They won’t do it themselves, they’ll pay for it. People already do it with brand new ICE cars, they get a performance package from a third party.
Also in 10 years, that $150000 Benz will be a $15000 Benz and owned by someone a fair bit younger than the original owner, probably. Much more likely to get the controller flashed for additional power at that point.
Third party performance packages are kind of a different thing. In that case you’re putting more wear on the engine as a trade for more power, potentially shortening the engine’s life. The manufacturer voiding your engine warranty for this is justified.
In this case it’s clear the manufacturer designed the engine to handle the higher power and then just detuned it. The engine is still expected to last just as long.
I heard of a guy who tuned his already 500 hp Benz to get it over 600 (now he is under arrest in my country for street racing).
They also do this a lot with BMWs, e.g. the 318i and 320i engine is the same, so if you just change/hack some software setting on the 318i, you can get more hp out of the same car.
But these are of course the minority of people, and mostly targeting sport cars, not luxury sedans.
The venn diagram of “people who will root a car” and “people who own a $150,000 benz” is 2 circles on opposite sides of the solar system.
They won’t do it themselves, they’ll pay for it. People already do it with brand new ICE cars, they get a performance package from a third party.
Also in 10 years, that $150000 Benz will be a $15000 Benz and owned by someone a fair bit younger than the original owner, probably. Much more likely to get the controller flashed for additional power at that point.
Third party performance packages are kind of a different thing. In that case you’re putting more wear on the engine as a trade for more power, potentially shortening the engine’s life. The manufacturer voiding your engine warranty for this is justified.
In this case it’s clear the manufacturer designed the engine to handle the higher power and then just detuned it. The engine is still expected to last just as long.
My sides are in orbit…
I heard of a guy who tuned his already 500 hp Benz to get it over 600 (now he is under arrest in my country for street racing).
They also do this a lot with BMWs, e.g. the 318i and 320i engine is the same, so if you just change/hack some software setting on the 318i, you can get more hp out of the same car.
But these are of course the minority of people, and mostly targeting sport cars, not luxury sedans.