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As the two hackers remotely toyed with the air-conditioning, radio, and windshield wipers, I mentally congratulated myself on my courage under pressure. That’s when they cut the transmission.
Immediately my accelerator stopped working. As I frantically pressed the pedal and watched the RPMs climb, the Jeep lost half its speed, then slowed to a crawl. This occurred just as I reached a long overpass, with no shoulder to offer an escape. The experiment had ceased to be fun.
At that point, the interstate began to slope upward, so the Jeep lost more momentum and barely crept forward. Cars lined up behind my bumper before passing me, honking. I could see an 18-wheeler approaching in my rearview mirror. I hoped its driver saw me, too, and could tell I was paralyzed on the highway.
[Ed. addition follows]
See also coverage at The Register Jeep drivers: Install this security patch right now – or prepare to DIE:
The full details of the hack are still private, but it relies on the uConnect cellular network; since 2009, Chrysler cars have included hardware to connect to this network to reach the internet. The two researchers have demonstrated that a canny hacker can use the uConnect system to get wireless access to major components of a car's controls, and potentially crash it remotely with no one being any the wiser. The flaw has existed in the system since 2013.
Miller says the hack will work on recent Fiat Chrysler motors – such as Ram, Durango, and Jeep models. The pair disclosed the flaws to the manufacturer so that a patch could be prepared and distributed before their Black Hat tell-all. The fix is supposed to stop miscreants from accessing critical systems via the cellular network, a protection mechanism you would have expected in place on day one, week one.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by gnuman on Wednesday July 22 2015, @02:47AM
My next car will have a stick shift with a real clutch.
And which modern car has this? I have a Pontiac G3 with a stick shift, but AFAIK, that clutch is via actuator anyway. There is no mechanical link to clutch. The only clutch that is actually a clutch is in my motorcycle.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 22 2015, @03:39AM
Just about every pickup out there. And nearly all the compact Japanese cars. The Europeans are into that automated manual stuff, but it hasn't hit Japanese cars (in a big way) yet.
My Nissan pickup has a hydraulic clutch. My Toyota compact car has a cable clutch. But the Toyota has an encoder substituting for a gas pedal (argh).
(Score: 3, Interesting) by skater on Wednesday July 22 2015, @11:32AM
Someone hasn't shopped for pickups lately. I think Ram is the only that offers a stick shift, and I'm not even sure about that one.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by captain normal on Wednesday July 22 2015, @05:12AM
Have you noticed how much it costs now to get a pre-midseventys car. Lots of people want them now.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday July 22 2015, @06:40AM
What the hell is the point of making it a manual if it's not fully manual? The entire demographic is people who think they want a manual but can't tell the difference when they're driving it?
Of course we all like to think we'd figure it out right away but it'd probably take me a couple times when I should have killed it and it didn't die for me to catch on. (If it's semi-automated and dies when you screw up anyway, what's the point either?)
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Informative) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 22 2015, @01:52PM
That whole post is a big wtf. Dont get me wrong, I'm not trying to insult you. I think there is some confusion about terminology is all.
There is no such thing as a "real clutch" vs some other form of clutch. A clutch is a clutch. Your Pontiac G3 has a hydraulically actuated clutch, the most popular form of actuation. Your motorcycle also has a clutch which depending on the model might be hydraulic or cable actuated. Both of those clutches are the friction disc type. In some vehicles, like my 1961 Mack B61 semi tractor, the clutch linkage is a system of levers and rods. All three of those methods are actuating the same type of clutch. Each of those methods have their drawbacks and advantages.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 22 2015, @02:04PM
Posting AC, already late for work... Dual clutch transmissions are out now, and are typically automatically shifted by the computer, or done by a paddle style mechanism. It is two real actual clutches, but it is automated - no pedal. (Sorry for nitpicking ;)
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 22 2015, @02:22PM
Now I get it, automated manual vs an actual manual. When I hear manual transmission I think pure manual. An "automated manual transmission" is a misnomer. I don't care if someone bolted servo motors to a real manual and automated it, it's no longer manual.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 22 2015, @02:53PM
VW had a stick shift automatic in the 60's-70's. It had a real clutch, no clutch pedal, but also had a torque converter, and a touch-switch on the shifter, as soon as you grab the shifter it would engage the clutch.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 22 2015, @05:10PM
Yea, they had some weird transmissions out there. I have seen a large Mack LR, an off highway truck converted to a heavy haul tractor, with a torque converter and no clutch. A rocker switch on the floor allowed you to break torque to shift the 10 speed two stick transmission (5 main gears and two compound gears).
Another oddity was the Caterpillar semi automatic used in military trucks. There was a shift lever, like one you would find in a modern automatic car, but it had 16-18 slots. You nudged the stick for each gear and you had no clutch pedal: http://hankstruckforum.com/htforum/index.php?topic=18283.0 [hankstruckforum.com]. You see a pedal where the clutch should be but I believe that is a retarder pedal that uses the converter in the transmission as a retarder to slow the vehicle without using the service brakes.
MAN also used a semi-auto in their KAT1 military truck. From what read a while ago, it has a stick, no clutch pedal and you shift like a manual but never worry about a clutch. From pictures you can make out a stick in the cab but no clutch pedal. The post I read stated that it had a 7 speed in it.
(Score: 2) by el_oscuro on Friday July 24 2015, @11:27PM
When I said "real clutch", I meant one with a traditional hydraulic or mechanical linkage like on my 92 Camaro. Not any of this electronic manual/auto crap that is all the rage in Europe these days.
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