*nods*

i had a buddy i worked with back in my late college days who had this POS 240ZX... it was beaten up and ragged, but he had this wild alarm setup on it... (back in the late 80's early 90's) w/ all kinds of weird features... (who needs remote hood pop?? really!?)

either or, it was a standard, and one of his many useless tweaks was auto start. he had all kinds of lockouts and safety trips in place... he (and the installers) thought they had every scenario accounted for, but i'll never forget how horrible and hilarious it was the day our boss came and got him to tell him his Z was running all over the parking lot hitting cars... turns out something didn't work just right, and since his key had hit and held the auto start button...

it kept starting, taking off, hitting something, deflecting, stopping, starting again, taking off, hitting something, stopping, etc.

it just ain't a good idea...

 

One of the first threads I ever read on s2ki.com:

\"I Hate My Life\"

Chris.

 

Even the Compustar systems wich are designed for manuals can actually be started in gear. If you leave the top down and someone reaches into the car "without opening the doors" and puts the car in gear wether by accident or on purpose it will jump froward upon remote starting.
I myself will not install a remote start on a manual if the remote start is not designed for one even if the customer signs a liability waiver. If the car jumps foreward and runs over someone the person that got ran over can still sue the installer.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bobby

 

Yes I would unless it was one of those antenna or seat stealing bastards!

 

You guys are correct, you can never engineer something to be fool-proof. Just look at the cars that didn't even have remote start and still started themselves and drove away. I forget which model it was but I remember the recall (several years ago).

Even automatics aren't fool-proof, all it would take is for the ignition lock to fail on an automatic transmission with remote start and anyone could move it out of park with the engine running.

Manual transmissions are riskier, but we put up with the increased risk every day and don't seem to mind. It's pretty hard to get out of an automatic car and have it roll away - the key won't come out unless it's in park. But a manual will let you walk blissfully away without the parking brake on or the car in gear, and nobody seems to mind that risk. A silently rolling car can be just as deadly as one under power.

I'm not bashing anybody, just presenting some more food for thought. I agree automatics are safer and I would never connect a remote start on a manual transmission car without some safety systems in place, but if done properly I don't think it has to be any more risky than the automatic.

.

 

When I was writing my original post on this topic I had a mental astrict (sp?) going for Modifry. I know he has put a lot of effort into an interlock for his remote start. The truth is that 99.999% of people will not go to all that effort to engineer a solution, and my post was directed specifically at them.

I guess it's possible for people to not put their cars in gear or set the break (BTW -- I reccomend both everytime) I see your point, but it seems different to me, but I can't explain how. I'll keep pondering this one.

I have read two seperate accounts of people that have run their cars pretty hard and heated up the brakes. They then stop and set the parking break and leave the car out of gear. When they come back the brakes have cooled and the e-brake hold has slipped and the car has moved.

 

Doesn't anybody use the two way compustar in the states? They got a wicked alarm/starter system.