OBD / Big Brother

[Dan J. Declerck]

On Oct 22, 10:29am, Walters Chris wrote:
> Subject: Re: OBD / Big Brother
>
> >I find all of this to be opportunity!
> >I will go into the business of selling aftermarket
> >engine and body control equipment for the home hot-rodder.
> >Want to get around OBD-II? buy my box!
> >If I can get the quantity over 10K units, the price will come
> >down under $1000. Heck, I'd even sell add-on software components
> >for data acquisition, tunable re-mapping, etc.
> >
> >Do you remember the era of copy protection in PC software?
> >Did it work?
>
> No. It caused great fustration in the user community. A few people made lots
> of money providing a relief to this fustration until the major software
> providers backed off.
>
> I would prefer the user community not go through the fustration in the first
> place.
>

A majority of people whom own cars don't add high performance parts anyway.

 Besides, there's one large hole in your idea. The same regulators that
> forced OBD II on us will simply make "any engine control management system
> not manufactured by the OEM"  -- i.e. your box -- illegal with a wave of
> their bureaucratic pen. You'll still be able to make your box but you won't
> be able to sell it in the open, which means you won't reach many customers,
> so you won't make much money. Speaking of money, a far cheaper solution
> would be to buy a pre-OBD II wreck for $100 and install its electronic
> system.

It is already illegal to remove the catalytic converters from your car,
yet people do it all the time. The only time they have problems is when they
live in an area with mandated EPA testing rules (like Chicago).

It is also illegal to run a motorcycle with Mufflers that emit more
than 80 dB of noise. Over 50% of the motorcycles on the road have aftermarket
low restriction mufflers that emit 117 dB of noise.

Yes, the laws are on the books, but it's only selectively enforced.

Eventually (like 10 years after it takes effect), you won't be able to find
Pre-OBD-II controllers. Then you'll be stuck.

You can't easily find Ford 351 Cleveland parts, nor can you find the
extremely prized 427 Wedge-head Ford either.

If you're doing Drag racing, it much more economical to run chevrolet,
since a lot of the Dodge stuff is really expensive and hard to get.
Chevy's cheaper, and more plentiful.

My motorcycle is still the cheapest thing to hop-up. It's 2 years old,
and runs Carburation (a lot of it). There is no after-sale EPA testing.



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=> Dan DeClerck                        | EMAIL: declrckd at cig.mot.com      <=
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