav units, but the Garmin unit is cheap enough, small enough and good enough, as well as having its own advantages, to be a worthy contender.