ScanGauge II Reveals Deep, Dark Secrets!

Image courtesy www.scangauge.com.au

Well the postman has been and gone, so I am now officially the proud owner of one of these nifty car computers. There’s just way too much to say about this thing in one post! So, I’ll use this update to show you what this little baby looks like out-of-the-box, run through my in-car installation and share my initial thoughts (and save the rest for later posts!).

Get me out of this box!

The packaging for the ScanGauge II isn’t anything to write home (or to you) about, but it does the job. More notable (aside from the unit itself), is the two manuals that the unit ships with: the “Quick Start” guide, and the full-blown User Manual.

With the package open, the unit itself is quite compact, measuring in at just 12cm wide, 4cm high and 2.5cm deep; this does seem to help lend the unit for easily mounting in almost any desired position on the dashboard, but more on that later (!). Packed with the unit is the data cable which consists of a RJ45 connector at one end (which connects into the ScanGauge II unit) and an industry standard (male) OBDII connector on the other – this is the business-end of the cable which actually plugs straight into your vehicle’s OBDII port*; on my car, this port is immediately under the dash, near the steering column.

Box front

Box back

It's loose!

Connecting…

Installation of the ScanGauge II is straightforward. Connect up the cable and turn the ignition to “ON” or start the car up. The ScanGauge II display will show “Connecting…” for a short period during which time it automatically detects the OBDII protocol the vehicle uses (my Hyundai Tucson uses “KWPF” incidentally – there is also a way to manually “force” the OBDII protocol to be polled if needed).

After a short moment, all the secrets that your car has been holding back from you will be revealed! If you’re a bit of a gear-head like me, you’ve probably always wondered just what the coolant temperature was upon initial start-up (and when it was safe to start applying some full-throttle!), or whether starting off in 2nd gear at a gentle pace used less fuel than using 1st, or perhaps just how cool (or warm) the air going into your intake manifold was…well fear not, ScanGauge II has all these features – and more! Just try not to get too distracted by it!

Even if you’re not a gear-head, this unit can give you all sorts of handy info – hows about how much your trip has cost you in fuel $$$ as you drive (read: taxi meter for all your freeloading friends!).

I’ve only had the ScanGauge II for a day or two yet, but already it’s proved to be quite a handy gadget which I find myself referring to (and sometimes fumbling with) way too often while I drive (safety first mmkay).

Up on a pedestal

There are quite a few locations in the interior which the ScanGauge II can be mounted. Included in the package are two Velcro strips which will help you in your mounting endeavours. I ended-up settling on the top of the centre dash panel/fascia as the new home for my ScanGauge II because it was a bit too thick/long/wide for mounting any place else hehe .

See pics below…

Centre dash mount

Close-up 1

Close-up 2

Calibrate me, baby

One of the best features of the Scan Gauge II (and one of the main reasons why I purchased it) is that it’s capable of displaying not only average fuel consumption over a given period, but real time display as well! This might not seem like a big deal, but on my car, I only get average fuel consumption read-out, so having a real time display telling you just how much fuel you’re dumping into those cylinders right now is definitely handy. I should also mention at this stage, that all the measurements shown can be displayed in either Imperial or Metric, so if you prefer “gallons”, go right ahead – I’ll stick to “litres”.

In order to obtain the most accurate measure of fuel consumption, the ScanGauge II has a straightforward (but optional) calibration process which you can perform that only requires two tanks full of fuel. Basically, fill your fuel tank, set the “Fillup > Done” command to tell the ScanGauge II you’ve just topped-up, and drive around. When you get down to 1/4 full, fill up the tank for the second time (ask for the receipt!), use the same “Fillup” command again, but only this time, the ScanGauge II will tell you how much fuel it thinks you used, and you have the chance to manually adjust this value to actual amount you did use (by looking at your fuel receipt from the second fill-up ). I only just managed to complete this procedure last night, and I was surprised at how close it was with its initial reading (my tank took 39.2 litres to fill back up, and the ScanGauge II thought I’d burnt 41.2 litres).

