Testing & Reviewing a SGe (comparing ScanGauge 2 vs. ScanGauge E)

[Daox]

Today I'd like to talk about the CO2 gauges they've added to the SGe. Its not anything real complex, but it is a feature specific to the SGe so I think its worth discussing. They have added two new gauges that calculate the CO2 emissions of your vehicle. The first one is "CO2" on the display, it shows how many pounds/kilograms of CO2 your car has put out on the current trip. The next one is "TCO", and it shows how many pounds/kilograms CO2 your car has put out for the entire day. In the trip meter section you can also see how many pounds/kilograms you've put out for the entire tank too.

I imagine this is some simple math going on in the SGe. According to the EPA, burning 1 gallon of gas puts out 19.4 lbs / 8.8 kgs of CO2. Diesel puts outs 22.2 lbs / 10.1 kgs per gallon. So, as the SGe keeps track of how many gallons you've burned it multiplies by these numbers based on if you have your fuel type set to gasoline or diesel.

[Old Tele man]

...those numbers assume 'perfect' stoichiometric combustion, of course, which only occurs once the engine has gone into "closed-loop" operation.

...how "helpful" is the new moving-bar gauge for FE monitoring?

[Daox]

Well, the CO2 emissions should be just as accurate as the MPG readout and that can be very accurate.

The graph is helpful. I'd recommend setting it for the longest timer interval. That way you can have more similar bars each day on your daily commute. My daily commute is just under 15 minutes, so the entire graph can represent my commute and I can see exactly where I'm getting good or bad mileage. I've gotten used to seeing how the graph normally looks and I can see where I've done better or worse for that trip.

On the other hand, if you set it for relatively short intervals it can be quite helpful for driving with load as it shows above/below average or the set goal mileage. However, you can also use the instant/trip average to do this too,. The advantage of the SGe is it shows you the history.

[Old Tele man]

...I STILL think they need to incorporate something to enable "saving" of commute data, either SD memory chip or USB thumb-drive...even if it's just something that plugs into the un-used RJ-phone-jack on the SGII.

[Daox]

Haha, yeah I think that ones been on people's wish list for quite a while. I think you can do that with the ELM devices though? They aren't too expensive.

http://www.obdtester.com/elm-usb

[MetroMPG]

Good point, worth repeating (exporting the data).

[Daox]

I'd like to finish off this review with a breif summary. I've enjoyed testing the SGe and think its a great product. The graph is definitely a nice to have and does help you analyse your driving. I have also really grown to love the gauge sets. I wish the SGII had the same thing now. Its so nice to be able to page through the sets of gauges that you can't fit all on one screen. I'm slightly annoyed when I have to page through the 20 or so individual gauges just to get to what I want with my SGII now.

I don't think the SGe it is for everyone, but there are those who it'll be a very good fit for. Amongst those people would be people looking to save money. You get almost all the features of the SGII, but it only costs 2/3rds as much ($50 savings). That makes the payback much quicker. IMO the SGII payed for itself quite fast. That makes the SGe is a no brainer if you're looking to save money. The other group of people I'd suggest this to would be the more casual ecodrivers out there. Its a nice gauge, gives lots of info and will help increase your mileage. There isn't too much to look at on the screen, its smaller and fits in nooks a bit easier.

That all being said, I wouldn't recommend the SGe to another group of people. Those people include the hardcore hypermilers. These guys love info and will use every bit they can get their hands on to increase their mileage. That means needing the 4 gauges up all the time to optimize driving. I also wouldn't necessarily recommend the SGe to hybrid owners. The loss of the x-gauges is a big price to pay for hybrid owners who can gain a lot of functionality through the x-gauges.

So, that is that. I do think that most of the users here would be more than happy with the SGe vs SGII and have a bit more money in their pocket.

If anyone has any questions or would like me to try anything out I'd be happy to give it a shot.

[Old Tele man]

...it would be interesting if *ALL* the X-Gauge functions could be saved/stored in the same SD chip or USB thumbdrive that would be used to hold exported data.

[captaintobs]

Hi. I got the scangauge e and noticed that the tank to empty gauge always resets on startup. So even if I've driven 6 gallons on my 17 gallon tank, the tank to empty gauge will always start at 17. I contacted linear logic and they told me that this is a known issue. I'm sending my e back and getting a ii.

Just thought I should let people know.