Fuel Saving Gauges

[Aaron]

Does anyone have experience with these fuel saving /monitoring gauges?

Such as...

Scangauge II



or

Scangauge E



or...

Autel Maxitrip



or

Ultragauge



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Scangauge is probably the leader in these types of gauges but is also the most expensive.

I've seen good review on the Ultragauge, which can be had for about $70 + tax and shipping.

Scangauge has the most flexibility and you can program your own gauges by using some codes, which can come in handy I suppose.

The main thing I need now is a vacuum gauge, which this will read from the computer. But I do like the ability to see the average MPG in the moment. And if I'm going to mount something, I'm keeping it to the minimum so between a vacuum/pressure gauge or this, it would probably be either the Scangauge II or the Ultragauge.

Anyone here use any of these?

[mbrownn]

I don't know about any of these products but I had a car with a built in device that is very similar. If you monitor how you drive with the MPG figure yo soon get to learn how to drive much more economically. My old XJ40 Jag would give me about 18 MPG but after learning how to adapt my driving to be more economical I could get up to 26MPG average.

[ewizard]

I had a T-bird with that type of thing built in and like mbrown said it can really let you see how to drive more economically. But I suspect hooking those up will not be easy on most cars. I think it would be wise to do your research to make sure a particular model will work on the vehicle you plan to hook it up on but if anyone can do it I imagine you can. Best of luck.

[Aaron]

Scangauge II & Ultragauge

@Mbrown,

Yes, even the fraudulent Popular Mechanics even has to admit that this is one gas saving gadget that really works - by showing us how to drive more economically. These can also show air fuel ratio, etc... quite a bit of data.

@ewizard,

These just plug into the OBDII port that is used for code readers. The port is usually around the underside of the steering wheel somewhere so actually pretty easy. Just plug and play and when removed, can simply be plugged into another car with OBDII if desired.

@all,

There is a model called a Scangauge Plus, but that is a counterfeit knock-off from China - replicating the Scangauge II at quite a discount. Scangauge is owned by Linear Logic and they are pursuing these counterfeit sales here in the states.

[mklimesh]

UltraGauge

Aaron,

I put a UltraGauge on my 97 Geo last week. The instant mileage and fuel usage display is nice. Its also reads vehicle trouble codes and showed my Intake Air Temperature sensor wasn't working (the connector was loose). Nice unit.

I was using a Mpguino on my 94 Geo to show the instant mileage and fuel usage as its a OBD1 and the UltraGauge only works on OBD2 (96 and later).

Using a mileage display and driving for mileage is fun at times, I can get 62mpg on the 94 when I do.

The guages also show GPH (gallons per hour) which is helpful for tuning.

Mike Klimesh

[mbrownn]

Most of the things these devices features were built in on the electronic dash of the XJ40, they are fun and useful too.

I would probably go for the china device, not in all cases but some are the exact same thing, out of the same factory, only you are not paying for the name however some are really poor quality but you can usually spot those.

I had a friend in the export business in china 7 tears ago, she could get just about anything. Levis 1$ or 2.50$ for genuine, you name it, minimum order 1000$. Honda Civic was about 6000$ I think, the truth is most goods, genuine or not come out of china. I used to sell big industrial valves in the UK but the truth was they were Chinese ones that were re-badged in the UK by the big name company. It was the same with American and German ones too.

The trick is knowing what to look for on the item you are buying, forget the name, look for the quality, China do the good the bad and the ugly hehe.

One of the TV's I own is a Sony Trinitron but is in a different cabinet, ask how they sneak out the circuit board from sony, or are they a perfect copy? No they make the trinitron under license and make their own TV's too. My Chinese Dayang motorcycle has a Honda engine, The company that makes the Dayang has the license to make Honda engines. This is globalism so beat them at their own game, they hate gray imports only because they want to make a bigger profit out of you than the people in other countries.

Sorry for being off topic

[Aaron]

vacuum reading

Hi Mike,

On the Ultragauge, does it give you an actual vacuum/pressure reading that is accurate? I saw on one site that the negative vacuum number needs to be multiplied by around 2 in order to have the real number. Do you know anything about that?

[StephanieMartus]

Yes I am having ScanGauge II with Ultra Compact 3-in-1 Automotive Computer. Its quite efficient to use this scangauge. It is better because it includes customizable real-time fuel economy digital gauges.

footpaths

[mklimesh]

Hi Aaron,

I don't know about this, I'll have to check when I can get some time.
Mike Klimesh

Hi Mike,

On the Ultragauge, does it give you an actual vacuum/pressure reading that is accurate?

