Do Vipers have the hidden black box data recorders?

[Lawrenzo]

Just curious if big brother is watching me in the Viper or not.

My Vette had one buried deep inside the dash just in case some overzealous law enforcement weanie wanted to infringe on my privacy. What about our Snakes?

 

[99 R/T 10]

Don't think so, there was a thread in the off topic section on this a long while back due to the corvettes having them. The SRT might, donno for sure.

 

[Vreracing]

Forgive me if you've heard this joke before.

Many of the states had hidden recorders that would play back the last seconds before a fatal crash. In most states the sound was of the driver or passengers screaming. In Texas the most common thing heard was "Watch this".

 

[V10 MOJO]

LMFAO

 

[Cudaman]

It is not voice recorders. It is DATA recorders.... ie: speed , breaking ... the report I saw lately was part of air bag sensing computers.

Cudaman

 

[GR8_ASP]

Damm, poor vette owners. They are in a no win situation. Disconnect the recorder and the prosecutors will take that as an indication of intent to break the law. Leave it and be taken again for breaking the law somewhere sometime, even if it has nothing to do with causation. The only way to win is to prevent it from getting installed in the first place. Let's make sure the Viper community is proactive in preventing such a feature in the future.

 

[yahllib]

Well, if the airbags have to go off they need to know: how fast the car is going, how fast it is decelerating, the angle of the hit, and something to do with the brakes. The last few minutes of this information is therefore recorded and can be obtained. This prevents overzealous leadfoot hot rods from saying they were doing the speed limit when the tree appeared or if the airbag accidentally goes off when they hit a garbage can. Usually insurance companies will access this data to prove a point.

 

[Snake Bitten]

Are we sure the Viper's PCM does not record overall "top speed" and actual Odometer???

 

[GR8_ASP]

odometer yes. But that is a good thing (unless you want to screw a future Viper owner).

 

[Marv S]

as the new m3 owners have found out, recorders can also record engine rpm. like getting denied a warranty on an engine that got downshifted into 2nd instead of 4th.

I think obd-II required the minimum if vin and fault code storage, which the Gen2 Viper does

 

[Steve-Indy]

A trusted tech recently told me that Vipers CAN record some speed data, but Tech cannot read same with BRB III UNLESS a "check engine" light has been set...by the way, at the time we were discussing late Gen II's.

 

[GTS Dean]

Someone around here very recently mentioned hooking up a Palm to the computer and collecting handling data. Somebody else asked the leading question about where the accelerometer feed comes from if the Palm doesn't have one.

I don't know it for a fact, but I suspect my '99 Ram has one under the front seat, right above the transmission tunnel.

 

[Jeff Cline]

I saw this on Motorweek a while back. For the curious, this company sells a chip that plugs into the OBDII connector and records various data points, which can be downloaded into tour home computer. I suppose it could be handy for monitoring
not only the stats on your car, but the driving style of a valet, dealer, or some other driver.

http://www.davisnet.com/drive/products/

Jeff

 

[Motor City Mad Man]

Forgive me if you've heard this joke before.

Many of the states had hidden recorders that would play back the last seconds before a fatal crash. In most states the sound was of the driver or passengers screaming. In Texas the most common thing heard was "Watch this".

I've heard a similar joke it goes like this: What are the famous last words of a redneck? Answer: Watch this. What are the famous last words of the redneck's cousin? Answer: That aint nutin', watch this.

 

[Nexus-6]

LOL!

A few more famous last words :

"Ya'll smell gas?"

"Check dis out, I seen this on the Discuhhhvery chanl' las night."

"Hold this a sec..."

 

[Tiepilot]

Youse northern guys murdered that joke.

A redneck only does acts of stupidity in front of a crowd, not an individual. Hence, the line goes: "Hey Ya'll watch this!". Maybe yankee rednecks only exclaim "watch this" but down south and probably out in Texas "watch this " is prefaced by "Hey Ya'll".

