• jetsetdorito@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Even ICE manufacturers have been including hardware that software disabled for a while

    • smallaubergine@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I got an OBDeleven for my 2015 GTI so I could unlock stuff and customize. Enabled rolling down the windows with the key fob, being able to display the engine oil temp in the dash and also setting the accelerator pedal curve to linear.

        • abhibeckert@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The accelerator curve is really cool. A lot of modern cars just have a sensor that detects your pedal position and a simple algorithm decides how much power to translate that into. It’s like adjusting the mouse speed on a computer. Feels like you’re driving a different car.

          Having said that, the default curve is often the best curve. They put a lot more effort into getting it right than you would.

        • smallaubergine@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Kinda depends on the car. Volkswagen cars are pretty “hackable” with OBDeleven which is a wireless interface for the hilariously named “VAGCOM” protocol.

        • Bucket_of_Truth@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Almost every car company does something similar and has as long as they’ve had on board computers.

          VW/Audi/Porche are all the same company and generally share the same electronics. A lot of gauges and features are considered “premium” so they just disable them for VW branded vehicles. There’s also regional feature lockouts; IIRC North American VW’s can’t have their fog-lights and headlights on at the same time but you can enable it through VAGCOM.

    • falkerie71@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Subscribe to enable your BMW seat heater! They definitely require periodic software updates and is absolutely NOT a blatant money grab

    • finder@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      There are some manufacturers that do not do this garbage, or at least not often. I’ve heard good things about Hyundai specifically.

      • boonhet@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        For now they have customer goodwill to win back after nearly a decade of building cars that practically fell apart in a year or 2 in the late 00s and early 10s.

        They’ll catch up to the others in anti-consumer practices soon, but for now they’re a good choice if you don’t particularly care for performance or ride quality.

      • _stranger_@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Tesla got rid of the heater subscription bullshit in 2021. Now, the only thing locked behind a paywall is internet related stuff (sentry over mobile, streaming media access, etc.), the performance boost, and FSD.