high tech alarms and anti-theft devices?
 

I want to invest in a really nice alarm system for my FD. What type of alarm systems do you guys use or recommend? I've seen some ads for Clifford alarms but they don't look that great.

Also, does anyone here have the pager alarm?? The alarm that pages you when it goes off in your car. I heard some have like a 1 mile radius...

any info is appreciated, thanks guys

:)

good question, my FD is about to hit the streets this summer and I too would like a nice alarm and install some air horns..

Theres a thread in the lounge talking about this. Just do a search. Also alarms are bogus. If someone really wanted your car they can get it easily not even clubs can stop these people who just put it on a flatbed truck and drive away. Sorry to be so negative. Best protection is you being next to it and it being parked in the garage.

I was thinking of having a Lowjack installed in my FD so I could at least have some prospect of getting her back. I'm just using the stock alarm system now..I'm not even sure it works other than flashing that light on the console.

:werd:

What's the point of spending $600+ for a high end alarm when a professional thief will know how to get around it, or as mentioned above, tow the car away like the repo guys do? Just get comprehensive insurance and take precautions when parking your car anywhere (busy lighted area, etc.).

i got my alarm with the pager so that the next time someone hits my car in a parking lot i can be their in time to beat their ass before they leave...

I can just see myself running from wherever i am to my car as fast as i can, lol...

edit: i got the clifford matrix rsx 3.5

its exactly the same as the high end viper alarm.. (they are made by the same company DEI)

well might as well make it a pain in the ass for the thief :D who knows you might deter any amatures. otherwise with that attitude, you may as well leave the keys as well.

to get comprehensive insurance i need a minium of a 3 point imobilser

Best alarm is State Farm Insurance. I have had 2 cars stolen under them and each time they have paid most of my mods.


BTW... I had $300+ alarms on both of them and it didn't help at all.

You could always buy a boot =P

remind me not to take my car to socal :D

take your ecu with you, and set your alarm... but they could still load it on a truck. Locking hood pins and don't keep anything inside the car you don't really need I.E. full system, hell the stock bose sounds awesome as it is.

the best alarm out there is comtech in my own opinion. it has everything you can think of.

I seen one alarm on ebay that tracks your car where ever you go. i got a alarm with pager and it works great .

I know this is true.. I'm sure any determined and experienced car theif will know their way around most alarm systems... but besides this fact.. what is a good alarm system to use?? are all alarms the same??

I read someone that there are motion detectors, heat sensors, and impact sensor type alarms...

so true, if someone wants your car, its gone! even if you park it in a garage with another car behind it, if they really want it, they are gonna get it! just buy good insurnace and you can buy it all back, better infact. if you do go with some kinda alarm, id suggest one with lojack/gps tracking. its the only type that sorta works

erm...state farm is expensive company especially if you're under 25.

You can at least stop someone from starting it by installing a simple toggle switch on the fuel pump relay. Hide it good. They will not spend the time to find it.

Here are a couple of quality statemtents:

Any car can be stolen
With enough time a thief can bypass your alarm

HOWEVER, a good alarm and GREAT installation can assure that car can only be stolen by towing it away or a theif with 15 minutes of time, proper knowledge and tools otherwise it would take much longer to bypass a good install. The point of a good alarm is to have all the tools to make it as difficult as possible for a thief to steal it. It must only be set off by real attempts. It must be VERY LOUD. It must have starter cut and ignition cut. The wires must not be cut at the steering column. The alarm should not be placed under the driver's dash panel. The siren must have a battery backup. Most thieves will go on to an easier target after just a short amount of time. If you don't believe me go talk to your local police department about car thieves. They will be more than willing to educate the public.

]

good stuff.. but do any alarms actually have all these features?? I'm sure some do.. I just don't know which ones...

Clifford has a new line out that has GPS tracking on it.
You can turn off/lock/unlock/etc your car from your cell phone or computer
pretty cool technology they have out right now. its a more powerful lojack/onstar system

www.clifford.com

And your point is? If you are under 25 and drive a twin turboed sports car, it's going to be expensive regardless of insurance company.

I've noticed most people missed a couple things (that or im blind and wetaudid). You can get a sparco stearing wheel that detachis and lock it in the trunk or take it with you as well as what other people said get a great alarm thats well hidden and hard to by pass so that the only other way to get your car stolen is by getting it towed

I havent checked out link yet but I am guessing it costs money to be on the gps system.

I have a clifford on my FD. I would recomend one of theres if you get one. I know yall talk about puting it on a tow truck and all, but maybe just me I just don't see many guys driving arond with a tow truck pickin up cars to steel.

for bikes they make things that pass though the drill holes (ie cross drilled, all bike rotors are) in your brakes so the lock gets jammed into the caliper and cant roll.

now what i was thinking was if some one could rig up a locking e-brake or something. that would stop the car from moving for the most part.

heh, or you could just put padlocks though your cross drilled rotors, but dont forget about them!

what about those "brake lock" things?
do those work? can a thief get around those?

