Remote Car Starters

It’s fall, and for the mobile electronics industry, the focus shifts directly to the sales and installation of remote car starters. The size of the remote start industry is inconceivably vast. Some retailers sell and install more than a thousand of these handy little gadgets in a single season! Best Car Audio wants to help you make the purchasing process easier. Here is our introduction to remote car starter remote control options.

What Does the Remote Do?

The remote control provided with your car starter allows you to start your vehicle without having to go outside or put your key in the ignition. The philosophy is that on a cold winter morning or scorching hot summer day, you can start your vehicle a few minutes before you go outside, giving the heating or cooling system a head start on making the vehicle more comfortable.

Remote controls communicate with your vehicle using radio frequency transmission. There are two different types of communication – Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM). The methodology of communication alone does not determine the performance of the remote regarding range, and range is a key point in choosing a remote control. Range is the distance between you and your vehicle when the remote starter will execute commands from the remote. If you are out of range and you press the Start button on your remote, nothing happens.

Typical Range Performance

Last year, we tested a few systems that claimed to offer one-mile range. We installed both systems in the same vehicle, one after the other. We parked the vehicle in the same location to test each system. Both systems offered performance that was nearly identical and worked reliably up to about 1,600 feet away – not close to a mile. We contacted some industry peers about the performance of other systems. We saw a test of another brand, rated to provide 1 mile of range and capable of starting the vehicle from as far as 1.25 miles away. As expected, the performance of your system may vary dramatically.

Why didn’t the systems we tested work as advertised? Most manufacturers advertise “maximum range.” This distance would be under ideal conditions: no buildings, no foliage, no radio frequency interference. Imagine being in the middle of a desert and everyone else turned off all their radios, cellphone systems, TV broadcasts, satellite communications and so forth. In this impossible scenario, you’d get about a mile of range.

Why did the other system exceed the manufacturer’s ratings? Maybe this manufacturer under-rated the range. Maybe there was a lack of interference in the area. The purpose of this discussion is to clarify that performance differs based on the system you choose and where you use it.

When you go shopping for remotes, you will see a few options for range. Manufacturers advertise the shortest-range remotes as working as far away as 800 feet. Next up are the 1/4-mile or about 1,300- to 1,500-foot range units. Different companies offer different intermediate range solutions, increasing to 2,500 or 3,000 feet, then to 1 mile. One manufacturer offers a remote that claims to work at up to 3 miles. That is very cool!

Remote Feature Overview

The next consideration in selecting a car remote starter revolves around the number of buttons on the remote. The product specialist at your mobile electronics retailer will advise you about what the remote starter can control for vehicle options. These options include door locks, factory alarm control, trunk/hatch release, sliding door control, rear window defroster activation and more. Once you decide which, if any, of these features will be part of your system, you can decide which remote you need.

One-button remotes are, of course, the simplest. The single button can be used to lock and unlock the vehicle, as well as activate the remote car starter. Some remotes have four or five buttons. These remotes have dedicated buttons for locking/arming, unlocking/disarming, trunk release and remote starting. Most five-button remotes include a Function key to access additional features like auxiliary outputs and vehicle information display. Multi-button remotes are required when the system includes features like trunk or hatch release. Single-button remotes can’t activate those features.

Communication Options

Separate from the range and button configuration of a remote are options for how the remote communicates with the vehicle. A one-way remote is like your TV remote – it only sends commands to the vehicle. You have no way of knowing whether the command was received or executed unless you can physically see the vehicle. A two-way remote can send commands to the vehicle and receive information back from the vehicle. Every two-way remote has some method of letting you know what is happening. This information can be presented via LEDs, on an LCD screen, with beeps and vibrations, or a combination of many of these.

Let’s look at a real-world example of how a two-way remote control can be beneficial. The simplest of functions is locking your car. You press the button on your remote control, and the car should lock. But what if you didn’t lock the car before you went into a shopping mall, office building or home? If you have a one-way remote, you can only hope that pressing the lock button at this longer distance will secure your vehicle. If you have a two-way remote and the vehicle is in range, the vehicle will send a confirmation to the remote to let you know it worked – that it received and executed the command. No guessing is required.

Several manufacturers offer additional vehicle information display on remotes with LCD screens. You can query the vehicle to display battery voltage or vehicle temperature.

Other Communication Options

System control options use different technologies. These include Bluetooth interfaces that allow you to control the system from an app on your phone. Smartphone interfaces use the cellular network and an app to let you manage and monitor your vehicle from anywhere in the world – as long as you have a data connection. Proximity keys that unlock the vehicle when you approach it are another option. There are also small keypads that mount to the inside of the windshield so you can type in a code to lock or unlock the vehicle.

Whatever remote control solution you pick for your remote starter, be sure to deal with a reputable retailer to install the system. You want to choose someone who will take their time to perform the installation as reliably as possible. They should be cautious and gentle with your vehicle as they disassemble it to access wiring. They must stand behind the work they do. In many cases, the quality and reliability of the installation are proportional to the price for the system. If the price seems too good to be true, you may want to do some additional research. Online reviews are a great source of information.

Enjoy your remote car starter – it really will make a big difference in the comfort of your vehicle.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

If you have never owned a remote starter, you might be asking yourself why they are so popular. The mobile electronics industry switches into “starter season” each fall and, when the weather cooperates, doesn’t stop until spring time. But what is it about having a remote starter that is so great? We’ll explain.