As a quick aside, there are actually quite a few factors which can lead to differences in fuel consumption measurement (which I won’t go into here), which is why the manuals recommend that you attempt the calibration process using the exact same fuel station pump for your first and second tank fills (and ideally I’d say at the same time of day too). Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed this privilege as I stopped at a random fuel station at 10pm last night on the way home, so it could well be that the ScanGauge II is more accurate than I thought (the calibration process can be run again at any time).

Watchya got?

So just what can this thing show you on its compact display screen? Here’s the definitive list of “gauges” which are built-into the unit along with the label descriptors which denote each gauge on-screen (note: some of these may not be supported by your vehicle):

* Average Fuel Consumption (AVG)
* Real Time Fuel Consumption (LHK/MPG)
* Battery Voltage (VLT)
* Coolant Temperature (WT)
* Intake Air Temperature (IA)
* Engine Speed (RPM)
* Vehicle speed (KMH/MPH)
* Manifold Pressure (not available on some vehicles – isn’t available on mine)
* Engine Load (LOD)
* Throttle Position (TPS)
* Ignition Timing (IGN)
* Open/Closed Loop

And that list is just half of what you can get. There is also a seperate mode named “TRIP” which displays things like fuel used, fuel cost, fuel remaining, max RPM reached, max coolant temperature reached, and much more. And you can view this information for the “current” drive, today’s average, (as well as yesterday’s) and for the fuel readings, you can get averages for the current fuel tank.

Virtually whatever data your car’s computer can “pull” from its on-board engine and fuel management sensors, this thing can pick-up and show you**. I haven’t yet had a chance to view all of these gauges for any respectable length of time (the screen allows you to display any four at once), but so far I have noticed how warm the intake air temperature (IAT) can get while idling away in traffic. Today while home-bound and battling peak hour traffic at a standstill for what seemed like an age, the IAT eventually reached 66 degrees (C)!!! Once I picked up some decent speed and started cruising, this figure dipped down by around 50% though and cruising around on a cool night or just after starting the car in morning, temperatures of 25-35 are generally expected. Warmer temperatures generally yield better fuel economy and lower emissions though, at the expense of outright engine performance (which is why you notice a lot of so-called “tuners” install cold-air intakes on their cars).

Also worth mentioning is the fact you can use the ScanGauge II to “pull” trouble codes from your car’s computer (if it’s experiencing any…trouble) and after repairing the issue, “clear” these codes using the ScanGauge II as well. This feature I don’t really see myself using given the relative “new-ness” of my car, but who knows I guess right?

Closing (initial) thoughts

Cruising around...

So what do I think of this thing? Well, considering all the read-outs and information available at a glance with this unit ( that is normally “hidden” from view), it’s definitely worth the $159 (Aussie retail). The fuel information this thing can show is almost worth the price of admission alone, and over time, it’s very possible that this unit will pay itself off by “teaching” you to drive in a more fuel efficient manner (especially if you are a particularly “fast” driver). Even if you’re not interested in the fuel-saving premise, there’s still a wealth of other information that you can glean from it. For me, this unit shows me a whole other dimension of my vehicle’s operating characteristics that I simply wouldn’t have got by looking at the standard dashboard gauges and readouts that came with the car from the factory.

So yes, I’d say it’s a good buy.

* Australia has been a bit iffy regarding the inclusion of the OBDII port on its vehicles so you may want to check if your vehicle has one before you shell out for this unit (otherwise it’s useless). Only since 2006 has there actually been a requirement by the Australian Design Rules (ADRs) to include this diagnostic port in all new vehicles – having a 2009 model vehicle myself, I of course didn’t have to worry, but depending on your vehicle make and year, your mileage may vary (haha).

** I’ve heard that with a bit of code tweaking, it’s also possible to display automatic transmission oil temperature with this nifty unit, but that apparently it’s a bit hit-and-miss depending on your vehicle – oh how I can wish…