^The ones which hook up unto the steering wheel? Like The Club, you just hack saw through the steering wheel and slip it right off.

no...its one that goes over the brake pedal (or the clutch)

My Clifford AG4 has these features and more.

Clifford systems are IMO the best and are expandable to offer everything you could need. I believe the first GPS system DEI used about two years ago cost about $100 per year for unlimited usage, which included remote location of your car, as well as any remote commands, such as remote start, unlocking doors, trunk pop (if equipped) and window control (if equipped) from a telephone or the web. The new system has free stolen car tracking for the first year and two other upgrade packages (at an additional cost) for the convenience features. From what I've heard, the pager system isn't too reliable, which is why I never got it. One thing to add to any system is the Tilt/Motion sensor (DEI Part# 507T), which will trigger the alarm due to any rolling or raising of the car. This will at least help if someone tries to tow the car and also keep wheels/tires from being stolen.
Last note about alarms that I'll reiterate: THE LOUDER THE BETTER. Don't be scared to have multiple sirens at different locations, esp. inside the car. If you can't sit in the car when the alarm is triggered without sustaining permanent hearing loss, that is a good thing!! If you want to make things fun, you can get the siren DEI released a few years back which lets you speak your own message that will play when your alarm is set off so that any punks can hear you wish them a slow, painful demise should they mess with your FD. I dunno if they still make that siren, but sometimes you can get lucky and find one on eBay.
Also, make sure that your insurance company will give you a rate break for all of your effort in having the most sophisticated alarm possible. Most will give you a deal.

That's what I am talking about ... I don't think mine is that loud though. I do have the digital tilt sensor .... comes with the AG4. Mine also remote starts, hood pop, hatch pop, turns on radio, rolls up & down windows ... :D

Spyfish,
How does that turbo timer work with your Clifford? I never got a turbo timer before b/c I figured I'd have to wait til the car had shut itself off to arm the alarm anyways, so I would always just wait a few minutes before shutting the car off.

AG4 has ignition cut. So the ign wire funning back to the ECU you break that with a relay. The relay opens so the AG4 doesn't see +12V from the turbo timer. I recently redocummented this in the electronics forum.

The brake/clutch lock device (autolock) is pretty good, in the sense that it's very difficult to break, and hence they can't start the car w/o the brake/clutch (auto/manual, respectively). Prob is, it's not very readily visible, so they may break in, see it, get pissed off, trash the car, then leave lol.

The GPS stuff from clifford is incredible, but it's MONEY. I can't afford somethin that nice.

The idea about locking the brakes/rotors/calipers etc, sounds great, but check this out. I was in school in DC a while back, and I watched the CAMPUS cops come around and tow a crx that was parked backwards w/ the wheels turned and the handbrake on (guy's smart). They had these square boxes on wheels that they would fit around your tires. Then somehow, they'd get tightened until they actually had your tire off the ground. They did this to all 4 tires. Next thing you know, they simply wheeled the car out of the parking spot, turned it around, and the tow truck came in to pull it onto the flatbet w/ the box things on the wheels in place lol. Now if CAMPUS police can do that, what about your experienced car theif?!

hmm... didn't know about the GPS system.. sounds pretty smart. So if the alarm goes off, does the system let you know wherever you are??

Yes, you can have any alarm notifications sent to your phone or email address.

It's not that simple...my friend has that system from clifford, and reception is great if you're in a flat clear area. If you're parked underneath a tree, however, good luck getting anything on your pager...

Also, since these are practically the "obvious" choices in getting the best alarms, you can bet professional thieves know all about them. My other friend had a rack of sound equipment in his explorer, and a clifford w/ pager. Woke up the next morning w/ the car IN HIS DRIVEWAY, and all the audio equipment was gone. The alarm had gone off for prob 10 seconds, and his pager rang like once. Thieves knew what they were doing...they cut the wires to the alarm siren, and cut the power wires to the transmitter that signals the pager... both the primary AND secondary. Go figure...

Fumanchu, what happened when you reported your car stolen to State Farm? Did they already know your car was modified, so they were covering it anyways, or did they find out only after you reported the car stolen?

I'm asking because I was going to have my insurance cover my mods by claiming it ahead of time, but a couple people on the forum said that they got kicked out of their insurance for doing so, since the vehicle was "modified from original state" or some garbage like that. Basically they don't want to cover modified cars, so if they find out, they let you go. So I'm between letting them know now, or just holding onto all the receipts and telling them in case of accident/theft afterwards...

[QUOTE]Originally posted by FDNewbie
[B]It's not that simple...my friend has that system from clifford, and reception is great if you're in a flat clear area. If you're parked underneath a tree, however, good luck getting anything on your pager...

