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Frequently Asked Questions

Is my vehicle (or this vehicle I'm planning to purchase) supported by openpilot?

See the Volkswagen supported Cars page for more info on currently supported Volkswagen family vehicles, vehicles we hope and plan to support in the future, and vehicles we have reason to believe can't be supported.

What if my vehicle doesn't have Lane Assist?

On many vehicles, you can still use openpilot with a gateway J533 harness after making a config change with a diagnostic tool. See the Volkswagen supported Cars page for more info on which cars this applies to.

What if my vehicle doesn't have Adaptive Cruise Control?

At this time, cars without radar-based Adaptive Cruise Control aren't officially supported. Please note you might have a radar for FCW/AEB only that doesn't support Adaptive Cruise Control. Long-term, we hope to provide openpilot longitudinal control of these cars, but there is no specific timeline.

Integration into VAG MQB vehicles

Purchasing the comma two (c2) or comma three (c3) is the easiest way to get started. Most VAG cars use the J533 harness nowadays which connects at the gateway in the drivers footwell. This is mandatory for cars without LKAS and if you want OP to control the speed (OP long) in the future. The harness comes with the relay box 'harness box' that you will need as well. The cheaper connector is only usable with an existing relay. There are a few MQB-A0 cars which don't have a gateway and have to use the camera harness. This will take up your OBD2 port as well and will not allow longitudinal control through openpilot in the future.

For installation of the J533 harness, follow the instructions on the J533 page.

If your car only has Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)

You must recode the steering rack and instrument cluster to make the car believe it has LKAS using either a built in OP script or VCDS/Carista/OBDEleven/Carscanner/VCP (this allows lateral control via CAN messages to the steering rack). Modify control module 17 (instruments) and module 44 (steering assist). See this video for instructions (VCDS). Module 17 coding is optional.

step by step guide for installing openpilot in a MK7 Golf

If your car has neither ACC nor LKAS

This has not been explored very much yet. Theoretically, you could retrofit ACC (example guide) and then continue as if your car only has ACC. It may also be possible just to do the coding of other parts for ACC (according to mqb.pl article) without the physical radar. However, this has not been tried and it is possible that an ACC fault will arise from the missing radar and other parts (engine, brakes) it would stop responding to ACC commands.

Software

Unrecognized Vehicle

If your car isn't recognized and enters dashcam mode, you probably only have to add your Fingerprint. Be sure to open a pull request, or, share your data in the comma.ai Discord Volkswagen channel and it will be taken care of.

grey panda/white panda and OnePlus Eons aren't supported on newer releases: Install the Community Port (X-Archive-Release2 - openpilot 0.7.9)

To run the Community port, you MUST install stock openpilot first.

Newer C2 ship with NEOS 15+. You must have NEOS 14 for the Community port to work.

To downgrade and install 0.7.9 use the following command via SSH: cd /data && rm -rf openpilot && git clone -b x-archive-release2 https://github.com/jyoung8607/openpilot && cd /data/openpilot/installer/updater && rm update.json && wget https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/538741329799413760/774123747257876480/update.json && reboot

To change the fork etc. you may need SSH access. Be sure to read this wiki and enable SSH on your device.

On the community port you may have to set your integration location manually:

echo -n "gateway" > /data/params/d/ForceNetworkLocation or echo -n "camera" > /data/params/d/ForceNetworkLocation

openpilot Capabilities

Lateral Control

Control over the steering wheel is provided by openpilot. All VAG MQB vehicles tested to-date support steering down to 0mph.

Torque

Available steering torque is adequate for most highway driving conditions. All MQB models support the exact same amount of commanded torque, but the different steering rack and suspension geometry between models can result in different effective performance.

Torque Demonstration video

Minimum Speeds

The minimum Adaptive Cruise Control setpoint is 20mph/30kph, cars with automatic gearboxes will steer down to 0mph & cars with manual gearboxes will steer down to ~10mph.

Longitudinal Control

Longitudinal control remains with stock Adaptive Cruise Control, although OP takes control of the engagement process for additional safety and feature needs. The exact behavior depends on whether the vehicle has "ACC High" or "ACC Low" from the factory.

Stop & Go Demonstration video

Stock ACC High:

These vehicles support follow-to-stop and automatic resume if the stop is less than three seconds, from the factory. OP can improve on that by resuming on behalf of the driver after longer delays by emulating repeated RES presses at standstill. "ACC high" requires an electronic parking brake, and does make use of it under certain conditions. If the vehicle in question has an EPB, chances are good it supports "ACC high".

Stock ACC Low:

These vehicles generally support follow-to-stop (XXX review this: maybe near-stop only) but will require the driver to take over and hold the brake after a very short delay. Resume from stop is moot as "ACC low" vehicles will not hold themselves at a stop. Any vehicles with a manual parking brake, either foot or hand-operated, will fall into this category.

*THERE ARE VARIATIONS TO BOTH VARIATIONS, This is only a basic overview.

PQ platform (2005-2014)

See Volkswagen PQ page.

Make-Specific Terms

For general terms, go here.

Term Abbreviation Definition
Modularer Querbaukasten / Modular Transverse Matrix MQB 2014-2021 Strategy for shared modular design between VAG group makes and models. MQB cars with ACC work with openpilot.
Electronic Parking Brake EPB A handbrake system powered by electric motors. Wiki
Component Protection CP Component Protection is required on some newer parts to unlock them in working in that vehicle.
Adaptive cruise control ACC Control of the speed of the car; usually through use of radar in factory systems
Longitudinal long basically ACC but usually in the OP context
Lateral lat Control of the steering wheel
Lane keep assist LKAS Same as lat but usually in the context of the factory system
jyoung8607 jyoung First to make OP work in VW
Edgy Edgy First to make OP long work in VW PQ (2005-2014)

Useful links

Known issues / FAQ

-Radar/Vision Fusion for OP long control: Unlike some other cars, MQB cars don't give much raw Radar data. Because of this the radar fusion won't be as easy. Once OP long control is as reliable as stock radar based ACC it can be used with the J533 harness.