Just What Is a Remote Starter?

A remote starter system includes several components: a primary system “brain” and interface module, an antenna and at least one remote control. The installer will wire the brain into the ignition system of your vehicle, and then the brain replicates the electrical connections or data commands that are used to start your vehicle. When you press the Start button on the included remote control, the brain starts the remote start process. Pressing the Start button again or letting the preset timer run out will stop the car.

What Are the Benefits of a Remote Starter?

The biggest advantage of having a remote starter is that it will give your vehicle and its systems a head start in getting up to operating temperature. While most people think of a remote starter as something that is used exclusively in the middle of winter, many systems in the vehicle are involved.

The engine has two fluid systems that need a chance to warm up before the vehicle is driven: the cooling and lubrication systems. As your engine runs, both the coolant and the oil will warm up. Engines operate their best at their operating temperature. At these temperatures, the oil flows easily through the engine and properly lubricates everything from the crankshaft and camshaft bearings to the cylinder walls and upper valvetrain. Oil gets thick when it’s cold, so warming it up before you put a heavy load on it (such as accelerating away from being parked or at a stoplight) makes it flow more easily.

The engine’s cooling system has to warm up for the heater core under the dash of your car to warm up. Only once the heater core is warm can the interior of the vehicle start to warm up in the winter.

In the summer, your engine needs to be running for the air conditioning compressor to work and allow it to extract heat from the interior of your vehicle. Even in the summer, your engine oil needs a few minutes to warm up so it can protect your engine properly.

How Long Should My Remote Starter Run?

You want the remote starter system to give your car a head start at warming up. Running the engine for 30 minutes would waste a lot of fuel. Most starters have a default run-time of 10 to 12 minutes. If you start the car 5 to 10 minutes before you want to leave, it will have had a good chance to warm up and start making the interior comfortable.

What Else Can My Remote Starter Do?

In many vehicles, especially those with computers that control the accessory circuits, you have many options that can enhance the functionality of your remote starter. The most common option is door lock control. Most starters have multiple buttons on the remote control that will allow you to unlock the doors as you approach the vehicle, then lock them again as you walk away after arriving at your destination.

Some starter systems have the option of adding a security system. This upgrade adds a siren, shock sensor and additional wiring to monitor the doors. Other options include controls for the power trunk/tailgate, rear window defroster, heated seat and even power window. Your retailer can help guide you through the specific options for your vehicle.

Is My Car Safe When Remote Started?

A lot of retailers are asked whether someone could just walk up the car once it is remote started, open the door, get in and drive away. The answer is no. Stealing your car while it is remote started is no easier than when it’s parked and turned off.

First, most starters keep the doors locked after starting the car. It would be no easier to get in than when the vehicle isn’t running. For vehicles with automatic transmissions, you almost always have to put your foot on the brake pedal to shift out of park. Most remote starters have a shutdown wire connected to the brake pedal – unless you have put the key in the ignition, the vehicle will shut down as soon as you put your foot on the brake. You have no fear of anyone taking your vehicle just because you are using a remote starter system.

Does the Brand of Remote Starter Matter?

That’s a tough one. Certain brands have excellent reputations for reliability. In most cases, the brand of starters that a store carries is typically the one that they have the most experience with and confidence in installing. No installer wants to troubleshoot faulty equipment, so good retailers will always work with brands they trust.

Being familiar with the brand also means that the installers know the color and function of all the wires coming out of the brain so they spend little or no time is spent on reading the owner’s manual. Installers will also have all the tools required to program the system to your vehicle. Most remote starters in late-model vehicles have to communicate with CAN data network, so proper programming and configuration are essential.

What Else Do I Need to Know about a Remote Starter?

You have a lot of options when it comes to purchasing a remote starter. Other than the accessory circuits we mentioned earlier, the options involve different ways of controlling the starter system.

• Your first option will involve deciding how much range you need. The range is the distance (in feet or miles) that you will be away from the vehicle and still want it to start when you press the button on the remote control.
• The second option is how you want to communicate with the remote starter. Are you happy to push the Start button and let the vehicle do its thing? This type of communication is called one-way. The other option is a two-way remote that will blink, beep or vibrate once the system has received a command back from the vehicle to confirm it has started successfully.
• You can also incorporate cellular-based smartphone interfaces with your starter. With a smartphone interface, as long as your phone and the vehicle can get a cellular data connection, you can be anywhere on the planet and start your car.

Choose Your Retailer Wisely

You also need to ask the retailer how the system will be installed. Installers around the country, and around the world, use many different concepts and methods. Some focus on speed so they can offer low prices. Other installers focus on replication of OEM methods for connectivity and wire management. What matters is that the system is reliable. Wire connections should be secure both mechanically and electrically. The installer should mount components so they do not cause buzzes or rattles. The shop should pay special attention to the safe disassembly and reassembly of your vehicle’s trim panels.

We can’t describe every situation, so ask to see their work and judge for yourself.

Owning a remote starter is a great way to save a few minutes each day. Giving your car even 90 seconds to warm up and get the fluids flowing before you start to drive can have a dramatically positive effect on the longevity of your vehicle and on your comfort.

Remote starter systems are not just for cold climates, so visit your local mobile electronic specialist retailer and see what they have to offer.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.