Factory Boom-Boom Audio Systems:
Ford Tremor and Mazda Protege MP3
By Eric Peters
Bass that can be felt before you arrive, announcing your imminence like a thermonuclear pulse--along with high-decibel treble that'll give your passengers tinnitus on the way to 7-Eleven--can now be bought right along with power windows and air conditioning on at least two new vehicles: Ford's Ranger Tremor pickup truck and the Mazda Protege MP3 sedan. Each of these vehicles is more a platform for amped-up audio systems than anything else. The sheet metal is incidental--and in the Ford, even passenger-carrying capacity takes a back seat (literally) to amplifiers, subwoofers, and speakers.
The '03 Tremor--$18,830-$21,130--is a 2WD Super Cab Ranger with a custom-designed, 485-watt, CD-playing Pioneer Tremor Audiophile "dual media" stereo system. To say it kicks is like saying Arnold is big. Words can't properly convey the sound-generating capability of the Tremor boom-box. Ford had to wire a high-output alternator into the thing to make sufficient juice to power the Pioneer unit. And the Super Cab body style was necessary because the equipment-- including a 10-inch subwoofer pack--takes up most of the backseat area. But you'll be the king of the stoplight thump-a-thump as you let loose with the latest Eminem track at volumes so high dogs will run for cover for miles around, old folks will cringe--and as you do to your own hearing what sitting next to a howitzer for a 6-month tour did to Gramps back in World War II.
Then there's the Mazda MP3--basically a jazzed-up Protege, Mazda's humble econo-car, but with a gigantic wing grafted onto the trunk and the usual boy-racer accompaniments that make these kinds of cars so popular among the 18-to-25 set. In this respect it is not much different from souped-up Honda Civics, Nissan Sentras, and other cars like that. What separates the MP3 from other compact sportsters, though, is the orientation of the car around the factory-installed MP3 player and heavily amped boom-boom audio system; giant bass reflectors are mounted in the trunk to echoplex your latest thrash-metal, rap-fusion, or whatever into the next county.
Digitally stored sound (known as MP3 technology) is the latest "in" thing in audio equipment, but so far, only the Protege MP3 is equipped from the factory with a built-in MP3 player. Mazda is banking on the hipness of its technoid pocket rocket to lure kids, who appreciate all this stuff, into the showroom.
<from one of the articles on CompuServe>
Ford Tremor and Mazda Protege MP3
By Eric Peters
Bass that can be felt before you arrive, announcing your imminence like a thermonuclear pulse--along with high-decibel treble that'll give your passengers tinnitus on the way to 7-Eleven--can now be bought right along with power windows and air conditioning on at least two new vehicles: Ford's Ranger Tremor pickup truck and the Mazda Protege MP3 sedan. Each of these vehicles is more a platform for amped-up audio systems than anything else. The sheet metal is incidental--and in the Ford, even passenger-carrying capacity takes a back seat (literally) to amplifiers, subwoofers, and speakers.
The '03 Tremor--$18,830-$21,130--is a 2WD Super Cab Ranger with a custom-designed, 485-watt, CD-playing Pioneer Tremor Audiophile "dual media" stereo system. To say it kicks is like saying Arnold is big. Words can't properly convey the sound-generating capability of the Tremor boom-box. Ford had to wire a high-output alternator into the thing to make sufficient juice to power the Pioneer unit. And the Super Cab body style was necessary because the equipment-- including a 10-inch subwoofer pack--takes up most of the backseat area. But you'll be the king of the stoplight thump-a-thump as you let loose with the latest Eminem track at volumes so high dogs will run for cover for miles around, old folks will cringe--and as you do to your own hearing what sitting next to a howitzer for a 6-month tour did to Gramps back in World War II.
Then there's the Mazda MP3--basically a jazzed-up Protege, Mazda's humble econo-car, but with a gigantic wing grafted onto the trunk and the usual boy-racer accompaniments that make these kinds of cars so popular among the 18-to-25 set. In this respect it is not much different from souped-up Honda Civics, Nissan Sentras, and other cars like that. What separates the MP3 from other compact sportsters, though, is the orientation of the car around the factory-installed MP3 player and heavily amped boom-boom audio system; giant bass reflectors are mounted in the trunk to echoplex your latest thrash-metal, rap-fusion, or whatever into the next county.
Digitally stored sound (known as MP3 technology) is the latest "in" thing in audio equipment, but so far, only the Protege MP3 is equipped from the factory with a built-in MP3 player. Mazda is banking on the hipness of its technoid pocket rocket to lure kids, who appreciate all this stuff, into the showroom.
<from one of the articles on CompuServe>
(also OT: but I can't wait for the Neon SRT, speaking of turbo FWD cars...)
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