Going to the drive-in

For those with DRLs which don't have an off switch, I think it's slightly different.

You need to stop, shut down, and restart WITHOUT changing from "P", the DRLs won't come on till you select a gear.. If you decide to reverse/fwd 6" to get a better alignment, the DRLs come on again - start the process again.

[I haven't been to a drive-in since they had speakers hanging on your window, and windows which fogged up - my '56 car didn't have a heater/demister, so it was a matter of taking a couple of towels to keep wiping the windows with.]

 

AHHHH drive ins......Does anybody up north remember the little electric heaters that use to go with the speakers on the post. Took some of the fun out of snuggling to get heat LOL.

 

I think I would just bring along a portable radio. Goofy to be running a whole car for hours for this. And yeah even a conventional car, with a bit more robust 12 volt, is not going to take kindly to hours in accessory mode.

 

I was happy with the crappy speaker that you hung on the window. I guess too many were getting broke, or whatever. (And with my favorite girl, VERY happy when the windows fogged up! Ah yes, those were the days.)

 

I normally hook this up to an extension cord, but it takes batteries too. Was around $30~35 I think. Indispensable in power outages too:

 

They are still around surprisingly, you just have to look harder for them. From a peak of over 4,000 drive-in theaters in the U.S. in the 1950's, the number steadily declined over the next few decades. By the 1980's they were numbered n the 200's and many thought the end of the drive-in theater was near. But then interestingly the decline stopped, and actually reversed slightly, and by 2010 there were nearly 400 drive-in theaters in the U.S.

But then around 2012, after most standard theaters had already replaced their film projectors with digital projectors, the movie studios stopped making movies available to theaters on film. This had a huge impact on small theaters like art houses, indie theaters and drive-in theaters. Many of these small theaters could not afford to purchase a digital projector which cost upwards of $70,000. In many towns there have been community fundraisers to help purchase a ,digital projector for their local small theater, and this effort saved many small theaters including several drive-ins that were otherwise going to close. However not all of them were converted, causing the number of drive-ins to decline to the low 300's which is about where it is now, although current numbers are hard to come by.

Probably they had weak batteries to begin with, and also I wouldn't be surprised if some of them turned the ignition switch to ON instead of accessory, maybe so they could run the fan, which of course would use even more power.

To each his own. Big sound difference between a portable radio and a car audio system. Even standard car audio systems are quite good nowadays, even more so when stopped as there is no wind, road and engine noise competing with it. With everything else shut off and just the stereo going, a standard 12V in good condition should survive a two hour movie, especially since the volume doesn't need to be as high as it would be when driving. But I agree it's not ideal for the 12V battery. That's what's great about the Prius is you can put it in READY mode and have your cake and eat it too.

 

The Prius 12V battery does not meet that definition because the Prius does not need the high cold cranking amps of a traditional car.

 

No disagreement on Prius, I was referring to other cars not Prius,since we were also talking in general about modern drive-in theaters. Other cars have no other option but to run in accessory mode, and my point was that in my opinion a standard 12V in good condition should be able to run the stereo for a couple of hours. For Prius of course you should be in READY mode as there is no reason to drain the 12V since we have a better alternative available.

 

It's a bit funny, but here is what happened to "drive-in theaters". They had the hanging speaker. Kept having people driving away with them attached (side window breaks, cord breaks). They got tired of replacing speakers and fixing cords so they went to FM stereo. Then they had one or two guys who moved around the lot giving people boosts to get started when they wanted to leave. They usually had a few "boost devices" on wheels that they pushed around. Usually no charge (pun intended).

They tell you not to run the engine during the show, but a Prius left in "ready" will cycle the engine on and off, perhaps once every 5-10 minutes, depending on what you have running inside. Will it make them mad? If so, leave and make sure they know you're never coming back and why.

Turn car off once parked. Apply the parking brake. Put the car in ready. For Canadian cars this will ensure the DRLs don't come on. Not sure about American cars, but you can turn your DRLs off anyway. We Canadians can't.

There are a few drive-in theaters starting up again for sentimental reasons. Or they couldn't get the permits to build the housing developments.

 

My only problem is that if the car is kept running, how do I kill all the interior dash lights? I can turn the touch screen off, but have not been able to figure out how to turn the bright dash lights off. The dimmer only works when the headlights are on. I've just been shoving a jacket in there, but it gets pretty warm.

 

Unfortunately, I had the same issue at a double feature drive-in last month. My Pruis automatically shut off about every 45 mins (not in accessory mode). I was very disappointed and surprised until I found an article on CNN "
"Toyota cars will now turn themselves off if you forget"

Maybe the new Pruis needs to come with a warning, "Not for use at drive-in movie theaters". Lol.

 

Bring a portable AM/FM radio?

 

Gen 4 doesn't. (This was a Gen 4 thread.)