Aftermarket tuning - what does the future hold

[yoda69]

A rather interesting read.
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/20/auto ... r-repairs/

[Jayme]

Ouch!

[Holden202T]

ok so I can understand car makers being worried about people playing with the electronic steering, brakes, safety systems etc (not that I know of anyone that actually want to) as changing these could have very bad consequences if not done by someone that knows what they are doing, but I see no reason why modifying an engine / gearbox control system needs to be not allowable!

it just seems like they are trying anything that can to stop people doing stuff without going through them, so then they get more profit.....

im sure theres got to be some sort of un-fair trading or whatever going on there, forcing people to have to use one product or one servicing supplier instead of having freedom of choice!

I've owned a few brand new cars and quite a few second hand cars and I don't think there has been a single one of them that I didn't want to modify in some way!

next they'll be saying you can't choose what brand wheels or tyres to run on your own car that you own!

[antus]

Yeah its totally for profit. Fortunately the DMCA is not Australian, but I have a feeling there is probably something in our "free trade" agreements which makes it enforceable here (I dont know, though). Really, tuning a car invalidates its ADRs now, and tuning should be for off road purposes only, or emissions and safety should be re-tested. So none of that needs to change.

The confusion I think comes from around the unlock process where most people consider a PCM that has stock factory security "unlocked" and a pcm where the algorithm has changed to be "locked". Because they can hit "read" in their software and it works, it must be unlocked right? No.

[The1]

it's much like any other industry, just look at movies and music, instead of addresing how they could turn it around to make more money EG offer low cost movie downloads from there own official site, but no they want to lock it down and cause people problems and make money in the courts.

[Gareth]

You pay for it, you own it, you choose to fuck with it and operate it outside the law, then its your problem.

Although this is not australian, it will be...

[VL400]

I can see a very very small part of the argument, with so many safety related systems now integrated playing with a module could change the behavior of the vehicle but at the end of the day its exactly what antus said - make a change and its no longer ADR compliant unless you jump through the hoops.

Fault finding at the dealer often involves just swapping modules till the car works again, yep experts

[TdracerTd]

If this happens, I will be hanging up my driving gloves, buying a prius and taking up golf. All of the appeal for me comes from what a car can be not what it is now.

[Holden202T]

Fault finding at the dealer often involves just swapping modules till the car works again, yep experts

totally agree, and this is half the reason we are all on this forum, people get shafted at dealers or mechanical shops who have no idea and are happy to just keep chucking parts at it and sending you the bills!

I do all my own car work that I can for that very reason, and having the software/hardware to connect to the car to see what the error codes are gives you a lot of the tools to be on par with the dealers!

the main difference is I have a vested interest in getting my car fixed asap and as cheap as I can, the mechanic you take it to usually doesn't!

prius and golf, fuck that, i'll be racing a modified EFI car till I can no longer due to old age

[Gareth]

the main difference is I have a vested interest in getting my car fixed asap and as cheap as I can, the mechanic you take it to usually doesn't!

Whooa, really?, how many rich mechanics do you know? Independent workshop owners have only one thing in mind - fix cars, not get rich. All the mechanics I know are passionate about cars, not money. Maybe you had bad experience?