Find My Tune

Site updates

Changelog

August 20, 2026 — sitewide

Blackout applied to the whole site

Every page

  • The product page's design philosophy now runs sitewide: homepage, brand and listing pages, Mercedes unlock, dongle, staged/custom, contact, review, policies, the order confirmation page and the customer account area.
  • Nothing was added or reworded — this is the same content in the same structure, restyled. Section headings now use the same scale as the product page's band headings.
  • The sign-in widget on the account page is themed to match (it renders in its own tree and can't read the site's tokens, so the palette is restated for it).
  • Implemented through the shared theme scope, and the label colour on filled buttons is now a token with a light-mode default — so the same declaration serves both themes and no page can drift.
  • The staff dashboard at /admin is deliberately untouched — it is an internal tool, not part of the customer-facing site.
August 20, 2026 — later

Blackout theme on product pages

Product pages

  • Product pages now run the “Blackout” direction: the whole page is near-black and the photography is the light source — the register premium car brands use for a configurator.
  • The buy box is the one lit surface on the page (raised panel, hairline border, white Buy button), so the eye lands on the purchase.
  • Header, footer, configurator, spec bands and the Staged-vs-Custom cards all invert with it; the brand marks are inverted onto the dark ground.
  • Every section now has its own visual form so you can tell them apart with the heading covered: a big-value spec bar, a photo-backed statement band, numbered tiles with oversized numerals, an inverted white Stage Breakdown, chips, a split-with-photo, an oversized pull quote and an editorial numbered list.
  • Long sections open with the first four items and a “Show all” expander — the basics first, detail on demand.
  • Numeric ornamentation removed (section indices, tile numerals, stage numerals) and the white section moved off the slot directly beneath the bright photo, where the two lights ran together.
  • All seven products now render through a single description component — Golf R and S3 (no client copy yet) use the same Product Information band as the rest instead of a second component that could drift from it.
  • Implemented as a theme scope rather than a rewrite — the components were already token-driven, so the same markup serves both themes and only product pages opt in. The homepage, brand pages and account area are unchanged.
August 20, 2026

Product description readability — sectioned & collapsible

Editorial redesign (late evening)

  • Removed the boxed look entirely. Product content is now full-bleed editorial bands separated by tone and hairline rules — no bordered cards, no drop shadows.
  • Alternating paper / grey / near-black bands, with edge-to-edge photography running the full width of the page between sections.
  • Much larger display type for section titles, mono section indices, and hairline spec rows in place of card grids.
  • Cinematic title band (taller, larger headline) and a borderless product gallery that tracks the buyer while they configure.
  • New closing band after the brochure — “Build Your Tune” with a Configure & Buy button, so the page ends on the action rather than fine print.
  • All seven product pages verified on the identical template: cinematic title band, gallery + configurator, Product Information band, content bands, closing CTA. Golf R and S3 (no description copy yet) now use the same editorial bands for their Product Information and Staged-vs-Custom sections instead of the old boxed panels.

Visual design pass (evening)

  • Dense brochure layout: every section is now fully visible (no accordions) and packed into columns — two-column spec rows for Core Performance / Optional Features / Philosophy, three side-by-side Stage panels, two-column checklists, and the two flashing blocks side by side. All the information on the page at roughly three screens of scroll. Only the doc's own “Learn More” sections remain expandable, as the document specifies.
  • Product pages restructured as ONE coherent page (per the reference Shopify theme): photo gallery left + configurator right at the top, description flowing full-width below in a centered column. The two-column split layout and sticky side rail are gone.
  • TT RS gets a 5-photo gallery with clickable thumbnails; RS3 uses the real customer-car photo.
  • Always-visible “Product Information” spec sheet at the top of every product page — Years / Make / Model / Engine / Transmission / Turbo as key-value rows (the doc's Product information block, presented like the reference Shopify theme).
  • The first section (What It Is / Improvements) is now an inverted black signature band with photography inside it.
  • Numbered section chips (01, 02, …), larger headings, and alternating white/grey section tones so each section reads as its own space at a glance.
  • Core Performance and Optional Features open into spec-sheet rows (label + detail with hairline dividers) instead of card blobs.
  • Real photography wired in: the customer RS3 photo is now the RS3 hero/tile/page image; the TT RS side shot replaces the stock TT image on its tile.

