my first experience with the kiwi mpg
 

well i finally put my kiwi mpg in my car and since its 2:30am what better time then now to give it a go....well went and filled my tank then took a 15mile cruise hit a couple lights hopped on the highway for about 6.5miles .... for some reason when i got home my average was 24.1mpg overall :( i wasnt too happy with that maybe if i clean out my car and wash it that will make a difference anybody else have a kiwi mpg? i think for 89 bucks you cant really go wrong it does close to everything the scangauge does just cheaper!

jetta2.5L -

I look at OBDII gauges as "relative" MPG barometers because they use the other data inputs to extrapolate MPG. Scangauge has their "secret algorithm", and so does Kiwi. Does the Kiwi ask you for the engine size as an input?

That's my two krones,

CarloSW2

nope...just fuel tank size and gas price i think i just need to wear it in and take it on a nice hour cruise that way i might be able to get some better numbers i do like the fact it keeps track of fuel cost thats a tool that will come in handle when friends need rides ;) down to the penny cough it up hahaha

jetta2.5L -

Fascinating (the way Spock says it). At first I thought it had to be a similar algorithm, but no engine size means it's gotta be different, perhaps in significant ways. With the SG, the fuel consumption changes considerably as a function of the engine size.

CarloSW2

Yeah, when I tested the kiwi on my Paseo, it told me I was getting about 20 some mpg too. It needs to be calibrated just like the scangauge does.

Keep us updated on how it is calibrated. Does this one also scan/clear OBDII codes?

yes it does read /clear codes i think i really gotta mess with the calibration because it told me my average on the highway drifting behind a rig @ 60 was 19.0mpg but the instant was saying 64.6mpg make sense? not to me ...as for the engine size i think that more problem is the kiwi dont know my engine size like cfg83 was saying....guess it takes some work but i gotta work for the $60 i saved i should have not cheaped out and bought a scangauge in the long run

jetta2.5L -

I think you are doing the forum a favor because knowing stuff about another OBDII product is cool beans in my book. A different algorithm is *intriguing* from my POV. Your are our "Kiwi Pioneer".

CarloSW2

haha thanks least in the 18 hours i already have made a name for myself :-) i gotta cruise to my bank so iam going to keep messing with the calib. and maybe i will get it to show so numbers.

well........iam getting angry at this thing already but i think the calib. is 1.22 my whole thing is they said its plug and play why cant you just plug the damn thing in and play already! its saying 28/33hwy 17/22city and thats around my epa ratings i had to call plx and the guy there said yeah you just have to play with it! ....and its based on a air flow sensor and something else.

Maybe injector pulse or something?

beats me....all i know is i cant get it to stay a steady number

I'm on the verge of buying one. They go on sale at Amazon in four days for $86 shipped.

oh fun times with this "piece" of technology
 

well i would love to tell you to buy one IF IT WORKED FOR ME! well now iam down from it now give the right mpg then hours of calibration to it just doesnt work now it keeps saying connection failed no matter what and how many times i plug it in!:mad: iam getting a really bad vibe from this iam going to return it hopefully i can get a good one and this was just a dud.

I just received my Kiwi MPG and I have to say that I do not like it. It is telling me that my 99 Honda Civic is getting 21.7 -30 mpg at 60 mph with the cruise control on. That is way off. If your thinking about buying one, I would say to hold off. I may be able to figure this thing out but because of the "plug and play" there isn't much I can do.

Also, I forgot to add that the wire comes off of the wrong side and gets in the way a lot. Simple things seemed to be overlooked during the engineering of this device.

Does this thing scan OBDII codes like the scanguage?

Can you clarify what you mean by "getting 21.7 -30 mpg at 60 mph with the cruise control on"?

Hi,

That sounds completely normal -- slight incline and/or wind changes will cause the fuel consumption to change quickly and often. I don't think there is anything wrong with the gauge...

Thankz NeilBlanchard for pointing this out... I'm looking up all the info I can about the KIWI MPG b/c I'm thinking about getting it in late July for my b-day and I want it to be good but everyone is saying all kinds of BS about it making it sound bad but from what I can tell it seems perfectly fine to me (especially for $89)

...would help if someone posted (from the manual) what the "calibration" process is, that would help others understand what's going on inside the Kiwi as it calculates your MPG.

http://www.plxkiwi.com/support/KiwiManual_V1.1.pdf

Here is the manual for the Kiwi, though I'm not sure if the same manual applies to the smaller MPG version. Section 4.3 discusses calibration.

...thanks, but that's for the "original" BIG model, the newer smaller unit is the Kiwi-MPG unit.

Kiwi MPG manual
 

The manual is on the plx website. Just go to the Kiwi MPG page and click on the "tech" page and the link is at the bottom. (I'm not allowed to post links yet on the forum.)