I know this because I've screamed it out many times but managed to survive in in in each case, only slight Dain Brammage ruselted.

 

[slaughterj]

Is there any way to get a definitive answer to the question posed, as well as to Snake Bitten's "top speed" recording question? What would that take?

 

[Lawrenzo]

It would seem that someone who has rebuilt a wrecked Viper would know if this "box" exists. If it does it would most likely be on the later cars- I'd guess post 2000??

 

[Nexus-6]

Can we convert the black box to record our best track times for download later?

 

[Bonkers]

The box does exist in all post 96 cars. The problem is that, like mentioned above, it only records a few seconds at a time to track engine/emission performace. Can speed, rpm, brakign be calculated with this info? - yes. But right now its protected by some law, but be warned, the NJ state police are challenging it so they can have access for "forensic purposes."

Data recorders are not to worry about though as they are tough to use against you in court. If you want scary take a hard look at OnStar.

The joke above is based in fact. In 2002 OnStar randomly selected and recorded the events inside several hundred thousand cars. The project was granted under the guise that "it was to monitor drivers reactions to events" and since it didn't keep names of the people being recorded GM side-stepped litigation. (oh, offically the most common phrase mutter before impact was the more colourful variant of "oh crap")

Onstar currently operates at ~40% its full capacity. At peak it can record all conversation, monitor all vehicle data (speed, engine, ect) AND locate through GPS EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE ITS CURRENTLY INSTALLED IN. GM is planning on using it to "remind" you to bring you car in the moment the check engine light comes on, less you rather not have a warrenty.

Want more paranoia - both GM and Benz are suggesting making OnStar standard equipment on all cars they produce, even if you don't subscribe...

 

[Torquemonster]

Isn't it amazing how in the name of better information and public safety etc - we all get to lose more and more privacy and personal security?

Seeing as paranoia was mentioned - did you know that if anyone let off a nuclear device in space within a certain range - you might not notice much on the ground if in daylight - but all the EFI cars and anything computerised with transistors etc would die in an instant?

See there IS a good reason to have an old muscle car in the garage that still runs points and a carby... nothing wrong with a spare 528 Crate Hemi lying around incase the Viper get's deactivated

 

[Keller]

torquemonster
What you are referring to is a EMP (electo magnetic pulse), not a nuclear device.
BTW this entire thread pisse@ me off.
Fu#$ big brother.

 

[Torquemonster]

EMP - oh ok - thanks. I'd heard a nuke could do that... maybe I was wrong... anyway - hope no one emps us.

 

[Cudaman]

BTW this entire tread pisse@ me off.
Fu#$ big brother.

You have paid more for your car so they have the ability to retrieve the data to use against you in court. Does that make you feel any better.


Cudaman

 

[Keller]

Oh yeah lots

 

[RedGTS]

In defense of torque, nuclear explosions do emit one hell of an EMP.

 

[Keller]

RedGTS
Your correct, there is just a more efficient way of doing it than exploding a nuclear device. I didn't mean to contradict him......if you where going to set off a device with the purpose of shutting down modern civilization it would be more efficient to use an EMP than a nuclear device. Sorry 1 to many beers tonight

 

[Keller]

Hey Torque
Then our Black boxes would be fried too!
Problem solved!

 

[Torquemonster]

I'll have my fried black box with Crawfish Gumbo thanks

 

[slaughterj]

The box does exist in all post 96 cars. The problem is that, like mentioned above, it only records a few seconds at a time to track engine/emission performace. Can speed, rpm, brakign be calculated with this info? - yes. But right now its protected by some law, but be warned, the NJ state police are challenging it so they can have access for "forensic purposes."

Data recorders are not to worry about though as they are tough to use against you in court.

How do you KNOW that it's in post-96 cars?

I saw something on TV just the other day where some guy had the data used against him in court, it had recorded him in excess of 100mph, and he got screwed!