Area 451 or MDC

[Kermit]

It's 6 one way and halfadozen the other.

Currently I have a 451 and love it. An MDC IS in my future, not sure how how soon that is though. (I have 2 smarts too and want one of each type)

Pro & Cons = I can't think of any.

[jimvw57]

I have an area 451 and am completely satisfied with it's performance.

[Wdhitch]

Area 451

[SmartMadness]

[QUOTE=John_H;262951]

While I've heard of more issues with the MDC unit installs (bad cable wires or otherwise faulty units) the exposure might be greater because of the number of units sold; I don't have a comparison of the two.
QUOTE]

Just a little clarification on the "issues"...

We have sold several hundred MDC units over the last 6 months. We have shipped back a total of 2 defective modules and 4 cables our of all the units that have been installed.

The MDC unit is all plug and play. When folks get the unit they quickly realize they can just unplug the stock connections and plug the new ones in and some do not bother to read the directions. When that happens they fail to unplug the battery prior to installation or fail to make sure the connections have a good solid "click" and that is when the "issues" occur. The customer than decides to either call us or pick up the instructions and 99.9% of the time the problem gets taken care of.

[Periclaws]

In my experience and that is all I have to go with.Steven from Smartieparts has much better customer service.Yes I have dealt with both .

[SmartMadness]

Both are good units that are sold by reputable companies.

We offer the MDC unit and as the supplier of the MDC unit we feel it has some advantages over the Area 451.

The advantages are:

Simpler installation
No need to modify or splice any wires
Built In Sprint Booster module (a comparable feature in a stand alone unit sell for over $300)
The MDC unit has and continues to be installed in more smart cars across the world
A direct plug in LED included at No Charge



Here is what is comes down to... Most of the folks that own the Area 451 unit (more of them on this board since the Area 451 unit was sold to members on this board for a longer period of time than the MDC unit. The opposite is true in the EU.) love it and will swear by it. Most folks that own the MDC unit will say the same about theirs.

Steven is a great guy (owner of Area 451). I have spoken to him at times and cannot say anything but good things about him and his business practices. As the owner (me and Rachel) of Smart Madness I hope that people say the same about our customer service and our business practices.

Both units are great and they both make a good addition to your smart car. If we can ever be of service or answer any questions please do not hesitate to call us at 562-961-6800. We are open 10-6 Pacific (Tue-Fri) and 10-4 on Sat.

If you would like to see more info on the product here are the direct product links:

smart car Cruise Control w/LED by MDC - Cabrio model

smart car Cruise Control w/LED by MDC - Coupe

Thank you,
Boris

[jefferios]

Tough call. Since Steven came to the Midwest Rally and personally installed the systems to the owners I have to side with him and promote his product.

(See you at the next rally Steven!)

[John_H]

The MDC is a reputable product sold by a company with a strong presence on the SCOA forum backed up with a history of superb customer service. There's no "going wrong" ordering a cruise control from either supplier - you will be happy.

As far as the stated advantages of the MDC:

To be fair, the only time a wire is modified or spliced with the Area 451 is if someone chooses to install my home-brew LED kits and even then, the only wires spliced is the Area451 LED control cable with splice elements designed to withstand wet, corrosive environments.

Pins are moved from the ECU connector to the Area451 connector and wires from that connector then inserted in their place, no modification, no splicing of the wires. This is completely reversible with no ill effects. [From my background in electrical engineering] I would consider this approach to wiring more reliable when compared to the PC board "effective" substitute for a connector within the MDC control unit. The MDC solution works, it seems, but it is a bit more of a hack - in my humble opinion - than relocating connector wires.

The better solution would be for the Area 451 to have a full-up Y-connection cable for the ECU connector and for the MDC to use a legitimate connector for their application. Neither solution is practical due to an absence of availability for those connectors.

The LED offered with the MDC is a bit disappointing to most people who use it due to its limited brightness. Installation into the instrument cluster requires drilling.

The opinion that resonated with me from people who have installed both types of cruise controls is that the installation is roughly the same in difficulty. Both easily are accomplished within a couple leisurely hours chatting with someone watching the installation. It's easily a half hour (without LED) if someone knows what they're doing and is not distracted.

The sprint-booster type feature is, so far, unique to the MDC unit and many people very much enjoy that tweak to the feel of the throttle response.


Expect to see slight differences in offerings for both products, addressing some of the items "lacking" in either unit.

[Smart Enuf]

Originally Posted by John_H

The sprint-booster type feature is, so far, unique to the MDC unit and many people very much enjoy that tweak to the feel of the throttle response.


Expect to see slight differences in offerings for both products, addressing some of the items "lacking" in either unit.

I agree with everything John said. I would add that, as I recall, Area 451 has stated its unit is programmable and can be modified by them to add a sprint booster type functionality if there is sufficient market demand to warrant it. I believe they are currently looking into the programming needed to do that, and I believe their goal is to make a more sophisticated type of sprint booster (i.e., with different modes, rather than the on/off mode in other units available on the market).

[red mnm]

I purchased and installed the MDC unit (it took about 2 hours to install). There were 2 decision points that made up my mind for this unit over the 451. The first was purely personal - I was not comfortable making wiring modifications to the ECU on the car. The second was I liked the speed bump on the MDC. It makes it very easy to adjust the speed up or down in 1 mph increments. I drive with the cruise engaged probably 90% of the time. Like others on the forum have said I don't think you will be disappointed with the purcase of either unit.