what the heck are you worried about? do you think there are microscopic cameras strategically place throughout your car and the black box is recording all of your drug deals? come on...

personally i would love to have access to this data. the last speeding ticket i got, i wasn't speeding. in fact there were about 4 other cars around me doing the speed limit. one car had passed us all a few moments before i got pulled over. but this jerk wanted to talk about how they use military technology and blah blah blah. it would have been so sweet to tap in to the black box and show the schmuck the data right there on the spot.

 

Its not about HP. I like to drive my car fast. Sometimes I like to shift at the redline. What if this little black box records all that crap? And what if my dealer sees it and my warranty is void? Thats what Im worried about.

 

Then maybe you shouldn't drive it so hard. Why not drive a little easier and hold to the warranty vs. doing something illegal that will DEFINITELY void the warranty? I don't even think the occasion redline shift will even void the warranty!!

Imagine you take your car into the dealership under these circumstances:

Leave the "black box"
"Lemme check the data recorder....Ok looks like he does a little more than the occasional hard run but nothing too bad" *fix fix fix*

Take out the "black box"
"Lemme check the data recorder....WTF?!?! Disconnected??" *VOIDED!!!*

That's a no brainer dude. Seriously.

 

Hey "dude", I didnt say i was going to take out the black box. And my VW jetta was redlined every day for the past 6 years, and its still running strong thanks to religious oil changes and maintenance.

What if I want to take my Fit to a track day or an autocross? Its legal, isnt it?

 

how would they know you took it to a track? There will be no map printout of where you were driving.

And I never said it was removed. I said DISCONNECTED as in unplugged.

 

The legality of the track day or autocross depends on the organizer. If they actually rented the track, or got all the permits to stage the autocross, then it's legal, if you are a properly registered participant, but that has nothing to do with your worries about big brother.

You obviously know how to maintain a car, so don't worry about the redline excursions. The redline is a "soft" limiter. You aren't even hurting anything in your engine, because the manufacturer has set the redline below the point where really bad internal things start happening. The "hard" limiter is the rev limiter. That is where the manufacturer says, "that's as far as you go." That is also set below pistons-through-the-bonnet speeds. You can bounce off it all day without hurting your engine, but it makes for rather choppy driving. None of that is going to void the warranty. Just keep up the maintenance and drive as hard as you like. It's all good.

I had a 95 Jetta GLX that I beat the crap out of for 4 years and 106,000 miles. That thing ran like a clock. Had I not moved overseas, I would still be driving the wheels off it.

 

Well, if you ever go to an autocross or a track day youll see people with tape over their license plates. Mitsubishi and subaru and honda have been known to go through registration lists for autocrosses and void the warranties of people who participate in these events.

Im not really worried about Honda so much as the dealership. My friends Mazda dealer wanted to revoke his warranty because he installed a turbo timer.

Dacalac, they wont know I took it to the track. But in the recorded data there will be an instance of sustained full load. Thats what Im concerned about. I think you misunderstood me, and in response i got on the offensive.

 

If that is true. It is very sad. I guess when I get my fit, I am going to have to actually read my warranty. If it states something like:

"In the event the car owner hasn't totally accepted a completely mundane existence, devoid of even the most innocent automobiling pleasure such as that to be had at a legitimatly sanctioned track day or autocross (see definitions of "track day" and "autocross" in the really, really, really small print), the manufacturer reserves the right to cram this warranty squarely in the car owner's arse.

I will have to really start worrying about the state of our society.

 

wow I didn't know this existed in cars! interesting subject.

Any way you look at it, I'd just leave it and not worry about it. I agree with everyone who is saying if you remove it it'll void the warranty. That would such a bunch!

I actually think it's kind of cool.

 

So, protocol as usual.

 

For instance, even though Subaru pops for a one-year SCCA membership for every interested WRX buyer, and in its marketing materials appears to encourage owners to enter their cars in autocross events, the company says autocrossing is racing and racing can void warranty coverage. The WRX/SCCA application form says the SCCA "looks forward to helping you fully experience the benefits of owning this car."But the form also includes a disclaimer that Subaru’s warranty excludes "damage or failure resulting from participation in competition or racing events.

http://autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...73251042675582

Nothing on honda though.

 

Holy freakin' funny!!!! You are so right on though!!

 

Well...I'm still excited about my autox on Jul 30th.

 

You should be! AutoX's are very exciting. Here are some things I learned:

*Over inflate your tires at a gas station and bring shoe polish. Dab a little shoe polish on the tread and sidewall so you can see effectively how much your tires are rolling over on themselves. By over inflating your tires you can avoid having to bring an electric pump or an air tank. You want the shoe polish to wear away on the tread but you want it to remain on the side wall. 42psi up front and 38psi in the rear worked for my Jetta.

*bring lots of water and something to cover your neck. Youre going to be running after cones all day, and youre going to be in a parking lot with no cover from the sun.

*if youve never autocrossed before, dont be afraid to ask an experienced person if they can ride along with you. Everyone is always super friendly at autocrosses and usually youll have no problem finding someone to help you out.

*have fun!

 

Ive been autocrossing for years and Ive never heard of Honda doing anything like that. Mitsu and Subaru yes. I think it really stems from Evo/WRX owners frying their clutches and then trying to get them warrantied.

 

Isn't a clutch considered a wearable item, like brakes, and shocks, and therefore not covered under your usual auto warranty?

What mexellent said about everyone being friendly at autoxes, is what I found most enjoyable at track days on the bike. It's just fun being around people who all like their vehicles.

Don't worry about the box. Get out there and have fun.

 

if it is a rewrite type of device where is the data that the car uses to tell us how much percentage of oil is left. I bet the event data box stores that data as well.