Midway Review

Archive for August, 2010

Pretty self-explanatory isn’t it? It’s a stereo system in a car, you say. Whoa, hold your horses, it’s not that simple. Although some people like to put home stereos in their cars and vans (out of dire need for some sounds), sometimes it just doesn’t work. Yeah, maybe before it could’ve worked just fine, all you needed was radio and a cassette player (or 8 tracks, for the inner dinosaur in you) so sure, lug those big box speakers into the back seat and you’ll be blaring down the highway. But nowadays there are things like cd players and mp3 players and your popup LCD panels and all that techie knickknack you’d think they’d like to build a home theater system right smack on the console of your van. If you don’t know anything about these things but would like to have some sounds in your car anyway, here are some things to know about a car stereo.

As mentioned above, at first units and speakers from home audio systems and professional markets were just simply installed into vehicles. However, they were not well suited to the extremes of temperature and vibration which are a normal part of the environment of an automobile. Car stereo enthusiasts were not satisfied with the sound quality of regular car sound systems, and with the advent of the CD player, they really had to start modifying some of these home stereos in order to work well in a car environment and voila!, now we have the modern car stereo.

If you have a new car, first hand bought, say from about 90 to present, chances are you already have a “factory” car stereo in your car. It means the car manufacturer already included a car stereo system in your car, unless specified in the car model but most often this is the case. Some car manufacturers make their own car stereos, like BMW which includes a pretty decent car stereo package head unit and speakers. It is a standard which comes with all their cars (which isn’t surprising considering that BMW is included in the league of “luxury car manufacturers”). Or like Mercedes Benz or Volkswagen, they use car stereo systems from a German audio manufacturer called Blaupunkt.

A standard car stereo (also called a head unit) usually includes an auto-reverse tape deck, a cd player and sometimes the optional changer – a device which automatically changes the cd in play. On newer car models, the car stereo can also play mp3s and other digital audo file types like WMA and AAC, whether on a cd or a memory device which can be hooked up to the head unit.

The car stereo head unit is connected to several speakers. Older car models usually just had one speaker mounted underneath the dashboard, pointing through perforations towards the front windshield. The standard for car stereo nowadays is a pair of “tweeters” (used to bring out high treble) on the driver side/front passenger side dashboard, a pair of normal “mid” speakers on both doors, sometimes even the backseat passeger doors if it’s a large car and larger speakers capable of bringing out low ends at the back protion of the backseats.

Your car stereo is probably ok as it is, as car manufacturers ensure that the audio products that come with their cars can handle most dirver’s listening demands. But if you think that what you have isn’t enough, you can always CUSTOMIZE.

Volkswagen new Caddy will be sold with a choice of four diesel engines, two of which are BlueMotion unit and two petrol models. The price for each model from the new Caddy – after adjusting for differences in the choice of equipment – a little below the level of previous generations, ranging from € 13,595 to € 14,205 and a panel van to Startline.

The Volkswagen new Caddy is available with an efficient choice of 6 or 7-speed gearbox shifts Assist Direct (DSG) and Hill-Start. Of course, the new generation which is available with extended wheelbase (Maxi) and – unique in this market segment – with (4MOTION) 4-wheel drive. 4MOTION is available for the Caddy and Caddy Maxi.

Some models of the van will be sold, including panels and combi versions of the Caddy, which Startline, trendline and Comfortline version is more comfortable for the Caddy, and Tramper camper van. All models use the van was released from the second row seats, a first for the Caddy. They bought the Caddy will find the 3030 liters of cargo space, but those who need a larger model can choose to Caddy Maxi, which uses the extended wheelbase and cargo up to 3880 liters. Each model also gets ESP, daytime running lights and a hill to help.

Both BlueMotion TDI engine producing 75 and 102 PS (55 and 75 kW), but the more powerful 110 and 140 PS (81 and 103 kW) turbo diesel is also offered. Each feature common rail direct injection and particulate filters. While the 102 PS unit can get a seven-speed DSG and four-wheel drive, get a version of PS 140 is connected to a six-speed DSG renovated. To help keep fuel consumption low, the two units also get BlueMotion start / stop and regenerative braking. The launch of the new Caddy began in late September in Germany and the vehicle will be sold in almost every other country soon afterwards.

Consumption figures revealed only to the machine, the PS-102 used 4.9 liters of diesel per 100 km, compared with 6.6 liters of fuel used by the most powerful gasoline engines are offered. Two direct-injection turbocharged TSI petrol engine 1.2-liter cranks out 86 and 105 PS (63 and 77 kW). 102-PS unit spews from 154 grams of CO2 per km.