New Zealand Product Range
The Cobra AB3868 has been around for some time now and certainly set a new bench mark for other upgrade alarms to follow. Like the Autowatch 555 CLAM the Cobra is an intelligent upgrade alarm in that it learns the timing of the arm disarm commands. Like all Cobra alarms Ultrasonics come as standard and the AB3868 is rated as a Thatcham CAT 2 to 1 upgrade. In other words it is designed for vehicles with an existing transponder immobiliser and uses the existing factory remote to arm/ disarm. To clarify the standards any Thatcham CAT 1 alarm is NZSA 5 star compliment, even if they don’t list the products on the website there is small print accepting Thatcham tested products.
Optional Anti Hijack
The LED is mounted with the over-ride button like other Cobra systems. The alarm can be programmed for anti-hijack, this requires the driver to input the pin code every time the vehicle is started or the alarm will sound whilst being driven to deter theft of the vehicle with the keys. Stopping the vehicle will leave it immobilised and armed! The Cobra will then ignore all arm disarm commands and will only become active once the pin code has been entered.
Class Leading Siren
As with all other Cobra alarms the AB3868 has a siren which is shrill, loud and attention grabbing when set off, exactly the way any good car alarm should be. It can also be programed for what ever volume you desire for the arm and dis-arm chirps.
Missing Features
Firstly the AB3868 has no boot release sense input, this means that for most cars with boot release the alarm will need to be disarmed before the boot open button is pressed, however the alarm can be wired to disarm with the boot release button on certain vehicles. For those that can’t it makes the boot release button a panic button if pressed whilst the alarm is armed! To be fair to Cobra the AB3868 is showing its age now and most new cars with boot pop are covered by the AK4908 CAN-BUS alarm or the brilliant AK4147 designed for Toyota’s (but we’ll save that for a later post).
The second thing is missing (yes I’m being very picky here) is a pager out-put.
Ultrsasonics come as standard
Cobra AB3868 Upgrade Alarm
RRP: $650.00
Insurance Approved:
Thatcham Cat 2-1 Upgrade
Obsessive Rating:
Getting old now but still better than most
Apart from the Autowatch 555 CLAM the competition seems light years away!
OVERVIEW
Features:
Ultrasonics
Single Immobiliser
Dash Mount LED Over-ride
Options:
Additional sensors
Anti HiJack
Hi, what would you recommend for a 72 Holden Monaro?
My insurance wants a 5-star approvd system. Id rather have a real 5-star and not a budget one off TMe.
You’d need an alarm with it’s own remotes so the AB3868 is certainly out as it is an Upgrade alarm. I’d suggest either the Cobra AB7928, the Cobra AK4198 with extra Immobiliser, or the Autowatch 446RLi Premium.
I’ll not go into the details here as it’s public access so please email or call me to discuss your options 0212425276, julian@vehiclesecurity.co.nz
Hi, can the cobra AB3868 control a Dome light supervision relay ?
It’s not a feature on the AB3868. Most Euro cars with factory keyless entry tend to have this already (Cobra is made in Italy and I’d assume are more concentrated on the Euro market) although I know there are heaps of Jap cars that don’t.
The Autowatch 555CLAM has an output that can be used to turn the dome light on for 40 seconds on disarm which is another option if this is important to you.
Your other option would be to build a timer circuit which activates from the unlock pulse and the ignition turning off if you want to get flash! This is what I ended up doing for the Obsessive Go-Kart.
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