I'm a huge fan of remote starters - especially during frigid Indiana winters. It's great to be able to start my car from inside and have it all warmed up when I'm ready to drive it. Obviously, however, there is a reason why our manual transmisson Vs don't come from the factory with a remote starter - it would be a shame to walk outside and realize that you'd started your car in gear and it had bunny-hopped into a retention pond while you were finishing your morning coffee.
My buddies at SoundSational in Indianapolis have fixed this problem for me. They installed a remote starter in my V, and in the process they wired a safety switch to the parking brake. Now, the remote starter will only function if the parking break is fully engaged. Of course, it's still imperative to leave my car in neutral when I park it if I'm going to use the remote starter since - depending on the condition of my parking brake - I would think the car could still move if I try to start it in gear. I'm sure the whole experience wouldn't be great for my transmission either. But using this set-up has caused me to develop a consistent habit of leaving the car in neutral and setting the parking every every time I park it, and it's working great so far.
They offer the V in an automatic. If I really wanted a car starter I think I would go that route. Not so sure I'm a fan of a starter on a manual only because too many things to remember to do when exiting the car and I would eventually forget a step. I checked into it also and my local stereo shop said only one company made a starter for manual cars and it required neutral position switch and parking brake switch to be tied in. It was pretty expensive due to all the extras. But I would certainly want the neutral switch just to be safe.
Given how fast my car seems to warm up, combined with heated seats, I don't personally believe 60-120 seconds of cold is worth the hassle and safety implications. And I've never felt great about hacking into the stock wiring the way they all do. And the car would prefer you just get in and drive...but this has been hashed to death I am sure.
Definitely not safe on a manual. Parking brakes get out of whack way too easy and you might not realize it until you wake up one morning and the car rolled away.
I'm too neurotic about setting my parking brake and leaving it in gear as it is now, i wouldn't like relying only on the parking brake. i like having two things holding my car.
My 2c: I had put a remote starter on my old '97 Chevy, and had one from the factory on my '06 Chev, and was never a huge fan of either. I used the one on the '97 when I lived in upstate New York, and it seemed like even if I started the car 15 minutes before heading out, it would be just barely warmed up. After the experience on the '97, I never really bothered even using it on the '06...it just seems like a waste of fuel and engine wear. I actually found it to be a bit more useful in the summertime, to cool the car off and get air circulating before getting in.
That said, the V warms up surprisingly fast, so it doesn't really seem necessary at all. I was expecting it to be really slow to warm with such a large displacement engine, but it's quite impressive.
It seems to prone to error. It doesn't check if the car is in gear or not, and probably can't. All you have to do is space out one time for something bad to happen.
Also, the parking brake sucks on these cars.
Why not park it in an open area, put the brake on, leave it in gear, and hit the remote starter (while sitting in it, just in case)? I suppose the worst case scenario would be if the starter were strong enough (and the brake weak enough) to not only bunny-hop the car, but actually start the engine.
The first week I got my V1 I was putting on a Skene license plate holder (no holes) and I noticed the car ever so slightly moving away from me as I worked. On a slight grade, with the parking brake down 3/4 of the way. Thought it was my imagination at first, but it was not. The car was moving about 1/4-1/2 an inch a minute. You never saw someone move so fast to get inside a car!
I will never trust just the parking brake ever again. Always parking brake + in gear + wheels turned out to roll back into the curb on any grade. So remote start, as nice as it is, is not an option.
On a slight grade, with the parking brake down 3/4 of the way. Thought it was my imagination at first, but it was not. The car was moving about 1/4-1/2 an inch a minute./QUOTE]
Just curious and not trying to be an a$$, but why would you only set the brake 3/4 of the way?
At a minimum you must leave it in gear. Its just irresponsible not to do so. Parking brake cables fail, the adjustment goes out, etc. If the brake lets go and its not in gear then you have the chance of it rolling and destroying someone's property or taking their life which you are liable for. Maybe some people aren't yet in a position in life where they have anything to lose???
Let me see if I follow this logic. Perhaps the reason that I'm willing to park my car on a level surface with the transmission in neutral and the e-brake set is because I'm broke??
Yes, that is understood and I agree. (Which is why i would never park my V in neutral on anything other than a level surface.) But I think repenttokyo's point (with a little bit of well-placed sarcasm) is that there is some element of risk in everything we do in a car, and it doesn't make any sense to accuse someone of being irresponsible, much less "having nothing to lose," simply because they choose to park their car in neutral and set the e-brake.
I've had a starter on all my cars, ive been installing starters for over 8 years. Not once have i had a car run away, why? because all the remote starters i do you need to put it in reservation mode so the car starter knows the car is not in gear. I prefer to use compustar, you really dont need to do anything. Stop, set park brake, pull key out, car stays running, get out close door, car locks and shuts down, reservation mode is done. I've had a starter on my v since the day i bought it. I've also used it every time i park my car, hot or cold. I always run my car for atleast a minute before driving. I've installed thousands of starters an manual transmission cars. Just check your e-brake every few months, i recommend it to all my customers. Plus if you get an installer who knows what hes doing you wont even notice the starter installed by looking under the dash, its all in the install. Granted i've seen way to many diy installs that look like a 2 year old had a field day with the wires.
This is great input. And now that I've had my remote starter pretty much all winter, I can say that it's one of my favorite mods. I love letting the car warm up before I walk out to drive it - especially at my girlfriend's condo - where she only has a one-car garage and my V has to sit outside all night on occasion.
Had Compustars in all my Manual Transmission vehicles since 2005. Now, you can use your smartphone with the Drone system.
So, you can remote start your car from halfway around the world!
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