Scangauge alternative???

[Ryanrpm]

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to find an OBDII system that will give me live fuel economy readings....but not at the cost of a scangauge. I know the ELM327 is out there, but for that to work, you need a laptop sitting in your seat......or you have to buy the expensive bluetooth version and use your PDA or something.

Does anyone know of any other device that will just give me my live fuel economy? I want to make a mod, then be able to see if it made an instant improvement.....not wait a week and then do the math at the gas station.


Thanks for your help....

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Here are a couple threads for cheaper ones. I had bad luck with the Kiwi MPG, but apparently some bugs have been worked out. That it ever was released with broken CAN support bothers me, though.

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread....hlight=totally

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread....light=kiwi+mpg

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Some not real encouraging recent kiwi mpg reviews out there.

[theholycow]

The Kiwi is the only one that's cheaper. There's plenty of other SGII alternatives but they're more expensive.

Edit: I forgot the AutoMeter Ecometer, which maximilian posted about below.

There are some DIY alternatives. There's a link in my sig to a post about a DIY fuel rate (not MPG) meter. In that post, there are links to other ideas for MPG meters, like installing a DIC (Driver Information Center) from a similar model of car that was offered with one.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

The AutoMeter Ecometer from the first link is also cheaper than the SG, but I can't find any reviews of it and it's CAN only. I'd love for somebody to try it out. Here's the thread again:

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread....hlight=totally

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Apparently R2D2 uses one, but he never visits the forums. I'll ask him in a PM what he thinks of it. Been adding gaslog entries recently, so he's active. Hope he checks his PMs.

[Ryanrpm]

Thanks guys.......

That Ecometer looks really good.....and would provide me with the info I need. I think I'm going to try and sell some stuff to pay for a Scangauge though. I like the ability to read and clear codes in case any are set.

$60 isn't bad......but the Scangauge is only $160 and provides more info.

Thanks though, for all your effort!!!! If I still can't afford the SG, I'll go with the Ecometer.....

[GasSavers_BEEF]

check ebay.

sometimes you can get them for $130 or so used. not that I really need to say it but they are well worth the money. I have often talked about getting a second one and daisy chaining them together. theoretically it should work but i am not sure how much current it draws and how much adding a second one would add to the load on the circuit.

the idea would be to monitor 8 parameters instead of 4.

the big problem is that I can't justify the cost.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

I got mine from JC Whitney for $140 when they had a free shipping offer. Might be worth taking a look there.

[theholycow]

BEEF, I wouldn't worry about the current. They don't draw much at all. Depending on exactly what data you're displaying, it might be worth worrying about update speed. If it's picking up data that's already flying around on the bus, no problem, but if you make it query twice as much user-requested data (with XGauges and probably with some of the built-in gauges) then your data may come slowly.