Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 03/21/2006 Run time: 295 minutes Rating: Nr

Hosted by rapper Xzibit, Pimp My Ride is not your mother's car improvement program. It's more like a hip-hop Queer Eye for the Straight Guy--with autos and automotive experts--than, say, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Or as the theme song puts it, "So you wanna be a playa / But ya wheels ain't fly / Ya gotta hit us up / To get a pimped out ride." In each installment, Xzibit, aka "X to the Z," hooks up with the crew at L.A.'s West Coast Customs: Ryan (owner), Q (manager), Mad Mike (electronics), Big Dane (accessories), Aren (paint and body), Ish (interiors), and Alex (wheels and tires). The California-based car owners selected as subjects range in age from 18-24 and most are students on a limited budget. All have rides in need of some serious pimping. Take the ride featured in the first episode: Wyatt's 1988 Daihatsu Hi-Jet. The musician's "micro-van" is held together with duct tape, sheet metal, and calking. Friend Nathan describes it as "a toaster rolling on donuts." You won't recognize it when the West Coast crew gets finished with it. Now it's tricked out with silver flames, big rim tires, video monitors, a wraparound couch, a refrigerator, a DVD changer, an MP3 player, and a boomin' stereo system. It's the same for every ride they pimp: Mary's 1967 Ford Mustang, Jared's 1985 Ford Ranger, Danelle's 1981 Pontiac Trans Am, Neil's 1974 Chevy "Luv" Truck, Krissy's 1969 Volkswagen Baja Bug, etc. The first season of Pimp My Ride features 15 rides, all transformed from pathetic hunks of junk into slammin' wheels with crazy extras like turntables, ping pong tables, espresso makers, chandeliers, and lava lamps. The show quickly became MTV's most popular next to The Real World and was renewed for several more seasons. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Install a 5-1/4" component speaker system in 1988-1991 Honda Civic and Honda CRX

The Total Car Care series continues to lead all other do-it-yourself automotive repair manuals. This series offers do-it-yourselfers of all levels TOTAL maintenance, service and repair information in an easy-to-use format. Each manual covers all makes format. Each manual covers all makes and models, unless otherwise indicated. :Based on actual teardowns :Simple step-by-step procedures for engine overhaul, chassis electrical drive train, suspension, steering and more :Trouble codes :Electronic engine controls