6 ms·

This is timely! I just made the decision to buy a car (either a 2021 or 2022 Subaru WRX, most likely), and have been curious about hacking the ECU, CAN bus, etc

This is timely! I just made the decision to buy a car (either a 2021 or 2022 Subaru WRX, most likely), and have been curious about hacking the ECU, CAN bus, etc. I’m aware that tuning is a thing, but it’s generally not my scene. What I really want is to do the work myself instead of going to a tuner or buying one of those Cobb kits. Can HN recommend any resources and/or other technically-oriented communities?

symlinkk 5y ago
NASIOC is the oldest WRX forum on the internet, you should find a lot of knowledgeable people there.
l8rlump 5y ago
As far as I'm aware for Subarus, Taxtrix Openport 2.0[1] is popular with modders and seems to have good software/workflow. Through this article though I discovered the Panda[2]. It reportedly does J2534 and I wonder if this means it can use the same workflow. The price of the white Panda is attractive. I'm not sure if Openport is still actively developed. Oh, and stay away from the cheap clones. They're reportedly not good[3][4]. Does anyone have experience with the Pandas for remapping and use as a diagnostic tool? [1] https://www.tactrix.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=17&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53&redirected=1&Itemid=53 https://www.tactrix.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&... [2] https://comma.ai/shop/products/panda https://comma.ai/shop/products/panda [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4XJSuh10Xs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4XJSuh10Xs [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTNHqRYmzrk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTNHqRYmzrk
- omginternets 5y ago
  This is so cool! Thanks a million! Is there a place where one can download ECU mappings for various car models? Maybe this is silly, but it seems like there ought to be some kind of community-maintained repo, no?
  - l8rlump 5y ago
    I haven't had much luck. Sometimes you can find stuff with a search engine or PM someone on a forum with a similar setup and ask them nicely to share their tune. But it should be said, it can be dangerous to flash configs from random sources to your ECU. I recently also rediscovered this (https://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/toad https://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/toad), which ostensibly "Contains 14,000+ optimized car ECU map files" and software to reflash. No idea on the quality or utility though.
    - omginternets 5y ago
      >But it should be said, it can be dangerous to flash configs from random sources to your ECU. Yeah, hence my search for a reputable source :/ Do you know what the general process is for tuning an ECU map, by any chance? (If not, no worries -- you've already been incredibly helpful!)
      - l8rlump 5y ago
        No personal experience, but maybe start with the "mix" playlist from Haltech's YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPjIS9Tg83M&list=RDCMUCU8HZcY0NBDWTOORKRwLqvA&start_radio=1&rv=uPjIS9Tg83M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPjIS9Tg83M&list=RDCMUCU8HZc...

symlinkk 5y ago

NASIOC is the oldest WRX forum on the internet, you should find a lot of knowledgeable people there.

l8rlump 5y ago

As far as I'm aware for Subarus, Taxtrix Openport 2.0[1] is popular with modders and seems to have good software/workflow. Through this article though I discovered the Panda[2]. It reportedly does J2534 and I wonder if this means it can use the same workflow. The price of the white Panda is attractive. I'm not sure if Openport is still actively developed. Oh, and stay away from the cheap clones. They're reportedly not good[3][4]. Does anyone have experience with the Pandas for remapping and use as a diagnostic tool? [1] https://www.tactrix.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=17&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53&redirected=1&Itemid=53 https://www.tactrix.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&... [2] https://comma.ai/shop/products/panda https://comma.ai/shop/products/panda [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4XJSuh10Xs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4XJSuh10Xs [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTNHqRYmzrk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTNHqRYmzrk

omginternets 5y ago
This is so cool! Thanks a million! Is there a place where one can download ECU mappings for various car models? Maybe this is silly, but it seems like there ought to be some kind of community-maintained repo, no?
- l8rlump 5y ago
  I haven't had much luck. Sometimes you can find stuff with a search engine or PM someone on a forum with a similar setup and ask them nicely to share their tune. But it should be said, it can be dangerous to flash configs from random sources to your ECU. I recently also rediscovered this (https://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/toad https://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/toad), which ostensibly "Contains 14,000+ optimized car ECU map files" and software to reflash. No idea on the quality or utility though.
  - omginternets 5y ago
    >But it should be said, it can be dangerous to flash configs from random sources to your ECU. Yeah, hence my search for a reputable source :/ Do you know what the general process is for tuning an ECU map, by any chance? (If not, no worries -- you've already been incredibly helpful!)
    - l8rlump 5y ago
      No personal experience, but maybe start with the "mix" playlist from Haltech's YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPjIS9Tg83M&list=RDCMUCU8HZcY0NBDWTOORKRwLqvA&start_radio=1&rv=uPjIS9Tg83M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPjIS9Tg83M&list=RDCMUCU8HZc...