Kiwi MPG review

[GasSavers_BEEF]

it seems like a lot of work to get the same thing that the scangauge will do.

I know that there are some that enjoy the project side of it. dkjones is definitely one of them. what functions will this thing do compared to the scangauge.

I assume that with all of this, the kiwi is just a waste. hopefully they will get their quality issues straight. still, I think that some (like max) will never purchase another one.

I hate to point this out but if something happens to your CPU when you plug this thing in the OBD2 port, you're screwed. if the same happens with the scangauge, you have linear logic to back you up to get everything straight.

if either of you actually do this, you will have to do a write up on it. tell the positives and negatives.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

I wouldn't mind doing a kit. It'd remind me of my Heathkit days! Making one from scratch would be too much work, though.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

my experience has been that if it comes in either a kit or built up, the difference in price really isn't worth my time.

if they don't offer it built up then it is much less than the scangauge. that is when you would have to look at options that one has that the other may not and how valuable it would be to you.

you could potentially sell built up versions to people that are too lazy to build them up themselves if the options are comperable.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by BEEF

I hate to point this out but if something happens to your CPU when you plug this thing in the OBD2 port, you're screwed. if the same happens with the scangauge, you have linear logic to back you up to get everything straight.

Remember the story of the guy whose dealer blamed a big failure on his ScanGauge and Linear Logic went to bat for him? Warm fuzzy feeling.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I couldn't remember exact details so I didn't say anything about it but that was what I was referring to.

he drove either a pontiac vibe or a toyota matrix (pretty much same car)

in that incident, the owner/founder of linear logic actually called the dealer and told them that if their cars weren't OBD2 compliant, that all of the cars that they sold would have to be recalled. that scared the crap out of them so they left the guy alone about the scangauge. If I remember right, it turned out to be a vacuum hose leak.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Just mailed out the Kiwi again. Got the same woman at the RMA department and she was very friendly and helpful, even though it was a busy morning after a long weekend and she was suffering from allergies (sounded like a horrible cold so I asked). I wrote up a more thorough account of my testing and emailed it to her so she can forward it to PLX. They're giving me a refund.

I just want to say again how pleased I've been with Needful Toyz during this whole affair. I suppose if the Kiwi MPG design were corrected and received many positive reviews I might consider purchasing another, but I think this is an end to my trailblazing career.

[Lightning Blue]

Ahhhh, I just bought the Kiwi MPG from the same place you did, and are running into the same issues you did...

Connection fail half the time and the instant MPG jumps all over the place, and the trip MPG reads like 2/3 less than it should. I tried on my 2001 Camry, and was going to go see if my 2005 Neon was any different (then I decided to try googling...)

I'm also disappointed the screen is so dim compared to the pictures on the site.

I suppose if our units are doing the same thing I'll just return it, thanks a bunch for your helpful posts, maximilian.

Slight offtopic question for those who have a scanguage: Does it actually work better than this? For double the price (or a little less) I'd rather go with that if it doesn't jump around so much. Seems like it has more functions too.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

The connection on mine did fail to hook up a little, but I gave up on it so fast I didn't perform a systematic test.

I had a ScanGauge II and it worked very well. If you order it today, JC Whitney has a 10% off and free shipping promo code (they'll mention it on the site). Comes to $144. I ordered one today myself.

[Lightning Blue]

I suppose if the Kiwi MPG design were corrected and received many positive reviews I might consider purchasing another, but I think this is an end to my trailblazing career.

Yeah I have to agree that if they came out with a Kiwi MPG II that corrected some of the problems I'd go with it. I knew the Kiwi MPG was knew but I didn't realize we're basically beta testing.

I really liked being able to compare RPM/Speed to my dash, and see my coolant temp and engine load.

A friend of mine insists that any MPG computer is going to be bouncing around like the Kiwi does for real time MPG, but I can't see how that would be "normal".

On an aside, it insisted my Neon got 35 MPG in stop and go (more stop than go) city traffic after 30 minutes. I do wish that was the case though It also claimed I got better MPG's at 30 MPH at 4500 RPM (1st gear) vs 1500 RPM (4th).

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I have had a scangauge for a little over a year now and love it.

info can be found here www.scangauge.com

as far as the instant MPG jumping around, the scangauge has 3 refresh settings for how fast the number refreshes. mine does change or vary greatly but the number stays there for about a half a second or better.

you can also set up an average function which shows you the average for a given time period. I have mind set up for a trip which resets after the car has been off for 3 minutes or so. this gives you the average fuel economy for a trip to town for example.

it will also tell you IAT (incoming air temp) sensor readings, O2 sensor readings, throttle position readings, I could go on and on.

there are even more advanced features like showing horsepower.

one really important feature that the scangauge has is a calibration procedure to dial in the MPG. this takes even more of the uncertainty out of the reading.

as you can see, I really like the scangauge. if you are on the fence about whether it is worth getting it or not based on quality, I can assure you the quality is above and beyond anything I have heard about the kiwi.