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I simply cannot remove usability of the trunk because I still need access to the rear seats (friends and younger siblings rely on me). But I've got a long ways to go until I get to the kammback.
My car has pretty much the same release as yours, with the folding feature next to the left brake light on the inside of the trunk. I totally know what its like when people refuse to get in your car because they know you don't do things that other drivers do. My brother always tries to get me to turn the volume up in the car, but I don't do that because I know it annoys other drivers and it puts more strain on the alternator to power the stereo. He also wants to drive with the AC on or for me to drift around corners in the neighborhood like his friend did.
I still have yet to do any mods to my car, but recently I did get instrumentation, which is actually helping me understand a lot about my car. I don't DWL necessarily with it (don't watch load %, just watch gal/h and inst MPG), but already I'm seeing major improvement.
I can't give fully tested numbers, but I can confirm that the automatic version is really amazing once it is in its top cruising gear. At about 40 MPH I get 60 MPG w/out cruise control going through hilly terrain. At 50 MPH I get 55 MPG, 60 MPH I get 50 MPG, 68-72 MPH I get around 42-48 MPG. I haven't gotten much of a chance to test it out alone, since I had my brother and his friend in the car while testing and they wanted me to keep AC / Heater on.
To keep myself warm in the car during these Winter months, I like to throw my socks in front of a space heater as well as my jacket, then put them on and get in the car to keep me warm. This usually will keep me comfortable enough to make it through the warmup period of the engine. This obviously isn't Canadian Winter, but it does the trick for me.
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