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Hack Your Ride

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the practical-hacklications dept.

LukePieStalker writes "Monday's Boston Globe has a story on the global market for car chippers. The article describes a global subculture of "drivers who reprogram their vehicles and the companies that keep them supplied with high-performance software and silicon chips". One nice hack: a car chipped-up for the race track can be set back to factory specs for the street simply by pushing the cruise control button."

9 of 368 comments (clear)

  1. That bowling ball! It's my wife by Monsieur+Canard · · Score: 5, Funny

    And the coming of warmer weather is bringing in a new wave of customers to KTR, which was originally owned by Boston rocker J. Geils.

    For some reason, I find that incredibly cool.

    Maybe the whole purpose of these new mod chips is so drivers can make back-up copies of their cars in case they crash.

    Sorry, I'll leave now.

    --
    He took a duck to the face at 250 knots.
    1. Re:That bowling ball! It's my wife by dr_dank · · Score: 3, Funny

      Also, it proves that more than his memory has just been sold.

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
  2. My car... by i.r.id10t · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... doesn't use chips you insensitive clod! (actually, it can run without any fuses installed as well...)

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
  3. My car needs to be rebooted by heironymouscoward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Seriously. It's flashing "Overspeed warning off" at me. But some days it says "Warning engine overheating" just as the car starts on a cold day. Or, "Immobilizer!!" when I try to start it. Then it occasionally acts normal, but switches the display from km/l to km-left-to-pump to average driving speed, randomly.

    Perhaps it's because it's a French car and takes itself too seriously.

    Anyhow, I'm now going to look for someone who can rechip it and give it a new personality, something a little less brie and baguette, more Yvette Lopez, "where d'ya wanna go today?"

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
  4. Disappointing by kahei · · Score: 5, Funny


    I thought a 'car chipper' would be something like a wood chipper, only *much* more ferocious.

    Ah well.

    --
    Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
  5. That's nothing... by Dishwasha · · Score: 5, Funny

    My mechanic hacked my car so the left blinker blinks faster than the right. He also put in that hanging wire below the dashboard hack.

  6. Windows BMW by Prince+Vegeta+SSJ4 · · Score: 5, Funny
    While doing 60 MPH

    Windows Mobile has detected unidentified hardware, and is unable to find a driver for it.

    Restarting...

  7. The similarities escape some.... by Darth_brooks · · Score: 5, Funny

    Then there's the warranty issue. Reprogramming a car doesn't void the warranty -- unless it can be shown that a later breakdown was caused by the new software. Ford Motor Co. spokesman Glenn Ray says one buyer of a new 2003 Ford Cobra learned this the hard way. The Cobra is about as powerful a car as Ford makes, but not powerful enough for this customer. "He put a chip in it," said Ray, "and blew up the motor." The owner had over-revved the engine--something the original software would have prevented.

    Somewhere right now, a Slashdot reader is saying to himself "What a dumbass."

    And somewhere a Cobra owner is reading about an overclocker who cooked his Athlon and is saying to himself "What a dumbass."

    --
    There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
  8. Re:Stupid question by HungWeiLo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Take the stick shift and:

    up, up, down, down, left, right, left right, left turn signal, right turn signal, brake, gas

    --
    There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.