OBD-II Readers

[NYCS4Avant]

Has anyone ever experimented with one of these in the car? I know its rather lame but I'm a gadget junky. I put gauges in my last car, and I expect the "we drive V8's>no gauges" and the "don't be a ricer". Thinking maybe putting it in the ashtray

http://www.apexi-usa.com/product_ele...=250&pageNum=1

http://www.dashhawk.com/features.html

[CARTEL]

Just get a Vag-Com from Ross Tech... more useful, and you can use it after you sell that car.

[Cargo8]

Or get an iPhone and download Rev when it comes out in full version, and buy the OBD hookup.

[NYCS4Avant]

The VagCom is bit too intense for me. While I agree its a great tool, I'm looking for something small and easy to read. Both the DashHawk and iMoni allow for up to 7 parameters to be viewed at once. Does anyone now if the required ISO14230 OBD-II is in our cars?

[WinterRunner]

I'd be interested too, would like to see if software has done anything for me.... for 300$ that Dashhawk looks pretty great. Anyone have it?

[hayasa]

http://www.dashdaq.com/

How about that bad-boy?! Might be a bit over the top, though.

[UGwagen]

how about www.scangauge.com

[UberDave]

If you have a Pocket PC this is a pretty cool program, you just need to buy a cheap ebay OBD cable and a gender bender from Radioshack, and it connects to your sync cable. It's great for reading and erasing codes, doing TBAs, etc.

http://www.arlab.it/vc/main.html

[hayasa]

how about www.scangauge.com

Just bought that one. It works very well and looks good since I mounted it above the steering column. Some interesting features like sending commands to the ECU and reading vehicle-specific messages are there but I haven't explored them too much. The thing even somehow calculates HP, or at least reads it somehow from the ECU. I tried to get the VW-specific codes for the auto tranny temp to work but I think the Audi ones are different b/c it didn't work...

[NYCS4Avant]

Just bought that one. It works very well and looks good since I mounted it above the steering column. Some interesting features like sending commands to the ECU and reading vehicle-specific messages are there but I haven't explored them too much. The thing even somehow calculates HP, or at least reads it somehow from the ECU. I tried to get the VW-specific codes for the auto tranny temp to work but I think the Audi ones are different b/c it didn't work...

Overall are you happy with the unit? Have any pics of it installed?

[hayasa]

Not my car, but looks like this:

http://www.scangauge.com/products/sg...G_3212_M.shtml

I need to drive around a bit more before I make up my mind. I like the digital speedo and being able to read/clear codes, but if I can get the hp meter working and the tranny temp to work, it would be a home run.

[ngng]

Not my car, but looks like this:

http://www.scangauge.com/products/sg...G_3212_M.shtml

I need to drive around a bit more before I make up my mind. I like the digital speedo and being able to read/clear codes, but if I can get the hp meter working and the tranny temp to work, it would be a home run.

hey look, most of that data is available...ON THE GAUGE CLUSTER

[hayasa]

Umm, no, not on my car. Here are a few things that it can display, stock:

Battery Voltage
Coolant Temperature
Intake Air Temperature
Manifold Pressure
Engine Load
Throttle Position
Ignition Timing
Open/Closed Loop

Additional stuff, depending on car:

http://www.scangauge.com/support/pdfs/XGAUGE.pdf

[ngng]

looks like a gimmick to me

[hayasa]

Ok, so a few observations since I drove around with the thing today. Nothing earth-shattering, but interesting (to me at least):

1. The car gets hot fast, but cools very well. Sitting there in traffic the water temp rose to 209 and fan didn't kick on yet, but cooled to 195 after driving at speed for a few moments. Got it down to 191 after a brief distance. Our triple radiators really do their thing well.

2. The stock intake is pretty good at getting cold air. Intake temps were between 4 and 11 deg F over ambient, which is pretty good. I'd hate to see the intake temps on a shorty aftermarket one...

3. Got the HP gauge working. I find myself staring at the thing as I'm trying various levels of throttle...very dangerous. However, in the name of science, I did go full WOT on the highway this morning. It read 351 HP max, meaning there is some "wiggle room" on the sensors, or my car was reflashed (doubt it even though I bought it used with 2K miles on it), or it is using some sort of weird calculation to derive the HP value. Since it is only reading the output of the ECU, I'm guessing the first. Anyway, I guess it might be good for baseline info before doing mods.