The mecca of fuel economy is instantaneous feeback. With this you can tailor your driving to absolute perfection in terms of gas mileage. There is no way, none whatsoever, to realize what's actually happening with some sort of instantaneous, accurate feedback. It also helps to have something that can log tanks, laps, and trips so that you can watch yourself improve or test various techniques and modifications.
The thing that makes the superMID special is that it works for cars that are obdII and pre-obdII alike. The other tool, the Scangauge, only works for cars running obdII electronics (most 1996 and newer models). So, when I learned that a Japanese man named Yoshi had created a device to monitor his Prius's mileage, and that this device could be used on my 1991 Honda CRX, I was justifiably happy. With this little device I have done more than I ever could have imagined, and I will go into some function in a later argument.
In the mean time, if your car is fuel injected you may be able to use this little baby!!! Send me an email if you're interested with your information and your car's information and I'll see what I can do in terms of hooking you up with one of these things. So far there are only three of us in North America that use them (how exciting)!
Purpose: To better monitor your fuel economy. A week with instantaneous feeback is like a year with tank to tank results.
Time: 1 hour
Tools:
- Wire Strippers
- Soldering Equipment (including heat shrink)
- Anything you might need to access ECU/under dash wiring
Supplies:
- MID and all install contents
- Some stranded wire
- Female/male end connectors
First thing's first (a little homage to those who helped me get this thing going):
Thanks to Dan and Yoshi. To Dan for his dedication and the ability to hit over 99.9 mpg with the prius making this little device necessary. Thanks for all your help and for giving us the inspiration to know that we can get crazy numbers through driving technique and patience. To Yoshi-dono for building this awesome piece of equipment and for providing great support. I still can't believe it came from Japan to the east coast of the US in only three days!
Now, before I start in earnest, just let me say, this thing is incredibly well designed. All the wiring is consolidated into a thin, pluggable lan cable that is very easy to work with and will make mounting a breeze! Yoshi kicks butt!
Procedure:
Here's all the stuff you get. LAN cable, MID, black box.
Expose your ecu. Prolly the most difficult step, but mine is always exposed, so I win.
Figure out which spot on the fuse box will give constant power. You'll want to power the MID from this spot so you don't lose data when you engine off coast.
More glorious shots of the device. Notice the red wire coming off for power, will plug up to that wire you saw coming from the fuse box.
Spliced the MID ground into the other ground I use for junk.
All wired up. Yellow to an injector from the ECU and purple to the VSS (vehicle speed sensor).
Temporary mount point until I fab something up to sit in the center of the dash.
Here's the final mounting, kinda ugly, but it works:
Thanks again to Yoshi and Dan!
NOTES: The speed part isn't working because I have a mechanical VSS. I am unsure if this is completely because of the VSS or some other issue, but I have upgraded to an electronic VSS and it works like a charm. Get in touch with me if you want to hear more about this and possible solution for your personal vehicle.