I'm so used to driving a manual that it feels awkward and clunky to drive an automatic. You can't drive as fast in an automatic because you have to wait for the stupid thing to change gears. I learned to ride a motorcycle before I learned to drive a car, and motorcycles are almost all manual - so changing gears is second nature to me. I recently discovered an extremely windy (though unfortunately rather short) road near my apartment. I love to blast down that road. It's like a roller-coaster. I don't think I've driven down that road with a passenger, but I suspect it'd be kinda like that part in Initial D where Takumi is driving the AE86 down the mountain and his friends are on the verge of puking. My car is not very powerful, but I can push it to its absolute limit. @Yakumo: I see you have an AUX line on your stereo. Is it a standard headphone connector, or a USB port? Do you have a separate cable to charge the iPhone, or can you connect it directly to the stereo? My stereo has an iPod connector built into it (which works with an iPhone) but it doesn't charge modern iPods/iPhones. I had to buy a little adapter which allows you to supplement an iPod connector with a USB cable coming out of the side, which I then connect to a USB car charger.
The Stereo is quite simple in the looks department but gives an amazing sound. It's a Pioneer as are the speakers. The AUX is just a standard gold plated 3.5mm jack (headphone jack). That jack is connected to a special box I made myself behind the center console panel. Box inputs - iPod / iPhone audio and video and DVD (Navi) audio. Box outputs - all input audio goes direct to the Pioneer stereo through the AUX. The video signals from the iPod/iPhone goes in to the Navi monitor which has a AUX in for video and audio. Also the box has a 5 volt USB port on it which will charge and iPod/iPhone connected to the system even when using them.:thumbsup: The box I made is powered by 12volts from the car's multi cigarette lighter port (it has 4 outs on it!) Connected to that are my AV box, Navi system with DVD, GPS radar system and the car's temperature reader. Everything is behind the center console panel so it's all clean and out of sight. yakumo
Nice. Yeah, mine is a Pioneer too. Pioneer makes some quality sound equipment. I have a Pioneer surround sound receiver at home too, and it's quite nice. The front speakers in my car are made by Boston. They're far better than the ones that come standard in my car.
Yep, Pioneer are indeed a quality brand. In the states do Pioneer use the Carrozzeria name for their car audio? In Japan all Pioneer card audio seems to be under that name. When I bought my car I had a choice of either Kenwood or Pioneer speakers. I went with the Pioneer because I'd had issues with Kenwood home audio equipment in the past. I use Pioneer wireless headphones in the house but my surround sound system is by..................... SONY. Holly shit, me with a Sony product! It has no lasers though, just an amp so it shouldn't die. I bought it from Yahoo auctions used for 8000 yen. Does all the DTS, Dolby Digital, THX and so on plus sounds pretty good too.
I bought both my surround receiver and my car stereo here in the US, and they both say "Pioneer." I actually bought the receiver for $50 at a flea market. It was old when I bought it, but it's a good receiver and it's served me well these past several years. I'm thinking of getting a fancy stereo amp by Marantz. The one thing that annoys me about my car stereo is that there's no pause button. There are tons of other pointless buttons that I never use, but they left out such a simple thing as a pause button. To pause a track, you have to press 2 buttons. How idiotic a design is that? Strangely enough, there's a pause button on the remote (which I never use).
My car stereo has no pause either but I guess it doesn't need one since it it just continues where it left off anyway. So if you do need to pause you just press stop. To reset the CD to the start just press stop twice.
