I've always wondered if you could make a kit to swap out a cars computer with a... Raspberry Pi or something. Wouldn't it be nice to have a car where you know what hardware it has, what software it's running and who gets data from it?
this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2026
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It's not that hard to make a car to run with an aftermarket ECU, there are already companies that make modular kits. However it's basically impossible to get a car with an aftermarket ECU through inspection. I live in a US state with no vehicle inspection, seatbelt or helmet laws so I can die a free man as god intended.
Every little thing in the car has a computer and they have kilometers of wire connecting it all. You would need hundreds of Raspberry PIs with CAN and LIN communication capabilities.
While developing a new car each of those computers has a team of developers and testers working for two or more years on that single thing, so in total a few thousand people have touched just the electronics in that car. Even if they cared about your privacy no single person would ever be able to know for sure what software is running on what hardware in every corner of that car.
The only way you'd get a feasible DIY car is with 1950s or 60s technology which is illegal to sell in most developed economies.
Cover them and see who complains first.
The drivers who will have an alarm that will not stop
Couldn’t you then just remove the speaker for that alarm?
I reckon it would be tied into the audio of the entire car, no doubt there is a way around it. I can see them in the future making it illegal to tamper with though
Jailbreaking cars should be more common. This seems like a good incentive to make it more common.
Wow, I’m an idiot. This is the obvious answer.
Tear out your car's modem. Cars should not have modems. If you disagree for any reason please stay the fuck out of IT and automotive forever.
Time to sort out some sort of small prismatic lensing device that puts an image of a person's head and face in front of the camera. Eyes front center and forward.
Don't forget the middle finger
Just for those interested in this topic, almost all cars in the EU can have their camera taped and it works without a problem. Tested on Hyndai.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure new cars are just never going to be something I'll buy. I'll just stick to old manuals with no connectivity at all and bicycles.
"10 mins into driving, the distraction warning kicks in and tells you to take a break with an amber light on the instrument tablet and a loud bong. A big pop up message suggests you take a break. 10 mins later it does it again with a red light and loud bong. I found this incredibly distracting"
Heh heh.
it does an awooga sound if you're not wearing a shirt.
Wonder if there's a CANbus hack that can override in-cabin cameras? There's a CAN gateway port in most modern cars, right behind the rear-view mirror. That's how comma.ai gets to control the car and how dashcams get power.
If it gives access to the right bus, maybe somebody could come up with something...