Tried doing a search but had a hard time finding decent results..

Is the OEM alarm worth getting? What are the pros/cons?

Does it have a nice chirp on arm/disarm like my old Viper 791VX had, or does it still honk the horn?

Thanks,
Dave

 

I bought my s2k privately, and It didn't come with a manual, so I'm not aware of all the alarm functions, but i can give some insight. Mine doesn't make any noise when arming/disarming. This might be an on/off function. all it does right now is blink the driving lights once. The alarm sound is the honking horn. As far as I can tell, it works fine. The only test I've done with it is to try and open the door when its armed, and it went off I don't know if it has a shock/glass sensor.. don't feel like hitting the car of breaking a window to find out

 

I don't think the OEM alarm is worth getting by itself, as it only monitors the doors & hood to make sure they aren't opened. You can add an aftermarket shock sensor to the factory alarm, and all the wiring is already in place though.

The OEM can also be set to honk the horn or not - default is silent.

 

The hood monitoring is an option as well. Standard install just monitors the doors and the ignition. I have it and it gives me some piece of mind but for the $600 charge from the stealership, you can get something a lot better.

 

[soapbox]

One of my pet peeves is people who have their alarms set to make audible noise when arming or disarming. There ought to be a law where if anybody is found to use such a device within 50 feet of a pedestrian or between the hours of 9 PM and 9 AM, that the entire security system is immediately ripped out from the car leaving wires dangling and sparks dancing. Come on, if you can't tell whether your car is armed or not without impacting the lives of other citizens (particularly while they are sleeping), you should not have an alarm.

[/soapbox]



As far as the OEM alarm goes, it depends what you want your security system to do. I have had my OEM security system in my S2000 for over six years and it, combined with the electronic key have resulted in a 0% theft rate and 0% vandalism. The only damages caused by others to my car are door dings that otherwise could never have been prevented by ANY alarm system short of the Flamethrower2020 Proximity Defender System.

For that reason, the OEM Security System has been a good value for me. (As if I could have chosen to have NOT purchased it...)

The OEM alarm has advantages in that it is inexpensive (if you install it yourself), easily installed, and readily available. It is also expandable with a proximity sensor (S2Ki member hack) or hood sensor. With a little wiring you could also make it play The Yellow Rose of Texas at 150 dB when arming and disarming, should that be your personal weakness (subject to the above castigation).

As Saki reported, it is user selectable to honk the horn or not. As you can probably guess, mine is set to silent as my vision allows me to see the lights flashing and the LED activate when arming the system.

 

i think there is a copy of the oem alarm manual somepalce about s2ki.com

if not pm me with a mighty email adr and i can reply attach my_manual.pdf


its been awhile since i dorked with it, i think the oem alarm has like mode 3-4 settings from low to republican. i got my 01 S used with the alarm it has, that is it has a shock sensor? mode switch under the driver's seat?? my alarm has a feature that it arms itself after a timeout. kinda bad if your still in the car but good to assure the alarm is always functional if needed.

 

the oem alarm, (I had it installed as part of the purchase negotiation) DOES have a glass breakage sensor. it is a "microphone" on the unit mounted under the driver seat and it's sensitivity is adjustable with a small screwdriver. The directions to toggle the arming beep on & off are printed on the rear bottom of the key fob.

 

I'm usually arming my car *as I walk away*, which means an audible sound is the best feedback. I've been having to get into the habit of turning around to look at my car when I arm it, or hitting the button twice so that it honks...... and it honks really damn loud on the S2000.

I don't need loud. I don't need to wake anybody up, or declare my car is now ARMED, stand back *******!! I just like a little something to tell me pressing the button did something as I'm walking the other direction

 

Thanks for the input, guys.

I think I may go for the OEM alarm and see if I can rig it up so it has a chirp noise instead of honking the horn (I like audible feedback, and I found that on my old car the chirp was less obtrusive than HONK HONK).

Since some people have found a way to mod a proximity sensor into the alarm, I wonder if I can rig up some sort of sensors for the seats as well.

[QUOTE]
I'm usually arming my car *as I walk away*, which means an audible sound is the best feedback.