Newbie here,

Anyone installed viper alarm on tl-s? No clifford installers near my home and another third party installer warned against viper.

Any comments/help on Viper would be appreciated. This is my only aftermarket choice.

Want to keep my original HIDs as long as possible. Thanks.

 

You may want to check in the TL Forum... a lot of those guys have installed an aftermarket alarm and they could probably help out!!

 

I have a Viper 550 that was on my CL-S 2001 when I bought it off a guy.

I like the Alarm / Car Starter, but it's actually MORE ALARM than what I need most of the time. Easy enought to disable via the remote the Features you don't want to HEAR going off at the slightest KNOCK !

It's a Good Alarm System, but I like the Car starter as mush as anything about it.

Caddy

caddy@cdc.net

 

I was doing research on alarms also. My recent gatherings are that DEI has now acquired Clifford. DEI is the makers of Viper, Python, Hornet?, and several others that I forgot. But either way, its the same brain just different name for marketing pruposes. Can anyone verify this or correct me if I am wrong. Hope this helps.

j

 

DEi did acquire Clifford, but the brains are not the same between the Clifford and Viper units. Clifford still utilizes dual point immobilizations, and having owned both, The Clifford is vastly superior.

 

Many thanks for your info. Let's all try our best to stay alarmed and keep our rides in top shape!!!!

 

Call me stupid but, does the alarm in the TL-S suck? What is the difference between OEM and Clifford and/ or Viper? In my 93 Integra I had Python, whoop-dee-doo, I didn't think that was great. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.

 

The stock alarm is basically nothing more than an elaborate immobilizer. The chip in your key is required for the vehicle to start. No key=no start, no matter how you hotwire. The alarm is also tied into the trunk/hood/doors and if any of them are opened while the system is armed the alarm will sound.

So what else do you need? Well for starters, the OEM alarm has no shock sensor. This is probably the single biggest drawback to the system and that's why you've seen posts here about how to add one to the system (several on the list have already done it with varying degrees of success). If someone was to steal your headlights (which we all know is a problem), they could bang on the nose of your car until the cows come home and the OEM alarm isn't going to go off. Rims too--they could steal all four and drop the car on its belly and the OEM alarm wouldn't go off. Most aftermarket alarms have shock sensors. If the car is subject to bumps or hits the alarm goes off. Most also have dual-stage shock sensors. If somebody kicks your tires for example, the car will give a "warn-away" or a quick chirp. If it is continued shocks or a significant jolt the full siren goes off.

The OEM alam also doesn't have a glass-break sensor. Someone smashes your window, opens up your center console and steals your J-Lo CD collection, the factory alarm doesn't care. An aftermarket with a glass break (shock too) sensor will sound the alarm.

Then come the really cool features: remote car start, remote window open/close, anti-carjacking features, etc. If you've got the money to spend, they can make your car do whatever you want.

I just had a Clifford Concept 100 with remote start added to my TL-S. I'm a strong believer in aftermarket alarms being excellent theft deterrents. Note I said deterrent. If thieves really want your car, they will take it no matter what you do. The trick is to make your car a less appealing target than the vehicle next to you.

 

Thanks, Matt, that was very informative. How does the aftermarket alarm interact with the OEM? Does the OEM have to be uninstalled?

 

Nope. Although some places may bypass the OEM alarm, most installers will have both alarms work together. My OEM still works so the immobilizer part of the OEM system functions as designed. Just remember that if you do end up getting a remote starter with the alarm you need to provide a chipped key so they can set up the immobilizer bypass for it.

The only downside to an aftermarket alarm? Because you have to use the aftermarket remote, you lose the ability to have the seat memory activated by unlocking the car with the factory remotes. Of course, the seat memory still works by pressing the buttons on the inside of the driver's door. You just can't do it remotely any more. From what I've been told, there's no way to "teach" an aftermarket remote how to duplicate the necessary codes to do this.

The plus side of that is the aftermarket remotes have a much longer effective range than the OEM remotes. Typically you need to be inside 25 feet to get the OEM remote to work where as most aftermarkets are good for *at least* 100 feet and sometimes as high as 500 feet (when conditions are just right).