The First Automotive Easter Egg?

automandc writes "The October dead-tree issue of Popular Science is reporting that the new BMW M3 contains what they are calling the "first automotive easter egg" in its transmission control software. Apparently, the proper combination of commands to the electronically controlled manual transmission will cause the car to rev up to 4000rpm and drop the clutch (premitting burnout, which is normally impossible). According to the article, use of the feature more than 15 times voids the warranty in Eurpoe. Other limitations of the "acceleration-assist" feature are discussed in this Car and Driver article. According to popsci, U.S. laws won't allow the warranty limitation, so the U.S. version of the software only revs to 1500rpm, but dealers will install the european software if you ask. The only other mention I could find on the web is here."

Comments

Re:manaul not

[tshak]

F1's are optimized for the track and even then the driver sometimes "hints" the transmission. There are also a couple of drivers who still prefer to use a manual. For consumer cars, a 5 or 6 speed is the way to go.

The only thing in consumer cars that can come close to a manual is Audi's Multitronic. Although similar in some ways to belt driven variable shifters found in many hdro-electric cars, Audi's transmission is far more advanced and is designed for performance in mind. Although it gets virtually the same gas mileage and performance as a 5 speed, it's still a tad bid slower and it adds a bit more weight to the car. Audi's other incredible transmission, the Tiptronic, is also very good, but a good driver in a 5 speed will smoke it even in "sports mode".

Its a feature you freakin' geeks

[Anonymous Coward]

It is NOT an easter egg...not everything is about computers guys?

This is a FEATURE called launch control. It was first used in Formula 1 (the definitive form of motor racing) where of course BMW run an engine with the Williams Team. It was only allowed for the first time last season. BMW are cashing in on their F1 success by adding 'launch control' to their sporty saloons.

This is the sort of geek sensationalism that will get neat features banned from cars...this is the same country that nearly put Audi out of business cause yanks couldn't figure out cruise control in the mid 80's.

and while I'm at it :-)

how come geeks know so little about and have such bad taste in cars? Why do geeks think hondas are cool ? How come geeks talk about wanting an electic car but drive v8s? Frys in Silicon valley used to reserve the best parking spaces for electric vehicles now they're back to disabled spots because only professor Frink used them!

for honda think zonda, for a car worthy of the geek moniker think Lotus Elise - revolutionary construction methods, unbelieveably performance and extraordinary fuel efficiency.

Dyno

[Konster]

.....it's was originally called the 'kamikazi dyno', where you trick out the software and the only place you can test it is out on the street.....

You need to hack the control unit in order to get an accurate dyno reading from an M3, since the front tires need to be spinning at the same rate as the rear wheels. If this isn't the case, the spark timing is retarded quite a bit, reducing horsepower (by quite a lot). The hack supplied by BMW also negates this. Remember to do this prior to putting your new M3 on a dyno.

Also, make sure the dyno shop has a cooling tower. Running a stationary M3 at redline without the proper cooling also invokes the dreaded spark timing retarder. It also might invoke the dreaded Abuse clause in your warranty.

RTFM

[JavaPriest]

So it is a documented feature according to some reactions. Here is somebody that didn't read the manual carefully. According to the accompanying text this driver stepped on the gas instead of the brakes, but my guess is she activated the easter egg.

Here's the documentation...

[mt-biker]

OK, so it's not an easter-egg, but it's still cool. Here's a description of the "racing start" and "burn-out" modes:

http://forums.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e46m3/forum.p hp?postid=525686&page=1

I think this is what I like most about BMWs - they take something like a computer-controller clutch, and proceed to build in a bunch of neat features to make use of the new tech. Another example would be opening the windows and sunroof with the remote control. It's definitely a geek-thing. :)

What I like least about BMWs? The effect that driving a BMW has on a person's road-manners.

There was an easter egg in Ford vehicles

[eXtro]

It's a fairly tame one, but my 1991 Ford F150 with the 6 speaker sound system had a minor easter egg in the radio. There were normally only 6 presets but if you mashed together a pair of presets at once you got access to additional presets. This always seemed to me like it had to be intentional. Whatever radio they built the plastics around had 8 memory locations, but the plastics only had room for 6 buttons. The engineers use combinations of buttons to access the additional presets rather than doing the typical thing which would priority encode them.

Car recommendation?

[SiliconEntity]

This is OT but I'll ask it here because you guys seem to know a lot about cars.

What would be a good car for a /.er who doesn't know much about cars and isn't interested in racing, but likes tech stuff? Something with a lot of cool accessories and automation? Let's say you could spend a lot, $40 or $50K. Thanks!