ScanGauge Alternatives
 

EDIT: I cant post links yet... the PLX kiwi mpg is $90 or less and the Maxitrip is $70 on amazon.

So I'm about to start college and I'll be driving over 120mmiles a day so I did some google searches to increase gas mileage and I found this hypermiling idea and general tips for better gas mileage. I see a huge amount of people recommend the scan guage 2 and I can definitely see the benefits to such a device, but with its hefty price tag I was wandering what it has that's beneficial to mpg increase compared to some others?

PLX Kiwi MPG
Almost half as the price but this one has a lot of obvious features missing.

Autel MaxiTrip TP100
This is the one I'm much more likely to purchase until someone sways my mind! I can't find many differences in this one and the ScanGuage 2

Thanks in advance.

Check out this thread for reviews of the MaxiTrip...

It looks like the MaxiTrip can't compete with the overall quality of the scangauge. It's a cheap alternative if you really can't spend the money now, but you'll probably end up regretting not spending the extra money in a few months.

First though, what kind of car do you have? The SGII only works on OBDII cars ('96+), so if you have an older one, then you'll have to look for something else anyway.

I'm not THAT noob! It's a 98 Civic EX. Thanks for the response and I'm definitely going to the SGII with all the people complaining on the Maxitrips inaccuracy and poor quality... I found a thread about JCwhitney selling it for 150 with 20% off and free shipping by finding online coupons so I'm just gunna bite the bullet and do that.

...I can attest that the AutoMeter 9100 ecometer is neither as versatile nor as functional as the SGII, although it *is* cheaper in cost.

...its MPG display is as accurate as the SGII, but its MPH and RPM displays were always "dithering" around a value and seemingly never "settled" down.

...and, most damningly, the 9100 literally "...ran down the battery..." in my brand-new Vibe after only 6 days of inactivity! This has NEVER happened with the SGII that I now use.

The GoLink looks promising as well: Products | goPoint Technology

It's a $100 OBD-to-iPhone cable. It gives you mileage/speed/RPM/etc data readouts, reads and resets trouble codes, charges the phone and does datalogging using an external website.

I think I'm going to order this, since I have an iPhone, and I've been wary of getting a SG since any gadget attracts thieves where I live. I had a digital tire pressure gauge stolen recently. Really. :mad:

I might have considered this for my itouch but i found a local SGII for $100 so I'm picking it up next week!

Thanks for the responses.

I found a used Scangauge on Ebay for 118$ shipped. I looked into other alternatives as well but ultimately decided to go with a proven product. I should get it next week.

Good price! I'm used to seeing used items sell for half or less of their original retail price, but these things hold their value!

No kidding. Even though I could have gotten a new one for ~30$ more, that would go against saving as much money as possible with this car. 30$ is a tank of gas.

Another alternative: Ultra-Gauge
 

Have a look at UltraGauge. Less expensive than all the units you mentioned and as many features as both.

Have a look and decide for yourself. ultra-gauge.com
Let us know which you choose and what was the key deciding factor. :D

...I did a little 'digging' for information:

..Product: UltraGauge
Company: Nexzor, Inc. (incorporated in Wyoming on 4/21/2010)
....Owner: Bruce Melvin
..Address: 104 Rio Encanto Court (a residential address...nice pool!), Roseville, CA 95747-5907 (near Sacramento, CA)
....Phone: (916) 765-0742
..website: Ultra-Gauge.com

...the downloadable 'Users Manual' is easy to read (not a Chinese translation!), and appears to be rather thorough.

...interestingly, the unit is stated as being "...not_metric..." but requires engine size to be entered as "Liters" rather than "cubic-inch-displacement (CID)."

This actually looks interesting, and for the price, might be worth checking out. Of course, I JUST got my SG last week :/

This, however, may be a dealbreaker for many of us. From the FAQ

I was wanting to get a ScanGaugeII but did not want to shell out $150 so I just bought now the UltraGauge. The total was $56.81 and there is a $9 rebate. The good thing was my paypal account had $35 in it from selling some of my stock radio so if it sucks I'm not out much.

