If you're willing to gloss over the expertise needed to build a vehicle (experiences and know-how) then you might as well gloss over the same on modern platforms.
My current day vehicle requires no additional tools or software other than python and pyserial + a USB/OBD2 dongle that can be had for under 10 bucks and my garage filled with the same wrenches that I could have used to work on many previous generations of car offered in the past few decades. With these tools I can touch every subsystem that a factory service mechanic can.
One could say "You'd be insane to try to bang out every bit of a communications protocol and interface with the car that way", but I could say "You'd be insane to rely on a novice with zero experience to build a car i'd want to try and drive."
I have no doubt that the novice would get something rolling, but suspension / engine / AFR tuning is a skill set that requires experience and education; the novices product would be inferior to the craftsmen.
tl;dr: with sufficient gumption there isn't really that much more stuff in your way of being a backyard mechanic -- sure the companies try to dissuade you from doing so, but they have been doing that since the 50s Jaguars and 1000 dollar service manuals.
There is just a wider variety of required reading. And to those interested : using your CS skills to 'perform the impossible' on a car is a hoot -- As ECMs and control software become more powerful and more in control of the car, so does the technical wizard!
My current day vehicle requires no additional tools or software other than python and pyserial + a USB/OBD2 dongle that can be had for under 10 bucks and my garage filled with the same wrenches that I could have used to work on many previous generations of car offered in the past few decades. With these tools I can touch every subsystem that a factory service mechanic can.
One could say "You'd be insane to try to bang out every bit of a communications protocol and interface with the car that way", but I could say "You'd be insane to rely on a novice with zero experience to build a car i'd want to try and drive."
I have no doubt that the novice would get something rolling, but suspension / engine / AFR tuning is a skill set that requires experience and education; the novices product would be inferior to the craftsmen.
tl;dr: with sufficient gumption there isn't really that much more stuff in your way of being a backyard mechanic -- sure the companies try to dissuade you from doing so, but they have been doing that since the 50s Jaguars and 1000 dollar service manuals.
There is just a wider variety of required reading. And to those interested : using your CS skills to 'perform the impossible' on a car is a hoot -- As ECMs and control software become more powerful and more in control of the car, so does the technical wizard!