Does the F-Type 'track' your driving?

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Yesterday | 12:10 PM

#21

lizzardo

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Joined: May 2015

Posts: 3,940

Likes: 1,304

From: Northern California

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-Type S

Hey everyone - sorry to necro this but it seemed more appropriate than making a new thread.

Since we've been talking about the TCU dying or being coded out elsewhere, and in other threads about it being rendered useless by the shutdown of 2G and 3G networks, I have to wonder: is there a purpose to worrying about this and trying to opt out (see here) of data collection etc?

Seems to me, unless my logic is wrong, that the car generates this data, that goes to the TCU, and the TCU would/could send it wirelessly to wherever. But if one of the links in that chain is broken, no data can be sent. So... for those of us with the older cars, this might be a moot point. Or is it?

I think that the F-Type has a separate "Event Data Recorder" (commonly called a black box) although I have no direct experience with it. It records in a loop, such that only the last few minutes of data area available, and stops overwriting in a crash. This allows data immediately preceding the crash to be retrieved, such as speed, if and when brakes were applied, whether airbags were deployed, etc. This is all stored in a "tamper-proof" unit that is designed to survive crashes. The data does not leave the vehicle and requires special equipment to retrieve. Some will find this an interesting article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_data_recorder

If you're worried about tracking, the car itself is probably the least of your worries.

Yesterday | 08:31 PM

#22

uncheel

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Joined: Jan 2015

Posts: 1,596

Likes: 724

From: Chapel Hill, NC

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMeister

Can software updates also be done by explicitly connecting the car to your local wifi?

It depends on your model year. My MY14 can't get any wireless updates. The MY17 has ICTP and can technically receive OTA software updates via wifi - if there were one. (JLR hasn't released an update for ICTP in years.)

Map updates are a different animal and cannot be done via wifi. You have to download the new map and install it using a USB. On the original models, that was about a 2-hour load process; on the newer cars, it just takes minutes.