[wrtner]

Has anyone tried or know of anyone who has tried one of these fuel savers?

Desulphating a battery requires one type of circuit.
Saving fuel requires different equipment.

I doubt it works. It would be good to see it on the dealer's
bench engine and see what it does.

[Aaron]

purpose of thread is for fuel saving gauges

I'd like to keep this thread to gauges.

[ewizard]

@Mbrown,

Yes, even the fraudulent Popular Mechanics even has to admit that this is one gas saving gadget that really works - by showing us how to drive more economically. These can also show air fuel ratio, etc... quite a bit of data.

@ewizard,

These just plug into the OBDII port that is used for code readers. The port is usually around the underside of the steering wheel somewhere so actually pretty easy. Just plug and play and when removed, can simply be plugged into another car with OBDII if desired.

@all,

There is a model called a Scangauge Plus, but that is a counterfeit knock-off from China - replicating the Scangauge II at quite a discount. Scangauge is owned by Linear Logic and they are pursuing these counterfeit sales here in the states.

That sounds good. I was probably thinking of some kits I saw in the 80's which were probably still OBD-I. I recently saw a small app for an android cell phone that would hook up to an OBD-II sensor and display all that on your phone. You still need a sensor (I think some use bluetooth) but it might be a little cheaper overall.

[Aaron]

iphone obdii gauges

That sounds good. I was probably thinking of some kits I saw in the 80's which were probably still OBD-I. I recently saw a small app for an android cell phone that would hook up to an OBD-II sensor and display all that on your phone. You still need a sensor (I think some use bluetooth) but it might be a little cheaper overall.

I did just install a computer chip patch and had to splice it into the obdii port but most are plug and play.

THANKS FOR THE GOOD IDEA ABOUT THE PHONE!

WOW - just check on iphone apps and there are a LOT of apps for OBDII, diagnostic, etc... even one that you can get the hardware and it will do everything scangauge does. Some free and some paid.




It requires a obdII > wifi (or bluetooth) connector and they run from about $80 to $150 or so - with the software if you get a paid one, you're looking at about $120-$200 for a full package. Even thought that can be more than scangauge, I like the versatility. And with that obdII > wifi connector, can also beam it directly to a laptop or iphone.


Amazon.com: OBDLink Multiprotocol OBD-II by ScanTool WIFI Model: Automotive

There are some cheaper ones in the $20 range it seems but I'm finding out if it is compatible with the iphone software.

WLAN and Wifi are faster than the bluetooth models.

Trying to find the cheapest obdII>wifi or wlan that will work with any of the cheap or free software that does everything the scangauge can do.

[wrtner]

I'd like to keep this thread to gauges.

O.K. How about a gauge, a sensitve ammeter, connected to a coil
of wire in the fuel flow, measuirng the resistance of the coil connected
across a low voltage.

As the fuel flow changes, the resistance in the coil changes because
it runs warmer or more cool, indicating the rate of fuel flow and
hence mpg (when calibrated).

[Aaron]

iphone obdii gauges

@wrtner, I'm personally just looking for a plug and play gauge that I can just buy.


@all, spent some time looking into the smartphone versions of obdii readers.

The least expensive way for an iphone requires the phone to be jailbroken and then have blue tooth software installed that allows it to be compatible with bluetooth obdii wireless adapters. Can be had for about $20 - a real cheap one - they work with Android phones and use the app called Torque.

This is the case because these adapter makers for the cheap bluetooth versions haven't paid apple their payment to have it supported - it is about as simple as that.

So, for iphone, it has to be a dedicated obdii adapter that plugs right into the phone or a wifi version - and we're looking at about $70 up to the $200 something range.

Then there is some free software but I like the $50 Dashcommand iphone app - seems the best and is just way more sleak than the scangauge or ultragauge.

My vote for iphone software is
1. dashcommand ($50)
?. logworks seems decent and it's free
?. speedport $30 - seems limited
? dashboss - seems decent $5

Those are the only 4 iphone apps I'd even consider getting.

And of course they all require an iphone compatible obdii intereface - wired or wifi.

And all parameters the hardware can read is also going to be dependent on the car - what parameters it even checks. And of course if using wifi on an iphone, you can't use the 3g network for calls, etc... maybe not a bad safety feature for drivers.

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Neewer wifi lan model is $68
Amazon.com: Neewer WiFi WLAN Wireless OBD OBD2 Diagnostic Interface For PC: Car Electronics
They even sell this at Sears (for $135)

It is wireless but not compact, has a cord attached to a transmitter it looks like.

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Still researching...