Got my scangauge!

[bbgobie]

First, I must say its cool! I think I can make some driving improvements based on this tool.

Have 1 major annoyance. Can't get the backlight to come on. Going to more->display brings up the off, low, bright, more options, but pressing either low or off or bright does nothing. if i choose more i can change the colour settings, but no backlight shows. maybe its defective?

Also how accurate is it with fuel consumption? My car was showing an improvement in neutral at a stop over gear. same while coasting.

another interesting thing was i could drop fuel consumption by turning off the hvac and it was noticeable on the scangauge.

gonna do some tests at highway crusing with windows, sunroof, or fan to see which works best!

[kps]

It may be defective, but it's also just not bright enough to do much in full daylight. If you haven't, try it at night first.

[davidjh72]

I concur with KPS that in the daytime the backlight may not be noticeable. I suggest setting the backlight to HIGH and see if you can somehow shade the Scangauge by holding a piece of paper or a book above it. Or wait until dark, or park in a garage or some other structure. If the backlight does turn out to be bad, definitely get it replaced while you have a fresh warranty.

Personally, I have my Scangauge2 set to HIGH backlight and green background. Way easier to see than the amber color of my sold-months-ago-on-ebay Scangauge "1". Photographs clearer too. Of course you can use any of the preprogrammed colors or tweak your own.

[bbgobie]

Thanks guys.

Actually the reason i noticed the backlight wasnt working at first is cause I couldn't see anything as soon as I drove into my parking garage!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by bbgobie

My car was showing an improvement in neutral at a stop over gear. same while coasting.

This makes sense if you think about it:

- While stopped in gear, the engine is burning fuel trying to move the car forward, and you're holding it back with the brakes. When in N, it only has to burn enough fuel to keep the engine ticking over, and none is wasted trying to propel the car.

- Coasting in gear will have you decelerating at a greater rate than in neutral, so your overal fuel consumption will be greater. IE you can't coast as far in gear as you can in N.

The SG is great. Have fun with your new toy!

[davidjh72]

Originally Posted by bbgobie

Thanks guys.

Actually the reason i noticed the backlight wasnt working at first is cause I couldn't see anything as soon as I drove into my parking garage!

Ah!

If the display backlight setting is set to low or high and the backlight and buttons don't light up in the dark, then the backlight is indeed defective. Bummer... But Linear Logic is really good about making things right. Somebody here had their Scangauge die, and got a new one in less than a week.

[bbgobie]

I thought I read somewhere here that if the car is in gear but your coasting that because the tranny is connected its actually turning over the engine so no fuel is required. It didnt make sense to me as I've always been of the train of thought the faster your engine is reving the more fuel is required to keep it turned over even if you are coasting.

I may have misread or misunderstood. Either way, as long as the scangauge is accurate about fuel consumed I can figure out what works best for my car.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

This makes sense if you think about it:

- While stopped in gear, the engine is burning fuel trying to move the car forward, and you're holding it back with the brakes. When in N, it only has to burn enough fuel to keep the engine ticking over, and none is wasted trying to propel the car.

- Coasting in gear will have you decelerating at a greater rate than in neutral, so your overal fuel consumption will be greater. IE you can't coast as far in gear as you can in N.

The SG is great. Have fun with your new toy!

[MetroMPG]

Most cars with manual transmissions do fuel cut-off when the accelerator is released above a certain RPM. But even those cars will decelerate faster in gear (under fuel cut-off) than in neutral due to engine braking. So if the goal is to go as far as possible on the momentum you built up by burning fuel, coasting in N is the way to go.

You will probably find that your SG isn't totally accurate over a full tank. Depending on the car, I've read people saying they're anywhere from within a couple of percent, to over 10% off.

It has built-in offsets you can change for odometer and fuel consumed. After a few fill-ups you should be able to calibrate it pretty closely.

[bbgobie]

Thanks Metro.

From what I'm getting in your post, if your fuel cuts off, if your coasting to a red and you know your going to have to brake, you might as well stay in gear.

If your goal of course is to go as far as possible because no light or traffic coming up, of course go to N.

I know the SG will be off in terms of MPG because it wont be 100% accurate for distance, but there is also a fuel consumed / unit of time gauge (For me it's L/Hr Being Canadian ) To me, this is the important one that has to be dead on.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Most cars with manual transmissions do fuel cut-off when the accelerator is released above a certain RPM. But even those cars will decelerate faster in gear (under fuel cut-off) than in neutral due to engine braking. So if the goal is to go as far as possible on the momentum you built up by burning fuel, coasting in N is the way to go.

You will probably find that your SG isn't totally accurate over a full tank. Depending on the car, I've read people saying they're anywhere from within a couple of percent, to over 10% off.

It has built-in offsets you can change for odometer and fuel consumed. After a few fill-ups you should be able to calibrate it pretty closely.

[MnFocus]

If you are aware that the light is red or about to turn red ...you should already be coasting in N ( at least thats what I do) even if it means applying the brake at 1 mph I'll neutral coast . Then shut the key off until the green light says "safe to proceed".