Peakster's Scanguage is in!

[Peakster]

I was surprised today to get my Scangauge II in the mail. I wasn't expecting it to come until January. I got to try it out today in my Geo and holy cow! What a difference!

Things that surprised me:
- how even just a little pressure of the accelerator sinks my MPG from 60+ on the highway to mid 30s. Yikes! I wouldn't have thought that the geo's engine would be that touchy
- How much wind can play a part of my MPG. There was a good headwind at one point and the poor Geo could barely do 50mpg at 45mph.
- how high my MPG shoots up when coasting. Even at 15mph, the Scanguage reads 70+MPG when coasting.
- oh yeah, and my cheap cruise control is crap. With the cruise on, the scanguage shows 44, 55, and 78mpg in oscillating pace. Obviously the cruise is not maintaining speed as well if I were to do it manually.

It was also nice to know my RPM of my car now (no RPM gauge from factory). Now I know I was totally over-revving the engine because even with this short leg, my maximum RPM was 4,500. I was probably hitting 8000RPM at times (when I wanted to accelerate like a bat out of hell) without the SG and I had no idea.

Probably the biggest thing that surpised me is just how much aerodynamics can ruin FE. On one portion of highway, I was getting 60+mpg @ 55mph when driving with just barely enough throttle to keep me at that speed.

A few minutes later I drove that same stretch at the same speed with one minute difference: I was driving my rear hatch opened up. For the life of me, I couldn't get the scangauge to read more than 46mpg! Not to mention there was a heck of a lot of road noise with the opened hatch. Nearly a 25% mileage loss! So you aero nuts out there aren't that crazy after all

Just with this sample of mixed driving, the scangauge read 53+mpg for the tank so far. Definitely the best $190 (Canadian) I've spent on my Geo!

Thank you all for those who pressured me to get this Scangauge. It was totally worth the purchase.

[MetroMPG]

Awesome. You're gonna have fun now!

[Peakster]

Just one question: How do I prevent my SG from going into sleep mode when I key the engine off and put the key in 'run' position (like during an EOC)? I have the setup on "Hybrid mode" and it does work if I just push the button to turn it on again after it fell asleep, but there's got to be a better way.

[MetroMPG]

If you key off in the Metro, the SG will go to sleep regardless of mode until you restart the engine (or punch the SG).

If you want to use the SG to keep track of mileage while CODFISHing, you have to install a kill switch. That's a function of the OBD protocol used (ISO). (Some cars' protocols permit you to key off and keep the network communicating - CAN, I believe.)

It's definitely worth doing the kill switch. The SG will stay on all the time. If you think your mileage is impressive when coasting with the engine idling, you'll be astounded what you can do to your trip average when you kill the engine and coast when it's appropriate.

[lovemysan]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

If you key off in the Metro, the SG will go to sleep regardless of mode until you restart the engine (or punch the SG).

If you want to use the SG to keep track of mileage while CODFISHing, you have to install a kill switch. That's a function of the OBD protocol used (ISO). (Some cars' protocols permit you to key off and keep the network communicating - CAN, I believe.)

It's definitely worth doing the kill switch. The SG will stay on all the time. If you think your mileage is impressive when coasting with the engine idling, you'll be astounded what you can do to your trip average when you kill the engine and coast when it's appropriate.

Metro, I'm guessing hybrid mode won't do him anygood?

[MetroMPG]

Nope. Kill switch mode is the way.

Also, even if you punch the SG to wake it up after a key-off, I don't think it continues calculating instant/current/today MPG (until it sees the engine re-started). Although it may register distance traveled, so tank MPG may still be calculated.

It continues calculating instant/current/today MPG if you use the kill switch to stop the engine.

(Note I have a SG1. But I think they're functionally the same.)

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Also, even if you punch the SG to wake it up after a key-off, I don't think it continues calculating instant/current/today MPG (until it sees the engine re-started). Although it may register distance traveled, so tank MPG may still be calculated.

My Scanguage was still reading the MPG when it was woken up (I was pretty stoked to see the 9999MPG).

[MetroMPG]

Must be an upgrade then. I don't remember my SG1 doing that.

[Peakster]

Ok. Another question:

When my car is fully warmed up and it idling at a stop, my RPM reads around 750-800rpm which turns out to be a refreshing 0.1Gallons/Hour.
However, whenever the car is in motion, say 30mph, when I push in the clutch the car likes to idle around 1250 RPM instead which translates to 0.2Gallons/Hour.

Why doesn't the engine idle at the 750-800 range when the car is in motion? It would be nice to have that 0.1GPH while coasting. Is there a way to change the idle speed? Or is there a good reason why it idles at 1250RPM?

[onegammyleg]

Originally Posted by Peakster

Ok. Another question:
Is there a way to change the idle speed?

You can bang a 50mm preserving jar cork into the air intake.
That will change the idle speed.