Car Gadgets

Turning your car into a luxury car

When you start to see luxury cars, some of the features can’t be imitated, but others can. There are issues relating to appearance, safety devices and the car’s machine. In that there is not much to do, but inside there are features of the luxury car that can be achieved.

When you look at a car of the year and the same car of 15 years ago, the price difference is about 10 to 1. So if you wanted a luxury car, you might want to go for an older model, a less luxurious and more affordable car, if you don’t care much about reducing the useful life and you can add some extras that might not have the same appearance as the luxury car, but the same functions.

If you look at the features of luxury cars, you look at things like the following:

  • Air conditioning
  • Sound equipment and speakers:
  • Sunroof
  • Electronic key.
  • Central control of locks and electric windows.
  • Blind Spot Sensors.
  • Reverse rear camera.
  • Bluetooth console to connect phone.
  • GPS and navigation.
  • 12V and USB input.
  • NASA type seats
  • Cruising speed
  • LED lights for reading in front or rear seats
  • Eyeglass case

Let’s talk about these characteristics:

  • Luxury cars allow areas with different temperatures inside the car thanks to the air conditioning. However, the most that you would need if you have more weight than the others and it gives you more heat, is simply to put air conditioning to your car. There are many workshops that do it.
  • If you want music, you’d better get a home theater, because listening to loud music in the car can prevent you from listening to the train at a junction or a car horn, or other relevant sound. This way, your car will at best listen to the radio and for that you don’t need a big sound system.
  • About the keys, what if the battery of the electronic key runs out? What if the key gets wet? Maybe it’s better to have normal keys.
  • A bluetooth phone console, do you really need to talk while driving? You can get a fine for that. Talking and driving are not things you can do at the same time because they both require cognitive ability, and science already knows that multitasking is not true. There are only big egos, but no multitaskers.
  • To navigate with a smartphone is more than enough, you can use the Waze application that is free. It’s an Android app as effective as a luxury car GPS system.
  • At the nearest electronics store you can get a USB strip and sockets similar to the wall of a house. They connect to the 12V output of the car’s cigarette lighter. You have to watch the consumption in watts so as not to end up discharging the car battery.

Now let’s talk about car cameras. There are front and rear cameras. Let’s talk about reverse rear cameras. There are three types of devices:

  • Sensors and/or camera
  • Cable or wireless video transmission.
  • Screen

Sensors and rear camera

There are cameras that can be glued with the screws of the rear license plate of your car, and there are others where you will have to make holes in the back chest of the car. If you mount it to the license plate, maybe some thief wants to steal it.

And if you make holes, it won’t look very good if you want to sell it. Normally the camera will have a video cable, one ground and one that connects to the car’s backlight.

Sensors can detect objects in the vicinity, and can be used to detect objects in the back or at blind spots. Of course, some will require you to drill holes in the car and it won’t look very good if you remove the sensors and sell the car.

Cable or wireless transmission

You may not want to have a car full of cables everywhere or puncture the car to pass a cable. In that case what you can do is use a wireless transmitter for video.

Screen

There are several screen types. There are screens that are mounted on the car console, and there are others that are mounted on top of the rearview mirror.

The problem with mounting a screen is that you will have to have space not to interfere with the airflow or cover the instruments or spoil compartments of the car.

Also, if you mount it on the console, you’ll have to puncture or use adhesive tape, which will make it look bad if you’re going to sell it by removing the equipment from the car. It might look better if you stick it with a suction cup to the windscreen.

And if you mount them on top of the mirror, you may have trouble lowering the panels you have to cover the sunlight in the mornings and afternoons.

Front camera

Front cameras can come with audio, no audio, or they can record for a while and then you have to format, or it can be more automatic and start deleting older files, so you can keep recording until something happens.

Normally you would use some storage device according to the design of the device, perhaps as an SD or SDHC card that determines how long you can record. It would be better if you used an HD camera with which you can see license plates of other cars.

GPS navigation

Unlike a normal GPS that simply traces a route for you, if you use a smartphone with Waze, you have real-time user reports that report traffic jams, accidents and obstacles on the road. That makes every day the route you calculate is different. It is a kind of social network, where users share relevant information for navigation.

Waze is an app that consumes a lot of battery, so it would be good if you have a 110V outlet or a USB to charge your phone.

There are those who sell generic 12V to miniUSB phone chargers, but they don’t know when to stop charging and they can heat your phone, and eventually blow it up, so using the charger that comes with the phone and a plug connected to the 12V socket of the car seems like the right solution.

The best way to use Waze is simply to drive, and only make reports when you’re parked, whether it’s a red light or a stop sign or a jam, so you don’t have an accident.

Besides that, it is recommended that when you are stuck you recalculate the three route options for the stretch you have left, because the streets change and it is always better to choose the best route yourself in that changed scenario.

The advantage of skipping traffic jams is that you get there faster, and the others won’t be obstructed by your car. In other words, Waze optimizes vehicle flow in the user community. You don’t need to be watching the screen.

It has a voice (called “bitching betty”) that gives you instructions about turning, changing lanes, taking an exit, etc. This prevents you from taking your eyes off the street. I prefer the English voice because it speaks simple and clear.