View Single Post
Old 12-18-2009, 06:20 PM   #10 (permalink)
cfg83
Pokémoderator
 
cfg83's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,864

1999 Saturn SW2 - '99 Saturn SW2 Wagon
Team Saturn
90 day: 40.49 mpg (US)
Thanks: 439
Thanked 532 Times in 358 Posts
tjts1 -

Quote:
Originally Posted by tjts1 View Post
I'msurprised this stuff isn't standard on all cars yet. On my 96 volvo 850, I replaced the standard clock in the bottom of the instrument cluster with a trip computer from a more expensive version. It has a switch in the dash that swithes betwen 6 modes:
Instant mpg
Average mpg
Average speed
Miles traveled
Miles to empty at current average mpg
Outside temp which I relocated to the airbox

The electronics for this display are dead simple by todays standard and have the potential to really change driver behavior. The EPA should require a display like this on all cars.
110% agreement. I don't know that the "OBD" standard is today. I think it's beyond OBD-II but is still backwards compatible to OBD-II Scangauge communication.

The ability to calculate this is already in the ECU/PCM, so why not display it? Back in 1996 I could see a manufacturer's argument that entry-level cars didn't have LCD displays in the instrument cluster, but that isn't really true anymore (from what I can tell).

CarloSW2
__________________

What's your EPA MPG? Go Here and find out!
American Solar Energy Society
  Reply With Quote