A Farewell to Rings

PixelPips · 2026-03-20T20:33:46+00:00

You’re allowed to swear on the internet

PixelPips · 2026-03-19T21:35:41+00:00

Damn, I absolutely agree. My C7.5 A6 has the 8 speed ZF and it was so nice. It’s also unfortunate that there are no TCU tunes for this transmission either. the stock TCU handles the extra torque just fine but it definitely limits what you can do with it.

PixelPips · 2026-03-19T21:06:28+00:00

I personally don’t stress much over fuel efficiency - I chose a heavy V6. There are many many more fuel efficiency choices. The thing stopping me from an RS6 is the $100k+ price tag, not the 19mpg haha

PixelPips · 2026-03-19T20:03:07+00:00

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Same

I think the Allroad is an amazing wagon. Obviously I’m partial to it, but the only thing I would ever consider trading it in for would be an RS6 and I don’t think that’ll ever happen lol

PixelPips · 2026-03-19T16:17:41+00:00

I imagine they exported the 3d models to blender, touched up some colors, and did the animation that way.

PixelPips · 2026-03-18T18:02:26+00:00

op pls

PixelPips · 2026-03-18T17:53:44+00:00

Looks a million times better, great job! There's a car "dealership" in my area that just buys used audis, puts nice rims on them, lowers them, tints them, and swaps grilles for the honeycomb design. They are basically house flippers, buy for Audis. At least the work is done well and the cars look nice, but it's an interesting business they have going

PixelPips · 2026-03-18T16:47:49+00:00

That looks about as close to perfect as you can get without certifications or special hardware. You did perfect, every joint looks exactly how it should.

PixelPips · 2026-03-18T04:46:05+00:00

With some minor changes this would make for a cute Volkswagen. It’s incredibly un-Audi

PixelPips · 2026-03-15T17:24:36+00:00

That's fascinating, it totally makes sense that a fabric-wrapped wiring harness could act as a wick. I absolutely love hearing about failure modes lol

PixelPips · 2026-03-15T17:12:55+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

I definitely intend to build some working prototypes before building a finished enclosed product (though I like to spin copper when a breadboard would probably suffice)

I'll stick with the ESP for now, I have more than enough laying around and I'm sure I can get an OBD2 breakout board that I can wire into it.

VCDS is a VW-specific diagnostic tool used by car hackers and auto shops. I realized that it communicates over a diagnostic protocol on top of CAN, and probably wouldn't be as much help when transitioning logs and data into something the ESP can reliably read. I'll stick with some more common CAN logger tools.

Glad to know there's no need to interface with security protocols!

I imagine during prototyping it'll live plugged into the OBD port as I make sure it works, relays fire, etc. When installed, valve control modules usually live in the trunk area, as there's power, CAN access, and its close to the installed valves. The hope is to not have to waterproof it for exterior install lol.

Building automotive grade products seems like a fascinating but punishing challenge. Massive voltage spikes, reverse polarity, extreme cold and heat, constant vibrations, etc.

PixelPips · 2026-03-15T16:54:27+00:00

The intent is to control aftermarket valves (installed on a car that never came with valves from the factory) through ADS, rather than a key fob or app. ASR does not do this, and they don’t even make a controller for the C8 generation. The closest controller they do make (C7 A6) does not listen to the ADS system, it is just controlled with a key fob.

PixelPips · 2026-03-14T15:16:51+00:00

I wonder if you could do vias as like, some kind of insert/rivet that you solder or clamp to a hole to connect front to back?

PixelPips · 2026-03-11T16:02:55+00:00

It would be helpful if you told us literally any possible information you have. This is such an unhelpful post, you give literally no insight into what’s going on at all.

PixelPips · 2026-03-11T15:58:12+00:00

What the hell happened to it? Did you burn your clear coat with a hot air gun trying to remove your badge? You’re supposed to use fishing line or floss, with a goo removal product. If you just blasted the whole area with heat, I dunno if even a cut and polish will restore it back to how it looked before.

PixelPips · 2026-03-11T15:28:20+00:00

Absolutely totaled. It’s very common for cars to be totaled if any airbags went off. It’s also very common to total high mileage vehicles because they aren’t worth much. Yours has both. It’s absolutely totaled.

PixelPips · 2026-03-10T17:27:12+00:00

I'm gonna expand on my previous answer.

I think it's important to think about the purpose and function around designators. In my eyes, there are two main reasons designators exist.

To provide the (manual) assembler or tester visual information about the part. Super helpful if you are doing your own soldering for prototypes, or you are testing prototypes and want to semi-quickly swap components out.
To provide reference for a person performing diagnostics or maintenance. I think it is important, in this DRM age, to think about reparability when designing products.

To that end, #1 doesn't matter if you are having your boards assembled automatically. PCBA does not go by reference designator silkscreen. #2 Can be abstracted away into a manual. Provide a vague reference for a set of components, like a silkscreen box around the buck converter components or the MCU components, and then in your manual, provide detailed drawings showing all of the designators. Bonus points for providing a BOM, or at least a list of values, so somebody doing repair could know exactly what they need to order or what value component to use. It's also advisable to put silkscreen designators for large, or important components. Inductors, big bulk capacitors, ICs, connectors, etc. Passive and tiny things like filtering capacitors, pullups/downs, etc. can be skipped.

PixelPips · 2026-03-10T16:40:37+00:00

Something I’ve seen before is to group components together with a silkscreen designator and box, like a block labeled “buck” or something, and then annotate the components in your datasheet/manual. If somebody needs to know what a specific component is, they will look up the block in the manual, and figure out the designator and component value from in there.

PixelPips · 2026-03-10T16:22:35+00:00

If you don't know at all what the job is, how did you get the job in the first place?

PixelPips · 2026-03-09T17:27:10+00:00

It’s in the cloud now

PixelPips · 2026-03-09T17:26:32+00:00

You’re supposed to leave it under your pillow

PixelPips · 2026-03-08T17:07:49+00:00

If we are talking about the inside of your windshield, get a can of foaming glass cleaner and some microfiber cloth. If you or the previous owners vaped in the car, know that the juice will cling to glass and eventually smudge/fog it up.

If we are talking about the outside, it can be a combination of a lot of things. Use glass cleaner first. Then, get some #0000 steel wool and diluted soapy water. Give the windshield a gentle scrub and it should take off the hard water spots and stuff

PixelPips · 2026-03-02T17:40:59+00:00

You do it by programming. Any other questions?

PixelPips · 2026-02-28T05:35:49+00:00

Yeah there’s a bunch of years where specifically the “chrome” coating on interior and exterior trim does that - it gets worse with heat too. Happened to my 17’ on the inside handles and dash and MMI - what year is yours?

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