I am really impressed with the stock unit in my Mazda. I don't know if the speakers are original, as I've never opened the door panels (and it's certainly possible they could be aftermarket, as the car came with an aftermarket air intake and exhaust - I just consider them a bonus, even if I didn't get the pleasure of installing them myself ). It sounds really quite great. I had to order the cassette unit (it's all modular) off of eBay, but it was brand new OEM and only like 30 bucks (as opposed to the hundreds they wanted for them at the dealer... I'm pretty sure it's probably stolen stock or something but I don't care anymore. XD). Works like this: (You can also get a MD bay for the bottom instead of the cassette, but even I (one who really loves MDs) couldn't justify that.) I just use a cassette adapter to plug in my Zune. The volume has to be just right on the Zune or else it will clip on high-bass songs, but I've got it all EQ'd so that it sounds really quite fantastic considering the setup. That being said, I do still collect and listen to cassettes. Right now in my glovebox is Tears for Fears and Swans. I wonder, now... should I try and upgrade to the 6-disc, if I can find one? http://www.kigmaradioshop.com/servlet/the-260/1165-BL8J-669RX-BL8J669RX/Detail Hah! Maybe. Maybe... Speaking of pause... Yeah, it sucks not having one of those. If I'm listening to a CD or tape (obviously on MP3 I just hit its pause button), I usually just hit the radio button. Or just turn down the volume (in the case of rolling through a drive-through). My receiver in my room is Pioneer. A probably low-end 7.1 model from about 5 years ago. It was my brother's roommate's - someone spilled a beer on it at a party (-_-), so he took it to Circuit City where he bought it and got it replaced under warranty (no, I'm not exactly sure how that worked...), but only after he bought a new identical unit. So he sold it to me for 100 bucks or something when he got it back. I don't think I can blame my fantastic room tunes on it, though. My speakers are pretty damn nice.
Here's a strange question. Have you ever found something in your car that you never knew was there? I'm on about actually in the car, not the engine bay. The reason I bring this up is because the other day I found out my car has heaters in the back! Of course, big 4x4 cars and long wheel base cars often have heaters in the back but not normal none executive saloons. I can't believe I've owned this car for 5 years yet never knew. There are no controls for a rear heater at all. The heater is under the passenger seat so whoever sits there is going to get lovely toasty toes in the winter. The only person who does sit in that area though is my son. I've never actually been a passenger in the back of my own car.
A couple of years back I had taken a girl out for a meal and a couple of drinks at a local bar, all was going quite well and I offered to run her home. We got back to my car [a small '01 plate Ford Fiesta] and set off on the journey home, at first she just rested her hand on my leg but soon it started wandering towards my belt buckle ... The next thing I realise is the girl unclipping her safety belt, slipping completely out of all her clothes and leaning over to offer her services. :-0 Now at this point I didn't think the evening could get much better until we pull up at a fairly busy set of traffic lights ... of all things, a large truck sides next to us and the driver starts peering down from his cab before fumbling for his camera phone! :-( Never have I accelerated away from a set of lights so quickly!
I keep forgetting how much my exhaust tip sticks out. I've burnt my leg unloading things a few times this week. Try explaining that to your girlfriend. "Well, you see... I have this aftermarket exhaust and..." "Uhh. Ok? So..." --- Yakumo, I thought those rear toe-heaters were pretty standard. I remember finding them the first time I deep-cleaned my car. Maybe not all "small" cars have them.
Mine didn't think twice when I burnt my leg with a heat gun. Amazing how much fading the scar has undergone.
In bigger cars they are but I've never really seen them in "small" cars such as the Impreza. Then again I grew up in the UK where EVERYTHING is an optional extra such as air-conditioning, electric windows, satnav, tinted glass and so on. All these are standard in Japan.
I don't know what a Miata is but come on, power steering was an option? Bloody hell, I thought all cars had that as standard. Even the small crappy box cars in Japan have power steering. Now, cruse control I can see as being an optional extra. Yakumo
^ AKA Mazda MX-5. They are a guilty pleasure because as much fun as they are to drive on winding roads they can make any guy look gay. The light weight and skinny tires make it very easy to control without power steering.
Ah, the MX5. Yeah, I'm with you on the looking a bit gay (if that's the correct word to use) but they are a fantasic car though. I've never been in one without power steering though. By the way, if you thing an MX5 makes you look odd then what about that mini Daihatsu? Sorry, but I forgot it's name.
the Copen or the HVS? Copen - definitely looks like a more girly version of a (new) VW Beetle - never thought that could be possible HVS - not as hard on the eyes as the Copen but looks like the love child of a BMW Z3 and the Honda S2000
The Copen. I don't think I've seen the HVS on the streets. The Copen isn't such a bad car to be honest but I'd never buy one. I look like a right tit in it.
If my car was a manual, I couldn't dedicate one hand to my laptop, which would make the drive super boring.
