Ask HN: Where to begin in removing "safety" features from new cars?

2 points by sky2224 16 days ago | 6 comments

I'm looking at buying a new car, and I'm noticing the ones that fit my needs (mainly Subarus and Toyotas for their AWD) have ridiculously intrusive and finnicky "safety" features that involves a camera and collecting a ton of data I don't want them collecting.

I'm aware that these systems are pretty integrated, so it's not just a matter of pulling a fuse, but doing some type of reverse engineering to take control over how things internally work. I'm doing the research and am willing to put a lot of time in to make this happen, but I'm curious to know if anyone has explored this themselves already and to hear about their own findings.

Bender 16 days ago |

Just me personally, I would start with older trucks and take it to a mod shop to get it tuned up, tricked out and not add any of the undesirable features. Not cheap but I would get the end result I wanted and the opportunity to customize anything including anti-theft toggle combo switches and make all the steering column wiring the same color. As a bonus, if it is kept looking old and beat up it is less desirable to thieves.

ungreased0675 16 days ago |

You are looking for a DCM bypass.

As for the rest, I’m not sure why you want to disable things like automatic emergency braking or lane centering assistance. What exactly is the downside with those features?

sky2224 15 days ago | |

Cause driving is fun and these systems get in the way without providing any noticeable benefit to me.

I tried lane keep assist in an audi a5 sportback, and it was genuinely terrifying to me. It felt like it was trying to drag me into oncoming traffic when going around curves.

Automatic braking sounds great on paper but practically speaking doesn't work out in my opinion, and once again seems to get in the way. Many people have reported getting frequent alerts while driving or even having ghost braking going on with their Subaru EyeSight systems. This wouldn't be an issue if I could confidently remove the system from my vehicle, but right now I practically can't without doing some heavy lifting on my own.

dlcarrier 16 days ago |

You can eliminate most downsides by disconnecting the cellular modem. You might even be able to pull out a SIM card and be done with it.

sky2224 16 days ago | |

That definitely addresses the privacy issue, but some of the automatic braking and driver awareness monitoring is a bit much for me. For example, Subaru now puts a camera in the dash that frequently scans your face and makes a beeping noise if it thinks you're not paying attention. As you can imagine, it beeps a lot.

stop50 16 days ago |

Try the can bus. It is often used for tge communication between components and for last resort access.