is scan gauge worth it?

[freebeard]

farmer888 -- To quote Lebowski "New information has come to light, man."

The reTerminal Is A Next Generation Human Machine Interface Rpi CM4

I'd been wanting to buy another Raspberry Pi, and putting one in my XFi is an option. I'd been thinking a Pi 400 (different motherboard), but now comes the Compute Module 4. I hadn't considered it but I can appreciate the teardown. The plastic had brass inserts for mounting on four sides (L/R/back?bottom) and a slot for the HQ camera ribbon.

It has a 5" touch screen and USB C power. This episode is an introduction to a series on dropping one into an OBDII vehicle.

I could see one as a desktop machine with external KVM and a camera one one side and microphone on the other with teensy articulated print-in-place 3D printed tentacle arms in the brass inserts.

edit: $314 on eBay

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Torque cannot report accurate fuel economy for the life of it but it does a decent job in other aspects if you don't want to spend the $$$ on a Scangauge.

[MeteorGray]

I like my ScanGauge. It displays four values on the screen at once, and at the push of easily-accessible buttons which are located at each of the screens on the front of the instrument, I can instantly select other values I want at any time. It's very simple and intuitive to do.

And the ScanGauge is so small it fits just about anywhere in the small instrument display area on my car.

Relative to my fuel economy performance, the average MPG values shown on the ScanGauge are very reliable, and the results are within a percent or two of what I hand-calculate at each fill-up.

The instantaneous MPG value is a big help in guiding my throttle control methodology to squeeze out as many miles as I can from each increasingly costly gallon.

[freebeard]

I realize the reTerminal is more expensive than the Scangauge; but on re-viewing (nopun) it has an accelerometer. That requires a smart phone otherwise.

And there is ample opportunity to integrate a webcam and infotainment head end as well.

[Blacktree]

I have a ScanGauge SG2, bought it in 2012. It has been very useful. In addition to tracking fuel economy, it also can be used as a gauge pod. And it can scan / clear trouble codes. I've used it as a code reader many times, on multiple vehicles. And I use it as an auxiliary gauge pod in my daily driver.

That said, if I were in the market for such a device today, I might buy something else. That's not to say the ScanGauge is bad. It's actually very good at what it does. But it's pretty basic compared to some of the other products currently available.