This is interesting because people have been tuning their vehicles for years via reprogramming the ECU. It is not legal when an individual does this but legal when a company does this in exchange for money?
Good point, it opens up some sort of gvmnt regulated permissioning for upgrades bureaucracy for newer vehicles...while other bureaucracies crack down on individuals performing the same actions.
The manufacturers can certify their changes to be emissions legal. They already need to go through the process to certify every new model of car they make and have the equipment and know-how to do the paperwork, so it's not a huge deal for them.
You can go through the same process, but you likely can't afford it.
Makes sense. In that case I will accept a one time fee for a dial on the dashboard that says
- economy
- normal
- performance
I believe that Toyota and a few others already did something like this in the past. I will not be subscribing to a service with a vehicle provider unless they are giving me an incredible incentive to do so but I can not imagine anything that would be both an incentive to me and to the vehicle manufacture.
I work at a company that is starting this debate releasing a product that is "good enough" and some time after launch provide a substantial upgrade package OTA for additional cost.
Some members of the team, especially the older generation, are very much against this idea. They suggest we develop the product until we get the most we can out of the hardware then never touch it again. They fear customers will be unhappy that the hardware box they bought last year suddenly has better performance because of an update (that they had to pay more for).
Younger members of the team suggest that we can ship it earlier and working well but not completely optimized. Then release this update unlocking better performance.
- a good way for regulators to make money off any vehicle owner who choses to upgrade a vehicle
-an ominous expansion of 'upgrade package' marketing for one of life's essentials. BMW are already flogging subscription heated seats.
I can buy an entire engine and ECU (LS, Magnum etc) for around 250 bucks in a US wrecking yard, spend around 2.5k to rebuild and have a 500 hp engine. I worry the era of parts scavenging (highly efficient environmental recycling and a major source of revenue for many) is being aggressively curtailed in the name of centralized control and profits. (I'm currently in UK and already looking for older Jaguar parts over here, same logic).
Right to own and modify is gravely under threat in many other areas too, IMO the 'younger generation' (sic) seem strangely unconcerned or aware of this, presumably assuming product abundance and affordable pricing will last forever...
Or, as another example, many years ago the Italian FIAT and the Spanish SEAT were making very similar models with same engines but the SEAT had the same engine tuned down to fewer HPs since it was the "cheaper" line, or in more recent times when within the same car manufacturer catalog sported three different cars belonging to different segments that had the same engine with only a few different parts (besides ECU regulations) with three different power levels.
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[ 1.9 ms ] story [ 30.1 ms ] threadYou can go through the same process, but you likely can't afford it.
- economy
- normal
- performance
I believe that Toyota and a few others already did something like this in the past. I will not be subscribing to a service with a vehicle provider unless they are giving me an incredible incentive to do so but I can not imagine anything that would be both an incentive to me and to the vehicle manufacture.
I work at a company that is starting this debate releasing a product that is "good enough" and some time after launch provide a substantial upgrade package OTA for additional cost.
Some members of the team, especially the older generation, are very much against this idea. They suggest we develop the product until we get the most we can out of the hardware then never touch it again. They fear customers will be unhappy that the hardware box they bought last year suddenly has better performance because of an update (that they had to pay more for).
Younger members of the team suggest that we can ship it earlier and working well but not completely optimized. Then release this update unlocking better performance.
Is this really a generational thing?
- a rip off
- a good way for regulators to make money off any vehicle owner who choses to upgrade a vehicle
-an ominous expansion of 'upgrade package' marketing for one of life's essentials. BMW are already flogging subscription heated seats.
I can buy an entire engine and ECU (LS, Magnum etc) for around 250 bucks in a US wrecking yard, spend around 2.5k to rebuild and have a 500 hp engine. I worry the era of parts scavenging (highly efficient environmental recycling and a major source of revenue for many) is being aggressively curtailed in the name of centralized control and profits. (I'm currently in UK and already looking for older Jaguar parts over here, same logic).
Right to own and modify is gravely under threat in many other areas too, IMO the 'younger generation' (sic) seem strangely unconcerned or aware of this, presumably assuming product abundance and affordable pricing will last forever...
I always felt ripped off when manufacturers started doing something similar (hardware, not software), example (old thread):
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5398555
Or, as another example, many years ago the Italian FIAT and the Spanish SEAT were making very similar models with same engines but the SEAT had the same engine tuned down to fewer HPs since it was the "cheaper" line, or in more recent times when within the same car manufacturer catalog sported three different cars belonging to different segments that had the same engine with only a few different parts (besides ECU regulations) with three different power levels.