Also, since these are practically the "obvious" choices in getting the best alarms, you can bet professional thieves know all about them. My other friend had a rack of sound equipment in his explorer, and a clifford w/ pager. Woke up the next morning w/ the car IN HIS DRIVEWAY, and all the audio equipment was gone. The alarm had gone off for prob 10 seconds, and his pager rang like once. Thieves knew what they were doing...they cut the wires to the alarm siren, and cut the power wires to the transmitter that signals the pager... both the primary AND secondary. Go figure...
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I was actually talking about the GPS system, which is fairly new technology from Clifford and DEI. The paging system has been around for years now, and I have heard many reviews similar to yours, which is why I've never invested in it. That is a good point about the thieves who do their homework, bastards! However, with the proper install and accessories, you can have an alarm that at least wakes up half the neighborhood, even if it only goes off for a short period of time. Hell, one of these days, when I've installed every security piece known to man, I'll flip the script and start rigging up 007 type stuff. I think it would be funny to have an alarm more elaborate than the electronics it's protecting. Hell of a predicament for the thieves: steal the stereo or the alarm!?

On a side note, your car looks fresh. Rims made a big difference; I'm in the same boat with everyone else on the wing, but everyone's got their style. I was just kinda bummed out when you talk about the door install process b/c VD is selling it as a DIY kit. Nice work, tho

Oh ya, one more ? Spyfish:

How much work was it for you to put the remote start on your FD with the five speed?

Remote start on the FD has to be one of the easiest to do. The FD 5sp tranny has a nuetral switch that provides a GND while engaged. You can use that switch to allow remote start to take place. I used the built-in automatic tranny mode of my AG4. Do you get the basic idea or do you need more detail? I'll explain more if you need me to do so.

Are you saying that the switch is automatically engaged and set to go just by leaving the car parked in neutral, or is there something you had to do when you wired it all up?

The switch is already in the car. In my setup with the AG4, the alarm has an auto tranny mode that is enabled by supplying GND to a wire; else manual tranny mode. The auto mode means can I can remote start any time I like. The manual mode I would have to press a button, then get out of the car and finally arm the car with it running via AG4 to verify car isn't going to run away. Well there is no way you could have this senerio as the car would be in neutral to be running. Therefore I have my safety net. Other alarms have hood pin checks for remote start so you could tie in the nuetral switch via a relay to simulate a hood pin to the alarm. These alarms usually deny a remote start with a GND on the hood pin. You could also diode isolate the hood pin and tranny wires if you wanted to eliminate the relay. ELSE

You could do the following with a relay:
86 GND
85 Neutral wire

87
87a Input to starter from remote start unit
30 Output to starter & clutch switch

Here is what I have wired up ...86&85 turn on relay. Normally you are going to leave you car neutral so this relay will be off and not drawing power. If you leave it in gear the relay will be on so it will be drawing power from the battery so that is something to consider when picking a relay. During neutral selection pins 87a&30 are connected allowing remote start. When a gear is selected pins 87&30 are connected disallowing remote start, yet allowing a normal in gear & foot on the clutch situation to start the car.

2furious, thanks for the compliments on the car. The spoiler definetly doesn't seem to be very popular lol...but I needed a fully functional CF spoiler, and it was between this one and the Mazdaspeed or C-West one. The Mazdaspeed spoiler is played out (IMO), and a little on the plain side. The C-West one is a fortune ($1900!!) and isn't all that IMO. The spoiler I have doesn't sit too high off the car, is fully functional, and from some angles I think it looks incredible (not all that from a straight side shot though). Besides, I've always been a sucker for adjustable double decker spoilers, and I like the endplates...diff from what you normally see (I had them custom made).

Oh and about the doors...sorry man. EVERYONE is selling the door kits as "do it yourself, installs in 2 hours!" That's complete BS. Don't believe the hype. There's a reason why they specifically state "professional installation recommended." They don't say "required" because they're hoping to maximize their customer base by having DIY ppl buy it. If they get screwed, oh well...not their prob. As for the 2 hrs thing, man, I don't know if you can have the bumper, fender, and door off in 2 hours! lol...let alone install anything. You don't even want to know how long it takes to extend ALL the wires going through the door (because when the door opens vertically, obviously the distance between the door and the hinge is increased, so ALL the wires must be extended). That's a freakin festival in itself. The most crucial part is adjusting how low the door will come down, because it's gotta come down and stop PERFECTLY at the level of the lock mechanism, so the door will close correctly. If it doesn't come down far enough or comes down too far, it's gonna mess up the door and the frame around the door. Not good.

As far as 007 ideas go, I can't find the site right now, but some security companies actually offer some of the things you've seen in the 007 movies, like electric shock delivered to unauthorized contact w/ your vehicle, flames coming out from the sides of the car, tear gas being ejected around the car etc...

Keeping people alive is a business that will never die...(no pun intended).

Cool, thanks Spyfish.

Ya, I've seen the shocking alarms and gas and all, but it seems like so many people are worried about lawsuits from thieves. I say that it's doing them a favor b/c gas or a small shock would be much less painful than what I would think up if I found them messing with my ride.

LOL...I know what you mean man. Let's just say that death is the LAST thing they need to worry bout...cuz I'd make them HURT.

the lynx200 is badass it has a 2 mile radius