ZM Ford F250

Twenty five speakers, thirteen subwoofers, three 26 inch LCD TV's and 3400 watts RMS. ZM takes excess to the next level with it's all-new F-250 Promo vehicle.........

For years Black Thunders have been roaming around our city streets as promotional tools for the Radio Network's ZM station. These vehicles have always been big and loud, but they were nothing compared to the latest addition- ZM's new Thunder One.

A year ago Mark Dunsby, a radio consultant at the station hatched a plan for the next ZM promo machine. It would be bigger, badder and louder than ever before.

Mark presented his visions of grandeur to the executives at ZM. A ford F-350 was on the cards until it was realized it was in fact too big for NZ roads. Its little brother was picked as the next best thing. I've never seen as F-350 in the flesh, but if this F-250 is the smaller sibling, then the designers at Ford really do need their heads checked. Measuring 6.5 meters long, two meters wide and weighing a healthy 2.7 tonnes, it seemed like the perfect truck to negotiate Auckland's CBD traffic. Under the bonnet is a throaty six-litre V8 turbo-charged diesel block, churning out 325hp and 772Nm of torque.

It was decided the F-250 would be handed over to Rob Charteris and his team at Auckland's Rapid Radio for the fit out worthy of its epic proportions.

Rapid's Josh Cattermole's task was to integrate what seems like the entire contents of the JVC catalogue into the F-250. I've seen some big audio systems in my time -from SPL vehicles staked with dozens of amps, to insane machines jammed with 250 four-inch speakers. But nothing prepared me for an audio system of this magnitude.

A JVC KDAVX1 multimedia head unit with integrated three-inch LCD controls the entire system. This unit is capable of playing DVD,CD and MP3 discs.

The head unit sends audio signal to 17 (yes 17!)  JVC KSAX5700 two channel amps mounted at numerous locations in the vehicle. These provide 200watts per channel to the speakers, totaling a massive 3400 watts RMS.

Seven of these amps are located in the cabin. One is between the two front seats built into the custom centre console. The other six are located under and behind the rear bench seat. The centre console also houses three Auto Meter Cobalt gauges for monitoring the six Orbital 1000CCA batteries in the system, a temperature gauge to monitor the amps and an amp meter to keep a watch on the systems current demands. Just below the gauges are five switches to control the lighting in the rear, but the NOS switch is purely a gimmick. The air switch controls the compressor for lifting the rear canopy.

A set of very large speakers pods grace the front doors. These contain two 5.25 inch mid range speakers angled towards the front seats and four 6.5 inches mid bass speakers. Three tweeters from matching components set are another two 5.25 inch mid range speakers angled towards the rear bench seat and two 6.5 inches mid bass speakers. The primary purpose of the centre console is discovered when you sit in the rear seat- it doubles as an enclosure for a single JVC CS-GD4300 12 inch sub.

The rear canopy has been chopped down and had its windows filled. All four corners of the canopy are attached to pneumatic rams that lift the lid a few feet to display the audio system hidden inside.  Twelve 6x9 speakers rise from two towers mounted each side of the rear deck. The tower housing the speakers are curved to direct the speakers to any punter keen enough to make use of tree slim line Playstation 2's mounted in the rear tailgate. A JVC 26 inch LCD TV sits between the two towers displaying output from either the PS2's or the headunit inside. Between the two towers are another 12 sets of 6x9 inch two way speakers, mounted in a curved cavity around the rear amp rack. The amp rack supports ten amps to power most of the speakers in the rear deck. Two more maps flank the rack and blend nicely into the towers.  Surrounding the 26inch LCD are 12 subs flush mounted in a similar cavity enclosure.

Two more JVC 26 inch LCD's have been mounted on each side of the Ford, crafted into the side of the towers. Perched above the LCDs are three six inch speakers that provide audio output for the gaming consoles.

Everyone who helped with this larger-than life project is suitably impresses with the way it turned out. Radio station promo cars have become bigger over the years, but ZM's F-250 Thunder One has truly taken size and boom power to a new level.