I will post my thoughts on it after testing.

...anybody heard the term "AstroTurfing"?

I looks like the UltraGauge should be in today or tomorrow. When I get a chance I will post about it but classes just started today and I have a night class today and tomorrow so it might take a little time to get something up.

I received it last night and hooked it up after my late dinner it seems to work well but I have not owned a Scangauge to compare it to. It will take some time to get the location just right where I want it and finish selecting the readings to display. The windshield mount works well so far the mast is a bit stiff so I might velcro it some where later to keep things off the window. The unit is light weight and smaller than a GPS unit.

I wish that there were a few more gauges for my car mostly EGR.
Biggest complaint from first use is changing pages when driving is a bit slow or seems to not want to change at first. That could just be me not knowing if I should hold the button in or tap it.

On the way home tonight I may try doing an EOC to see how it reacts, although it might not like the fact that my car drops the MPH to 0 on restart till I put it in drive and tap the gas.

Phantom -

Interesting. Instead of limiting the OBD-II access to a subset of gauranteed parameters (what the SG does), it gives access to all of them. I noticed this variable :

Mass Air Flow Sensor 2 – Calculated

That makes a lot of sense to me, since the MAF is needed for MPG calculations, and not all cars have it. Sooooo, why not make it available?

I like the bigger LCD display. It will be interesting to see how well it works over time. The biggest fault with other gauges has been their reliability and accuracy.

PS - I don't think OBD-II supports the EGR parameter.

CarloSW2

...OK, here's an update:

19-Aug = ordered via PayPal
20-Aug = shipped (...from ZIP: 95747)
24-Aug = USPS Priority Mail arrives (...label ZIP: 97526-8445)

...so, shipping is prompt, but I also did some more "digging around" and noticed:

ZIP = 95747 (where it was really shipped from) is a Roseville, CA, location.
ZIP = 97526 (USPS label address) is a steel shed named 'Alternate Power and Machine' adjacent U.S. Highway 5 up in Oregon.

...does anybody *else* smell something fishy...ala' "...something rotten in Denmark?"

I will have to check the address on the box when I get home tonight to see what mine shows for the address, I will also see what address they have for the rebate form.

As for EOC the ultra-gauge stayed on but everything showed 0, on restart the unit went back to functioning normally. It does not bother me not having it work for EOC as I do not use that since I have an auto-trans and do not do EOC.

I know that my OBD-II car does have an reading for EGR but I'm not sure if it is standard for OBD-II. How I know this is I can scan it with my HPtuner and many people have used the input to connect a wideband O2 in its place for readings.

Old Tele man: I can't wait to see your review of the product especially if you have a scangauge to compare it to. Also about it not being in metric is just that they do not display readings in Km or L, I assume the reason that they have the engine size in L is that is what every one measures the engine in and the common public might have a hard time figuring out that the Buick 3.8L is 231ci.

I just went over to cleanmpg.com and found they have a discussion on the UG also New Ultra-Gauge: First Impressions, Quick Hits, and quick comparisons to ScanGauge-II - CleanMPG Forums

...did you read the DEAD BATTERY postings on the Ultra-Gauge forum?

...I experienced a similar battery drain-down problem with the AutoMeter 9100 ecometer.

I wrote my impression of the UG in the referenced link on cleanmpg. My unit was shipped from Grants Pass, OR. I ordered it Friday 8/20, and it arrived Monday 8/23. It works almost exactly the same as the SG during EOC P&G, except the SG shows 9999 mpg during EOC, and the UG shows 000 mpg. At the end of the drives, both registered 9.3 miles distance (v. 9.6 miles using cruise control), and both showed an 8 mpg improvement (~62 mpg) with P&G v. the cruise controlled ~52 mpg.

...SentraSE-R, did you run both units simultaneously (OBD-II "Y"-splitter cable?) or separately?

After reading the Ultra Guage review, I'm impressed. The addition of the device automatically scanning for the funtional guages is a severe improvement over manually entering in xguages with the hope of them working.

