Electronic car key - cost

[DrFfybes]

James May did a better job of explaining the process, and how easy it would be to design a solution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsKwMryKqRE

McLarens drop the window a bit when the battery gets down to a certan level. Ostensily it is to enable access to the vehicle if the battery goes flat, but my mate says it serves as a reminder to plug the trickle charger back in.

Of course, if you could get inside the vehicle, you could charge it somewhat more rapidly through your cigar lighter accessory socket. These days, however, I daresay there'll be some inbuilt electronic gatekeeper that'll raise an objection?

TBH most 'cigarette lighters' have only come on with the ignition for many years, certainly since the 1990s with Toyota as I bought a Maplin 'solar charger' for our MR2 and ISTR it didn't work because of this. These days it probably varies as most aren't connected to devices designed to set fire to things.

With the Maserati the one inside the car was switched with the ignition, but not the one in the boot. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be like that though

Paul

[bungeejumper]

Of course, if you could get inside the vehicle, you could charge it somewhat more rapidly through your cigar lighter accessory socket. These days, however, I daresay there'll be some inbuilt electronic gatekeeper that'll raise an objection?

TBH most 'cigarette lighters' have only come on with the ignition for many years, certainly since the 1990s with Toyota as I bought a Maplin 'solar charger' for our MR2 and ISTR it didn't work because of this. These days it probably varies as most aren't connected to devices designed to set fire to things.

Now you mention it, my 2007 Passat wouldn't send power to its dashboard 12V socket unless the ignition was on. (I never did check whether it had to be Position 3 ("coil"), or whether position 2 ("accessories") would do.) But the power socket in the luggage compartment was always on. Which was useful on campsites.

BJ

[9873210]

FWIW the maserati came with a method of entering an immobiliser code by pressing the accelerator pedal. The code was about 15 digits. I didn't know whether to be impressed they thought to include it, or worried they thought they needed to.

Or they didn't think about it. Backdoors are often added for the benefit of the engineering team, so they can operate half-built prototypes in the lab. Sometimes these are discovered to be useful for manufacturing or support and officially adopted and documented. Sometimes somebody is overworked and forgets to delete them before going public.

This sort of thing is probably more likely at a small company like Maserati, where there will only be a few hand-built prototypes and a small number of engineers.

[DrFfybes]

FWIW the maserati came with a method of entering an immobiliser code by pressing the accelerator pedal. The code was about 15 digits. I didn't know whether to be impressed they thought to include it, or worried they thought they needed to.

Or they didn't think about it. Backdoors are often added for the benefit of the engineering team, so they can operate half-built prototypes in the lab. Sometimes these are discovered to be useful for manufacturing or support and officially adopted and documented. Sometimes somebody is overworked and forgets to delete them before going public.

This sort of thing is probably more likely at a small company like Maserati, where there will only be a few hand-built prototypes and a small number of engineers.

It had it's own section in the manual - the manual which had a 'contents' chapter listing at the front, and an 'index' at the back. However unlike normal indices which are in alphabetical order, this was in page order like the 'contents' section. It looked lovely, but ease of use was not in the brief. The boot/fuel cap release buttons were at the left side of the glove box, which meantMrsF couldn't reach them easliy from the driver's seat, so had to get out and walk around and open the passenger door to open the fuel flap which was just behind the driver's door. The fog and window buttons were random along the transmission tunnel, the front fog button was behind the rear fog one but at least there was slack to remove it and rearrange them in a sensible order. The stereo volume control was a stretch as it was on the left of the unit, however you could choose to set it so the volume went UP when you turned it anticlockwise rather than the usual down.

At least the key was nice and robust

[richlist]

When controls seem to be a stretch of on the wrong side of the car it's usually because you have a right hand drive and the layout was designed for left hand drive vehicles.

[DrFfybes]

When controls seem to be a stretch of on the wrong side of the car it's usually because you have a right hand drive and the layout was designed for left hand drive vehicles.

To be honest I was half surprised they managed to move the indicator stalk over.

[ClaudiusTheIdiot]

At home I tried using the mechanical key to open the door. It set the alarm off. I didn't know it even had an alarm. Today in a suitable location next to a main road (away from any houses - and I prefer to be on speaking terms with the neighbours) I tried it again, several times. It didn't set the alarm off. With its practice of occasionally locking itself and the cramped driver's footwell this vehicle is rapidly becoming front runner to supersede the insistently bleeping microwave as Gadget I Hate Most.

[Mike4]

At home I tried using the mechanical key to open the door. It set the alarm off. I didn't know it even had an alarm. Today in a suitable location next to a main road (away from any houses - and I prefer to be on speaking terms with the neighbours) I tried it again, several times. It didn't set the alarm off. With its practice of occasionally locking itself and the cramped driver's footwell this vehicle is rapidly becoming front runner to supersede the insistently bleeping microwave as Gadget I Hate Most.

Ah, I dismantled my microwave and snipped one of the wires to the bleeper.

UTTER BLISS>

Even now ten years later, I still enjoy it turning off in total silence.

[GoSeigen]

The fog and window buttons were random along the transmission tunnel, the front fog button was behind the rear fog one but at least there was slack to remove it and rearrange them in a sensible order.

Our current property was rewired by the seller at our insistence before we purchased it. There are several ensuite bedrooms, and when I inspected, each room had its light switches wired in a random order so you could never guess which light would come on when you operated a switch. I asked the electrician to wire them all in a sensible and systematic order and the dirty look he gave me! I still haven't fixed them, but the electrician also has had no further work from us...

GS
P.S. Said electrician also ran off with our friend's wife during the job, clearly his mind was on other stuff altoghether...

[bungeejumper]

I asked the electrician to wire them all in a sensible and systematic order and the dirty look he gave me! I still haven't fixed them, but the electrician also has had no further work from us...

GS
P.S. Said electrician also ran off with our friend's wife during the job, clearly his mind was on other stuff altoghether...

LOL, which brings us rather neatly back to the old bluesman Robert Johnson, whose electrical tanglings with his car went well beyond a mere mechanic's sphere of interest.

Lyrics from Terraplane Blues (1936) are only barely office-safe in places, even today. https://genius.com/Robert-johnson-terra ... ues-lyrics. But for saddo blues aficionados like me, only the recording itself will do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccfz3bRvt1A

BJ