The position of the arm rest is back far enough to be out of the way of the hand brake and forward enough to rest my elbow on while shifting. While cruising the arm rest is in the perfect spot. I did put a couple of clear rubber bumpers in so that the angle would be sort of level, otherwise the angle would be nose down. The tower does mostly cover up the slot on top of the console that you could keep change in.
The plastic is pretty thick and I used my dremel cutting wheel to put the slots in to route the straps through.
I bought this while I was in San Antonio away from my SS. It is an after market Cobalt arm rest. Since the HHR is a different body on a Colbalt frame I took the chance that it would work.
I my other car, I use the armrest to support my weight while getting in the drivers seat. This one scares me when I try that because it gives a lot and really isn't made for that. At least not the way that I have it mounted. An added benefit is that it also opens up for storage and folds up between the seats.
As is it pretty much blends in with the rest of the interior.

 

I need to buy one and give it a shot. I really like the functionality over the seat arm rests. It's similar to my wife's SRX.

 

Nice job Pappa Smurf, I put mine in about a year ago. I took it out a couple of weeks ago to apply a piece of grey suede. So it was out of my car for a few days. OMG , It felt like i had an extra limb that had no where to go. It's a must do mod for the 5-speeds. IMO
I love how yours folds back.

 

Where did you get yours?

At some point, I wonder if I should be looking for SS automatic seats.

 

Mine came from an autozone, I always look to see if i can find another one , But that is the only one i ever came across, The problem is finding one that will fit in the small space between the seats.

 

This is the one i want to get eventually. Last year they had it in brushed aluminum, now i can't fint one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ISOTT...Q5fAccessories

 

I'll have to watch the Autozone's around here.

 

$216 wow....no thanks

 

$ 216 is a fair price for that leather and aluminum piece. , Look at any other, And the quality will not come close, Sometimes you really do get what you pay for. But please , Show me a better one , I'm always lookin !

 

Sorry. but its an import..would like to see the mark up on it....And its called a tuner part...marketing tactics