It's true. I've tried it and it works. If you start your 2006 or later Toyota Rav4 in park, with neither the pedal nor the handbrake engaged, and then:
- Raise the handbrake,
- Pump the pedal brake twice,
- Lower the handbrake,
- Press the pedal brake down,
- Pump the handbrake twice,
- Release the pedal brake,
- Raise the handbrake, and then
- Pump the pedal brake twice,
...the Vehicle Stability Control and Traction Control systems are deactivated. (Depending upon how you look at it, these systems either keep you from making certain stupid maneuvers or keep you from regretting the stupid maneuvers you try to make. Put simply, the TC and VSC keep you from burning rubber.) The little swervy-car light on the dash comes on, and a computerized voice* reminds me that my car, despite being a baby SUV (i.e., a tall mid-sized station wagon) has about the same horsepower-to-weight ratio as a Mazda RX-8. Vrooom!
(Sg, the fact that you have survived to read this owes something to the fact that the TC and VSC systems are automatically re-activated whenever the car is turned off. Mom and Dad, I promise not to enter the Freedom Code when Sg will be riding with me.)
I'm going to try some different combos (maybe including the windshield wipers and radio preset buttons) to see if I can unlock invincible mode.
* Computerized voice may be imaginary
Try this H4X0R code:
This still blows my mind
1. It has been a couple of days since I "discovered" it (i.e., ran across it while Googling for evidence that the new Forester is being built by Toyota on the Rav4 platform (it isn't)), and this still seems amazing.
2. I've often wondered why we don't see custom firmware for cars the way we do for, say, iPods.
2.1 (Besides the obvious reason that an iPod firmware malfunction in the middle of Slate's Political Gabfest podcast won't cause your fiery death.)
2.2 (But how cool would it be to have the digital odometer scroll “Rollin' in my 5.0 with my ragtop down so my hair can blow” (or the somewhat less cool message of your choice) while actually rollin'?)
3. And here it turns out that I haven't even scratched the surface of factory-programmed mods.
DVD region cheat code
I was pretty excited to find a hack that allows me to change the region of my DVD player, bought before multi-region machines were the norm. Using the remote, you enter a rather ridiculously baroque series of keystrokes to make it whatever region you need. Not that we're actually using such outdated technology anymore, but I still recall the thrill from the early part of this decade.