OBD Computers

Any one used one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PLX-KiWi-MPG-...&otn=3&po=LVI&ps=63&clkid=7670002550713489990

or anything similar, Scanguage? Are the accurate and worth the cash?

 

No idea, but I love this bit of the product description

"Enclosure - Automotive Grade Plastic"

 

Worth the cash??

Run out of fingers to count on have you?

 

Well, I'd hate to think it was just any old crap .....

 

In theory, if they access mandatory OBD data, they should be accurate (ish),
but why, exactly, would you want one? My 10yr old Shite Old Volvo gives an
instantaneous MPG reading, and I never use it. Why pay money for it?

 

I have one, it seems pretty accurate

http://twitpic.com/48mdov

 

AOL. The only readouts I find useful on the MFD are the radio channel and
the approximation of how many miles I can go on the fuel left in the tank.

 

Because the car (1) I have bought to use for work doesn't have a
computer, if I can save 10% it will pay for itself in 8 fillups.

(1) A 2005 Kia Magentis

 

heh

 

If you just want to find out how the mpg responds to different types of
driving, most efficient cruise speed etc, an OBD2 cable would be a much
cheaper way of doing it assuming you've got a laptop. It would also
give you much more info & let you read failure codes. I bought this
one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140443132982

 

I've got one of those, but I want to see a real time read out, having
a laptop in the car all the time isn't practical.

I do have an iphone app called Roadtrip that gives stats for th alast
tank, total trip etc. but it's not quite what I want.

 

Sure but for the things you can control (which gear to use at which
speed, motorway cruising speed etc) the readings won't change. So get a
mate to note down readings off the laptop during a series of tests &
Bob's yer uncle. Unless you just want a gadget of course, in which case
go for it.

 

Speedgazebo MOTP #1 spoke:

Here's a thought.

Fill the tank, zero the trip meter, drive the car, fill the tank, zero the trip
meter, note fuel and mileage, drive the car, fill the tank.....


--
Rob_P
UKRM(at)indqualtec.co.uk
uppercase(d) BBIWYMC#1 BOG#11? MRO#31 IBCDBBB#1(kotl)
FJ1200, CCM130 Benelli Cabriolet (gone)
Looks like Rab C Nesbit.

 

*Ding*

It's not rocket science to work out what kills your fuel economy - hard
acceleration, high speeds, too much weight in the car, not anticipating,
leaving the windows open etc.. An instantaneous MPG reading shouldn't be
telling you anything you don't already know.

 

I've got one of those, but I want to see a real time read out, having
a laptop in the car all the time isn't practical.

I do have an iphone app called Roadtrip that gives stats for th alast
tank, total trip etc. but it's not quite what I want.

===================================

Over the years Elektor magazine has published reams of stuff on OBD, track
down the old articles and you have every bit of tech info you'll ever need.

Most projects are available as complete DIY assembly kits from the Elektor
shop - some are available pretty much assembled, all programmable micro's
are available ready programmed or the firmware is a free download.

Most whole year Elektor CDs can be got from The pirates Bay or other places,
the CD (ISO) contains each full magazine for the year (large PDFs) and every
individual project (lots of small PDFs).

 

It isn't that simple. Hard acceleration to a given speed can use less
fuel than gentle acceleration, & some cars use less fuel at higher
speeds (i.e. 75mph rather than 70). I vaguely recall somebody here
noticing that years ago - darsy in his Jeep I think.

 

Are they still in business?

<googles>

Nurse! More Tissues!!

 

This is the sort of thing I want to find out.

 

On Mar 12, 2:08 pm, "Monkey"

Granted there are more factors and complexities than the obvious ones, but
an instantaneous fuel readout won't really help. How are you going to work
out if hard acceleration to 70 is more economic than gentle acceleration, by
looking at the instantaneous numbers, for example?

 

Krusty spoke:

So why does this invalidate the method outlined above?

Nah - I had a 4.0l jeep, it did about 3 gallons per hour irrespective of speed,
acceleration, traffic etc.


--
Rob_P
UKRM(at)indqualtec.co.uk
uppercase(d) BBIWYMC#1 BOG#11? MRO#31 IBCDBBB#1(kotl)
FJ1200, CCM130 Benelli Cabriolet (gone)
Looks like Rab C Nesbit.