is scan gauge worth it?
 

I was interested in getting one for my 2003 ram 1500 truck.. I have a overhead readout that I actually find pretty accurate and if reset you can see instant economy. But i'd like to keep a running number for a tank and see the instant like what the scangauge does from what I understand.
Not sure if it's worth the about $200 (canadian) which would buy a lot of gas.

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Whether it is worth it will depend on how you can or chose to use it. Does your vehicle have a manual transmission?

No it's a 5 speed automatic. I'd like to use it to see what various techniques can yield for economy. Vs doing it blindly if that makes sense

That's the reason to get one. However, two of the best techniques that the gauge can help you with are not possible with an automatic. Accelerating at optimal load (usually 70%-80%) is generally not possible with an AT. Engine off coasting (in neutral) might destroy your auto transmission. But it will still help you. It just might not pay for itself for quite a while. I have an UltraGauge, which was cheaper. I think the scan gauge also reads troublecodes, like the UltraGauge. If you don't own a scanner or want to bring one with you in the car, the gauge can be really valuable on the road.

Have you chacked out the Torque App? I have never used it, but it would be cheaper, too.

I use a cheap ELM327 bluetooth odb2 adapter and the Torque lite app to monitor everything. You can set it up to monitor just the things you want. i use engine load, instant fuel consumption and average fuel consumption mainly.

So I have a performance type tuner that came with the truck.. it doesn't work anymore for tuning as it needs to be unlocked, but It has a scanner for codes and it reads engine temp knock sensors, engine load etc. But doesn't have a fuel rate per hour or anything like that.

I will look into the torque pro

Another vote for a ELM327 OBDII adapter and Torque app (If you use android)

I have both and older Scan Gauge and an older Ultra Gauge. Personally I like my Ultra Gauge better because the screen gives me 6 gauges instead of 4 like my Scan Gauge. There are several good things about them other than just fuel economy uses. You can scan the ECU for codes and set up gauges such as ECT, Volts and RPM so you can keep an eye on parameters that possibly don't have factory gauges. I think the price of an Ultra Gauge now is about $80 vs about $170 for the Scan Gauge.

Torque Pro! Even though my Prius has real time reporting, the Torque Pro allows you to cusotmize the display so you can choose the data that's most important to you. There are plenty of OBDII Bluetooth adapters for about $20; mine is Bafx and works great. For instance, I finally had a real engine coolant temp gauge with Torque Pro, that was a welcome improvement to a guy who grew up with analog gauges and that was always a big one.

How much is Torque Pro anymore? Six bucks? Ten? That plus the adapter, still a small fraction of what the Scangauge costs and every bit as capable.

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Scan gauge, ultra gauge and the torque app. user here.

Torque app. is fine but I prefer the ultra gauge.

Opening the app. and Bluetooth connectivity can be a pain in the butt.

With the ultra gauge you just turn the key and it is up and running.

Scan gauge is ok, but has a limited viewable gauges at any given time.


It my opinion a aftermarket gauge is a must and will pay for itself many times over.

;)


:turtle:

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farmer888 -- To quote Lebowski "New information has come to light, man."
The reTerminal Is A Next Generation Human Machine Interface Rpi CM4I'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. :thumbup:

edit: $314 on eBay

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.

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.

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.

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.