The year: 1997. The place: the top of a hill in a field, somewhere in England. The event: V97, a massive music festival. UK-based Fuel Records director Richie Warren has set up his two Dodge Chargers, with express written consent of the festival. "You can play as loud as you like," they agreed. Richie hits the switches and a massive PA horn rises on hydraulics from the back of each car where the trunk used to be. He bridges the two cars, effectively creating a stereo pair. He fires up the music -- the two PA speakers, as well as 12 18s, leap to life. It's only a matter of time before the stage manager for The Prodigy is begging Richie to turn off his cars -- the band can't hear itself on stage!
Richie is obviously serious about his music. And his sound system. Originally conceived as demo vehicles for the label and a way to reference his label's music before press (and later upgraded to power full-on raves) the Chargers were built up in 1996 with the help of Funktion 1, the UK company that designed the Floodlight Turbo Sound pro rig, as well as early bass heads Pete Newell and Ian (Iceman) Pinder. These monsters have since gone on to be recognized as the loudest vehicles ever built (as measured outside the car).
The first thing you notice when looking at the Fuel cars are obviously the PAs. Hydraulic rams raise the Funktion 1 system (that's mids and highs) from the trunk. This is no normal car audio system -- these are world class concert speakers, designed by the same team that outfitted London's Millennium Dome for sound. The PAs are complemented inside the car by a wall of six Precision Device 18" speaks. Again, these are professional PA speakers. Their voice coils have been wound down to 4-ohms each; they sit in a shared enclosure that occupies the entire back seat. There are no front speakers -- you'd never be able to hear them anyway.
Amplification has been provided by a variety of companies. "Amplification has been one of the biggest problems," laments Richie. "We've used Genesis, Rockford Fosgate and DLS and none of them have been able to withstand the workload that we put them under. I would say that the Genesis monoblock has come closest, but we've needed so much cooling that sometimes it has become impractical." Impractical is right -- six 1000-amp Rockford Fosgate amps (that's 1000 watts per sub!) had to be "cooled" with a fire extinguisher.
Much of the rest of the install is less exotic. Two Rockford Fosgate EPX 2's provide the EQ, using a 24-band EQ card. Streetwires -- mostly 0-gauge -- handles the speaker cable. Five Optima Yellow Tops provide the juice for short bursts. For extended play (admittedly out of the ordinary) a Livingstone Scientific power supply, delivering 200 amps at 13 volts, keeps the cars pumping all day long. Remember though, these cars are for more than just in-vehicle music enjoyment. They're for rocking entire cities!
So where's the head unit, you ask? There isn't one. RCAs from a standard DJ setup (two turntables and a mixer) are connected to the cars. The cars then become the left and right channels in a stereo PA. Fuel artists such as Tipper (see interview), as well as other DJs (does Fatboy Slim ring a bell?) have devastated crowds with these beasts at festivals, raves, and sound-offs. They don't have a reputation for being sound weapons for nothing.
Fuel Records is known primarily for its breaks and bass-based dance music but that's all about to change. With an eye on the car audio and tuner markets, Fuel has decided to branch out into a line of subs and amps as well as neon (and of course bass CDs). Expect to see Fuel-brand in-car and under-car neon available in the US by fall 2003, with Fuel subs and amps out in 2004. The cars themselves are being torn apart to accommodate the new line, so you know they're going to be tough. If the line can power the Chargers, they'll have no trouble with your whip. Watch for the Fuel cars, out on a promotional tour of America and the UK very soon. First stop: Spring Break 2003 in Daytona, Florida. Richie would like to thank Tony Andrews at Funktion 1, Pete Newell, Ian (Iceman) Pinder, Ged at In-car World, Rockford Fosgate (especially Neil at the UK distribution point), Adam Rayner (ICE editor at Fastcar in the UK), Gordon at Genesis, and Optima. Special thanks to Bob Graham at Breakers Mobile Electronics in Oxnard, CA for the recent help (877-4BREAKERS).
For more on Fuel, its products and artists, visit its Web site at www.liquidinjuredhearing.com.