Ask Slashdot: What's the Most Hackable Car?

Posted by Soulskill on Friday November 21, 2014 @06:15AM from the aside-from-the-delorean dept.

An anonymous reader writes: When looking for a new (or used) car, I have readily available information regarding features, maintenance history, and potential issues for that specific model or generation. What I would really like is a car that is readily hackable on the convenience-feature level. For example, if I want to install a remote starter, or hack the power windows so holding 'up' automatically rolls it up, or install a readout on the rear of the car showing engine RPMs, what make/model/year is the best pick? Have any of you done something similar with your vehicle? Have you found certain models to be ideal or terrible for feature hacking?

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Which part? by TheMiddleRoad · 2014-11-21 06:21 · Score: 5, Interesting

The Mitsubishi Evo and Subaru WRX probably have the most hacked ECUs around. Loading something like ECUTek onto a BRZ or FR-S gives you equal control. Convenience systems are usually controlled with some kind of aftermarket device, though for Toyotas, you can download Techstream and control a few options via a cheap cable off ebay. A Tesla offers the most toys to play with out of the box, but you can't do a think with the actual drive system. An M-series BMW like an old M5 will give you loads of settings to play with between the engine, transmission, and suspension.