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Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid subscription (www.autoexpress.co.uk)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
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[–] 64 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This has been true for decades with VW and other cars… I had my 2000 Jetta chipped and got all kinds of HP and torque. Some dude just plugged in a laptop, beep boop, vroom vroom. $600 please.

This just seems like VW cutting out those middlemen.

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  • [–] 46 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    That's tuning, and that's different. There's tradeoffs with tuning besides the obvious more wear.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    In many cases there’s no extra wear. I paid $800 for a Ford ecu update that improves engine output but also retains any warranty.

    I bet this has more to do with emissions.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    In many cases there’s no extra wear

    You can't change physics. More HP = more torque = more wear on the whole drive train. Also more boost = more stress on the turbo = it will fail sooner.

    Also, back then, cars with the higher specced variant of the "same" engine almost always had mechanical upgrades compared to the lower specced engine: usually bigger brakes, a stronger clutch, and various other drive train components.

    So while in many cases you could chip your car without much immediate harm, you were definitely cutting into various safety margins determined by automotive engineers who know much better than you and me.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Nah, some came with a little controller and you could change settings on the fly. The immediate benefit is better fuel economy on almost any mode. All it does is mess with the ecu within its limits. Doesn’t affect warranty and doesn’t cause any more wear.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    They will probably just switch ECU maps when you pay their subscription, or they'll have a similar way to perform the same function. Using the accelerator more creates more wear too.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Its the same IMO, but instead of a go faster switch in the car, its remote controlled.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Nope. With tuning you can bypass the safety limits as well. You can easily tune the car to be unsafe or suffer extreme wear.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    You can damage a car with bad tuning but that's not what he's saying. I think the manufacturer will create an ECU map that delivers safe power, and then they will create a map with less power and then deliver the car with the underperforming map. Then, when you pay, they change to the map with higher performance.

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  • [–] -2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    And I'm saying "you can have software A or software B(and only those choices - both approved by the manufacturer)", is not the same as tuning each individual setting and the freedom you have in doing so. Call it what it is, an alternate approved ECU map. Calling it a "tune" is giving them WAY too much credit and overshadows the main point: lack of control. This doesn't give you control, it takes away and charges you for the privilege.

    People mentioning classic tuning are glossing over the fact that you typically also change parts to accommodate the new tune and the new limits you are pushing. This "new tune" doesn't do anything but allow the vehicle to do what it always could but was handicapped in software to charge you more for.

    Stop bootlicking and call this scam what it is.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    You probably made 10 times the EPA limit of NOx emissions though.

    Funny enough, VW also got in a TON of trouble over (factory configuration) diesel cars cheating emissions testing.

    I dont know if yours was a diesel, but those especially are known for being capable of remarkable power and fuel economy at the same time... IF you don't care about emissions!

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It still passed emission tests. The 1.8T engine (also common in Audis) was super tunable.

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