By David Clarke

highspeedhijinks

We all know how to use the internet–it’s how you’re capable of reading this, right? What I wanna know is, what are your tips for finding the car-related info you need ? My best advice when searching for a part or a certain piece of information is to start right here with the CarDomain community. From there use search engines and be specific with the information you’re looking for, only backing out to more general terms if the search turns up nothing. Follow this, and you can learn how to build just about anything. Case in point:  just yesterday, I used the power of the internetz to learn how to effortlessly adapt a relatively obscure mod to my 1984 Caprice. Follow the jum to find out how.

Continue reading "The Internetz Is Your Buddy" »

By Brett Powers

audiobahnv8sho

Ever had a question about your car but didn’t know who to ask? Have you ever joined a group devoted to your model of vehicle? Specific car communities specializing in makes, models, restoration styles, or motorsports divisions can be indispensable to whatever your project might be, and I’ve been a member of a few over the years. What groups do you belong to? Read more after the jump.

Continue reading "What Are Your Favorite Car Communities?" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

You guys all know I hang out at Moparts a lot. I also like to check out The Car Lounge at VWVortex (an awesome place to find caption contest photos). Stangnet, NASIOC and LXForums are pretty cool, too. How about you guys? Where do you like to hang out? (Besides CarDomain of course…)

For the last six years or so I’ve been hanging out over at Moparts, which has the best and most hilarious smilies I’ve seen in any automotive forum. They’ve definitely taken it well beyond the dancing banana. Most of these were made by Taco Head and Peelerboy. I especially dig the Bondo and Sawzall smilies. What are your favorite automotive forum smilies?

Well, typical Seattle weather this weekend so another day and no sound in the ride. A co-worker suggested I rig up a garbage bag tent around my car so I can get work done in the rain. I suggested he go back to his desk and check out the news on SoundDomain instead:

• Rich Truesdell told you about the Garmin Nüvifone  not too long ago. Well videos have come forth from Garmin and this phone could quite possibly the ultimate iPhone killer!!
• Adding an Xbox to your car’s audio/video system is not too uncommon these days, but disassembling and custom-installing the separate components is not so common. These guys take apart an Xbox and show you some ideas on how to custom-mount a system in your ride.
• MECP is an installer certification program in the mobile electronics industry, similar to ASE certification for a mechanic. It represents the best of the best in the industry, separating the men from the boys. But if you want to take your skills "out-of-this-world", why not go for NASA standards!
• The Tracer Heads-Up Display (HUD) is a design study that incorporates GPS, HUD technology, and SMS text messaging. The cool part of this is the Heads-Up display, the scary part is if you start speeding, it sends a text message to your parents. Doh!
• Crazy man Steve Meade got a chance to demo his tuff Tahoe for Ice Cube’s producers, Teak and Dee. Needless to say, even those these guys listen to bangin’ beats all day long, they weren’t prepared for Steve to push the magic button in his system! Watch ‘em squirm!

It’s Friday again and I am so ready to get my weekend started. I have speakers and kick panels calling my name, just waiting to get installed in my car. But that all has to wait until tomorrow morning… So I guess until then I’ll go ahead and catch up on the SoundDomain news:

• Rearview/back-up cameras are pretty common these days, but frontview cameras are pretty new. This mirror could turn your weekend canyon cruising into a Hollywood moment, or it could save you from taking blame on your next fender bender (videos and pics available)!
• Don’t you hate it when you spend $45,000 (or more) on a new BMW and then when you drive it off the lot it hits you that you forgot to order the factory navigation option! Man, I hate that! Well, don’t worry… To prevent buyer’s remorse BMW is giving folks in that predicament a free BMW Garmin Nuvi360 with a custom BMW mounting system.
• If you’re going to be in the Biloxi, MS area June 21-22 make sure to stop by the Gulf Coast Coliseum for the Scrapin’ the Coast/Deep South Nationals show. Last year there were over 2000 cars and trucks, and the show was named Mini Truckin’s "Show of the Year" for 2007. We’ll be there shooting the event just in case you can’t make it.
• The Kenwood DNX8120 was by far our favorite radio at CES this year. We told you all about it in our CES Coverage, and now we have a demo video hosted from Kenwood showing off all the 8120′s cool features and functions. Man is this thing SWEET!

So the new SoundDomain is now only a month old, but it’s been a successful month so far. Thanks for your support! As the year progresses, we’ll start offering some great hands-on gadget reviews, longer feature articles and complete build articles from some of the greatest shops around the US and Canada (maybe even a few worldwide!). Expect some cool changes to come for SoundDomain. For now, just expect a really cool forum, and some really great news… Like this:

• SoundStream is coming out with a 15,000 watt amp designed for SPL competitors and those that like to sonically rattle their fillings loose.
• MB Quart is known for incredible sounding speakers and amplifiers, and their recent journey into marine audio has led to some really innovative products. The new MB Quart APC (Audio/Video Processing Center), also known as the "Black Box" is one of the most unique source-solutions for boats that I’ve seen in my 10+ years in the industry.
• The Japanese consumer electronics industry is filled with cool gadgets, some we’ll either never see or we’ll have to wait at least a year or two before coming to our shores. Such an example is the new Kenwood K-WD01, a double DIN in-dash CD and MD player – a device we’ll probably never see. I vote this a "never see" since it has MD , and the mini-disc just never made it big here (unfortunately).
• The P-Per phone from Chocolate is one of the coolest concepts I’ve come across in a long time. Of course it follows the typical iPhone styling, but it uses an ePaper display on both sides, features a 3.0mp panoramic camera, a haptic touchscreen, and more. Seriously, check it out.

Remember the story we brought you last fall about Old Navy discontinuing its Chevy pickup truck store displays? Anticipating a quick-and-heartless corporate disposal of these supersized paperweights, everyone feared the worst-case scenario: the crusher. But wait: a handful of the trucks seem to have been turning up on eBay, making us wonder if perhaps Old Navy decided to do the right thing after all. On January 24th, CarDomain member Casey found one that doesn’t seem to be listed anymore; then this auction closed on the 26th at 100 bucks with no bids—somebody take this truck off the seller’s hands quick, before he scraps it! Today, VWVortex found a current auction for one of the Old Navy trucks, by a seller who promises he’ll eventually be listing 16 more: though someone’s entered a bid of $1600 for this non-runner, there have been rumors of folks getting the trucks free for the dismantling, right from the Old Navy stores! It seems that it’s been left entirely up to the individual stores to dispose of the vehicles as they wish; so now might be the time to call up and see if you can get a deal. 

The Periodic Review of NASIOC (North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club) is one of the most ingenious things that any car forum has done. The 15-minute episodes, aired on YouTube, manage to be both charmingly home-made and slickly edited at the same time, giving viewers an inside look at the world of Subaru enthusiast culture. Segments within each show feature hosts and guests pulling stunts, working on project cars, clowning around, and profiling various Subie luminaries, all the while educating the viewer on the NASIOC forums and Subaru in general. I love watching these, and like many viewers, I don’t even own a Subaru. It’s really a wonder that no other forums have shows like this, because of what they’ve been able to do with this show. I hope that episode 5 will convince other forums to do the same, since there’s no better way to spread the word about your cars and your scene at the grassroots level. The last four episodes are compiled on the show’s MySpace page, and check out the current one below!

Note to self: do not mess with the guys over at NSX Prime.