Why shouldn’t I break into your house, change the locks, and then charge you a ransom to get access to it back?
'Cause that’s what VW is doing here.
Comment on VW introduces monthly subscription to increase car power
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 1 day agoThere’s a $650 lifetime unlock option. What’s the difference between this and the “m series” for BMW that costs $20k over stock, that must be purchased at the time of order??
At least gives an option to the user, if it’s not fast enough for winning races at the nurburgring, then they can unlock full performance for $650.
In city it makes no difference except using more energy and consuming tires faster than expected
grue@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
It’s completely different. It’s a car that was sold with an option at moment of purchase. 145 HP or 200 HP for more money? Normal people chose the 145 HP because cheaper and pay less taxes and insurance and because when you drive in the city the 50 HP do not make any difference.
Suppose one day the owner needs to win races at the nurburgring instead of commuting or taking kids at school, so they give the option of unlock the full power instead of buying a new car.
If it was something like “from today you need to pay a subscription if you want to open the back windows” I would agree with you, but in this case it’s a power unlock that was known from the moment of purchase and not a surprise shock.
grue@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
No, that’s absolute bullshit.
In your example, they absolutely and unequivocally bought all 200 HP, from the beginning, and merely got a good deal on it if VW charged a lower price than the identical car with different number on the label. But it was always their property from the beginning because that’s how property works.
They owe VW nothing after the fact, and always had the capital-r Right to use every bit of horsepower the engine was physically capable of!
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
ECU hacks exists since decades ago, it is simply a different, more conservative curve because the car it’s a vehicle for urban usage and doesn’t need to be racing competitive.
They call it unlock but it’s a different power curve and possibly the 159 kmh limit removed (but with an ev you really don’t want to go over 130 unless you’re racing, the power consumption is so high that you need to stop to recharge after just 100 km)
I repeat, that this is not something like heated seats or android auto/car play support (BMW did those as a subscription), something that renders the car almost useless if removed.
99% of owners won’t even think a second about this option
Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
Stop saying nurburgring
Wispy2891@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
You racing in the city?
Evono@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
The difference is , the BMW actually changes something physically.
The 650 elunlock just unlocks something artificially you already had purchased