Product pages

  • Every description section now sits in its own bordered box so it's clear when you're moving onto the next one (client feedback: “it all blends together”).
  • Only the intro sections stay expanded — Overview, What It Is / Improvements, Core Performance. Stage breakdowns, optional features, transmission, flashing, fitment and hardware are collapsed accordions for buyers who want the detail (“if they really care about what they're buying they can open the stage 1/2 etc breakdown”).
  • Scrolling roughly halved on the description column.
  • RS3 / TT RS “Expected Results” paragraph removed — it was a placeholder stand-in from when the doc's power figures were left as [insert whp/wtq], not the client's words. The section returns when the real copy with figures is supplied.
  • Restored document content the template unification had dropped from RS3 / TT RS: the four “learn more” deep-dive sections (Stage 1, Stage 2, Custom, Transmission — verbatim from the doc) and the three photo bands (side shot, engine bay, DSG shifter).
  • Supported Vehicles table re-hidden on RS3 / TT RS — the client removed it from these pages on July 8 and the unification had accidentally brought it back.
  • RS3 / TT RS copy audited word-for-word against the July 16 PDF: the “Overview” heading + paragraph removed entirely (it was the IS20 doc's “What it is” paragraph with the platform name swapped — not in the RS3/TT RS doc); stage titles corrected to the doc's “Stage 1 / Stage 2 Engine Tuning”; the At Home Flashing and Dyno Spectrum/DS1 sections now render the doc's exact wording with the HERE link. IS20 copy verified fully against its own PDF — all client words.
August 19, 2026

UX reshuffle — homepage, product pages, funnel & post-sale

Homepage

  • Vehicle finder moved into the hero as a card beside the headline (selector-as-hero, the pattern Unitronic / EQT / IE all use).
  • New “Choose Your Car” tile grid of all 7 live cars directly under the hero — click your car instead of driving five dropdowns.
  • FAQ section now open by default — the nav's FAQ link previously landed on a collapsed accordion that read as an empty section.

Product pages — one system for every car

  • All 7 live product pages now use the same two-column layout: reading column on the left, buy rail on the right.
  • Live price shown at the top of the buy rail, updating as options change (previously the price only appeared below the add-on steps).
  • Buy button always visible — it renders from first load and enables once options + e-signature are complete (previously the entire checkout block didn't exist until every step was done).
  • Buy rail is sticky: the signature checkbox and Buy Now button follow you as you read, instead of leaving a dead white column. No internal scrollbar.
  • Description reordered to sell first: Overview → Improvements Over Factory Calibration (promoted from second-to-last) → Core Performance → Expected Results → Supported Vehicles → Calibration Philosophy.
  • RS3 / TT RS moved off the old spec template onto the same description template as the other cars, using the EA855 copy (same copy, same words — one consistent look).
  • Golf R / S3 (no client-written copy yet): same layout, with the Staged-vs-Custom cards in the reading column until their copy lands.

Finding your car

  • Single-option dropdowns fill themselves: Trim (“8V / 8.5V”) and Engine were choices with only one answer that still had to be picked by hand. Year → Make → Model is now all it takes.
  • Same rule on the mobile one-step-at-a-time wizard — three taps, auto-filled answers appear as editable chips.

After the sale

  • Receipt fixed: “Total paid” on the success page now shows what the card was actually charged, including shipping (a buyer charged $845 was being shown $800).
  • Buyers arriving from checkout (“Create my account & continue”) now land on the sign-up form directly, on-site — previously it defaulted to sign-in and the Sign up link bounced to Clerk's hosted accounts.dev page.
  • Build sheet question count made consistent — the intro said “15 questions” while the button demanded 12 required fields; both now count the same set.
  • Build sheet single-option questions (e.g. Torque Profile with only “Low Torque”) now answer themselves.

Still parked (waiting on client)

  • Resend domain verification — confirmation emails don't send until this is done.
  • Clerk live keys (auth still on the dev instance).
  • TT / TTS + Mercedes pricing; nav links for /contact and /review.
  • Real image set (per-car hero shots, dongle photo, dyno charts) — the biggest remaining lever for the premium feel.