Please allow a little stretching of the subject. This welcoming site and thread looks like the closest place where I can say what I want to say below.
To the OP, I envy you because you already have a stock mpg device on your car, but forgive my technical illiteracy, I am still waiting for the availability of an easy to install, fool proof and calibration free plug and play device that can be used in my Matrix to show me the instant mpg data. It has to be available in the shops, not just on the internet. Impossible to make such a thing? Look at the add-on GPS units that are so widely available. Too bad they don't show mpg numbers directly.
I will arbitrarily deem such a device to be worth of its price if I can recoup the money that I pay for it in five years (about 40,000 kms) through the achievement of better FE (I am currently beating EPA ratings by a few % and believe that I can do better). Having been here for some time, I am already "infected" by everybody's enthusiasm about saving fuel and protecting the environment. However, my lack of a technical background makes me feel like an outcast (time to have a thread or sub-forum designed to attract laymen/beginners
). I am sincerely waiting to buy the device that I have described with a ton of patience
.
Someone please tell the manufacturers. It should not be difficult to make something like what I want. Many things that looked like a dream yesterday have become reality today
. The add-on MP3, blue tooth and GPS units are good examples.