By Tan Chong Yaw

Upgrade: Plug in the iPod
Why limit your music choice to just those on the CD player? Why not plug your MP3 player into your car sound
system for more soul?

Effort needed: One hour at the car hi-fi shop, from $90 $90 for a simple connection to the back of your head unit (the CD player in your car). That gives you a cable with a 3.5mm socket - the standard earphone socket.

Get a $10 cable - plug one end into the cable socket and the other to the earphone socket of your MP3 player.

Or, shell out $220 for an iPod port into which you can even charge your player which you can hide in the glove compartment.

Upgrade: Beep alerts for parking

Admit it: You need help parking, especially at those infernal parallel lots. Ultrasonic sensors fore and aft are what you need. They blip. The closer the car gets to an object, the faster a blip will sound until it becomes one continuous electronic bleat. Yes, they annoy, but you avoid fender benders. Rear sensors activate when the car goes into reverse. Front sensors need to be switched on and come with a small LED strip as an additional visual aid.

Effort needed: Four hours and $380 Holes have to be drilled in your bumpers to insert the sensors which are coloured to match your bumpers. $380 gets you two pairs of sensors.

Upgrade: Watch a movie.

Hold your own movie fest in the car. Just swop your old head unit with an AV (audio-visual) one to play DVD
movies. Control is via a touchscreen LCD. You can use your existing speakers if you don't need the full movie sound. Ask for one with a USB socket so you can also plug in your flash drive or even external hard disk. Imagine- 500GB of media storage.

Effort needed: 11/2 hours and $850. If you want an additional roof-mounted LCD monitor- add another $450 and 21/2 hours.

Upgrade: Enjoy hi-fi.

This is the traditional 'zhng' - local slang for a car upgrade. An upscale head unit plus an amplifier is needed for a cleaner, more powerful sound. Add a minimum ensemble of six speakers plus one subwoofer for more depth to the sound.

Effort needed: One day and between $3,000 and $5,000. All the door panels and parts of the dashboard need to come off. Wiring and most speakers - except the tweeters for high frequency sound - will all be concealed.

Upgrade: Catch a football match.

Watch TV programmes in the car. If you already have an LCD screen, all that is needed is a tuner plus two antennas which are usually tucked inside the bumpers. The coverage of TVMobile is almost islandwide. Channels 5 and 8 and Channel News Asia are still under trial, car hi-fi installer Pin Liang says. With just one transmission tower at Bukit Batok, signals are not as strong as TVMobile's and would not reach the eastern part of the island, Pin Liang added.

Effort needed: Three hours and $380

Upgrade: Find your way around

Never be lost again with a global positioning system (GPS) navigation device. Key in your destination and the device will guide you there by voice. Make a wrong turn and it will quickly figure out a new route. A bonus: it never gets impatient.

You could also seek out the nearest amenities like petrol kiosks and restaurants. With a portable GPS device like a
Garmin Nuvi, you just need to clamp it securely on the windscreen or dashboard mount. However, you must get used to a smaller screen -as small as 3 inches- and check that the battery is charged. Or, if you have an existing LCD touchscreen, install a navigation module to it.

Effort needed: 11/2 hours and $750 to install the navigation module. Portable ones cost $450 upwards (From
Eastgear, tel: 6837- 1582).

Upgrade: Take that phone call- legally

Some folks hate Bluetooth earpieces but want to be able to use their mobile phones while driving. Get a Bluetooth car kit. Plugged into the car sound system, you hear your caller over the car speakers. A microphone on the device picks up your voice. It has the smarts to let you dial numbers by voice as well and to automatically lower the radio volume when a call comes in.

Effort needed: One hour and $400

Upgrade: Keep track of your car

It is a simple idea: install a global positioning system (GPS) tracking device in your car. Then add in just part of a
mobile phone to communicate the car's location. Track your car's location through Google Maps with the basic model. The advanced model lets you immobilise - kill the engine after the car becomes stationary- your car with an SMS message. Or warn you- also via SMS- if your car has been moved. If you have an auto-roaming plan, you could track your wheels even if they have been carjacked to Malaysia.

However, bear in mind- the GPS device must be able to see the sky to work. If the car is left in a basement carpark ' it can't be tracked.

Effort needed: Less than an hour, from $30 to $250

Prices depend on the car model and whether you want additional functions. You will also need a mobile data plan- StarG3 which designs and makes the vehicle tracker - has one with SingTel. Just pay a flat rate of $11.21 a month. (From StarG3, tel: 6270-3329).

Unless otherwise stated, the timings and prices here are supplied by Pin Liang Enterprises, tel: 6734 1717

How did you add vroom to your ride? Send us your story at a1motor@sph.com.sg!

This article was first published in The Straits Times, Digital on Oct 29, 2008.

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