I've been wanting to get a second scanguage, but the sleekness of the display of the ultraguage and the lower price is extremely tempting. My wife will likely prefer to have the UG for the looks.

I'd say SG has some serious competition!

I've noticed that as well. Sometimes though, it's useful. Not generally though.

I did not read the dead battery post on the UG forum but I do not thing I should worry as I have left my Hptuner plugged in should use about the same amount of energy and happened to leave my map lights on over night (8ish hours) and did not even notice till i was almost to work and saw that the lights were still on in the car. That was on my old stock battery (lower rating than the new one) that was 6 years old with over 100K mi on it.

I ran them separately, in back-to-back tests, switching between SG and UG. I don't own a J1962 Y cable, and its functionality would depend on how the UG and SG hog or share the communication bus.

Gents,

Any results with the ultra-guage?

easy

I have been using it for my last two tanks and have had no problems the total miles were off a little about 0.1 extra miles every 45mi but I adjusted that and now it is 0.1mi under for every 120mi. I did not get to check the actual gal used to gal displayed since last time I did not select tank filled so I could not correct that.

It seems like the Ultra-gauge is accurate and works well. I just started using the "J1962 Y cable" this week and it did not change the function at all but I have not hooked up my scanner/programmer to it at the same time yet.

I drove my xB 820 miles to Utah before Labor Day. My UltraGauge performed flawlessly. My calibration has varied from 1.08 to 1.21, after initially setting it at 1.135. I've got it set at 1.21 now, as I'd rather be pleasantly surprised at tank fill than disappointedly surprised. I've learned to identify DFCO from watching the open loop indicator. The ScanGauge showed it by displaying 9999 mpg.

Hi All,
this is a great thread with some good alternatives for instrumentation. I have read through it and added the alternatives found in this thread to the wiki
MPGuino DIY fuel consumption computer - EcoModder

I would be interested if anyone has any user feedback for the plx kiwi or maxitrip so I can add it in.

Also has anyone found a instrument that will log to USB or do datalogging in general. I have this on my home made fuel usage meter and I have found it very useful to be able to log each second the amount of fuel and the speed. Its very good to see what mod is best for you as you can see under what conditions your fuel is being used the most, if it’s while your idling at lights or highway driving or accelerating.
If anyone is interested in this concept looks like something can be done with the mpguino but it may require a laptop or cellphone to log the data (sorry I am not very familiar with the design)
Alternatively if anyone knows how to write iphone apps maybe with the iphone obd adaptor this function could be enabled using the iphone as the data storage. The software provided with the cord may already have datalogging option.

Doesn't worry me since I already have usb logging but just thought id mention it for others.

How did you make that ?

There's OBD2 gear that goes right into an iPhone and the like, these should be able to log - or at least could be made to log if the app designer can be bothered to include that feature.

my fuel meter works off the injector signal for fuel amount used.

its done with a custom PCB that i routed at work, runs a MSP430 (free sample from TI).

Logs data to USB by serial comms to a device called a vdrive2 from viniculum. It wouldn't be my first choice for using a USB drive but had one lieing around at work so i made use of it

There are probably microcontollers or specific chips that would interface to a USB drive in a better way if anyone wants to do this for themselves.

I'm wondering what I might find if I put a netbook (I have a few, 8 or 9 at the last count - I think I have a problem :D) and a network cable into the spare socket on the SG2 ?

Your computer will print out the words "Paul is a dead man"

I'm pleased with my Ultra-guage sofar. Works as advertised. No battery draw downs here (I suspect that person let theirs in the menu function before leaving the vehicle overnight which does not shut the thing off). I'm also guessing scan guage will soon be lowering their price point; good to see there is some competition in the sector now

Well there is the thing at gopoint tech (sorry I can't link yet)

But I gather from what I read Apple recommends wifi connects instead. There are obdII wifi senders out there but they aren't cheep ($100+ ) then there is the issue of software for your iphone or ipod or ipad... there this one: REV (search the apple app store and you'll find it) probably others as well . Not sure about data logging features though