I recently received a gift of a ScanGauge E and find it a great device. On normal driving I tend to monitor Instantaneous MPG and Average MPG (only two items can be displayed at a time). I can also flip to Coolant Temperature and Intake Air Temperature. I have a second custom page which I use to view other conditions like Throttle Position and Load (whatever peaks my interest), but I don't know how to make the best use of what the ScanGauge E can display. In your opinion, what should I be displaying and why?
I have the other model Scangauge , the one that displays four different gauges. I generally use coolant temperature, horsepower , RPM ( my car has no tach) , and I forgot the last one. The Prius has pretty a pretty consistent * fuel economy display. Consistently 6.5-7.0% optimistic , of course.
The coolant temperature will tell me if it's possible to get into an engine-off glide. If it's below around 152 deg F , I think , it's hit or miss on engine shutting off.
My Jazz only has a trip average consumption gauge, built into the odometer. As you can see from the photo that is now hidden behind the ScanGauge! I intend putting in some grill blocking before the winter and then the coolant temperature will need to be displayed. I can set it for temp and mpg. My horse power do you measure the Load?
I'm currently showing battery current (on which the display is frustratingly erratic even under steady-state conditions), coolant temperature, RPM, and battery temperature (a concern in a Prius in summer). I also especially like to watch (12v-system) voltage in the winter, and fuel flow rate. So many interesting choices! I'm skeptical that the horsepower display can be decently accurate. My standard cumulative mpg display is consistently about 4.6% optimistic. Totota's ultra-low-resolution standard instantaneous mpg display is a worthless waste of valuable display space.
I will certainly check the battery voltage come the winter, but as I have no concerns about it I will probably just do an intermittent check (after a cold start or when running with the headlights on). I don't know if ignition timing is a good thing to keep an eye on. The greater the level of advance the better the fuel consumption, according to the ScanGauge manual, but mine seems to hunt all over the place (a bit like your battery current, I imagine).
Hey , I didn't realize the SGII had battery temperature ! We have summer here , also. Sort of. And since I rarely use the A/C , I should probably be monitoring the battery temp. Thanks ! And I don't know whether or not the horsepower gauge is accurate , I just use it for reference when accelerating. I typically accelerate at 20-25 HP , except when merging onto the highway , where I use max Eco ( 30 HP? ).
Battery temperature is one you have to add yourself using tedious codes you can find via the ScanGauge web site, or buried somewhere in priuschat.com. I'm not sure what should be considered a tolerable maximum temperature. It's hard to keep under about 110°F on sunny ~90°F days on trips that aren't short, especially when I'm forced to make several downhill stops close together. If alone, I use air conditioning sufficiently to keep me from dripping, or keep the battery temperature within bounds, whichever comes first. According to the official engine performance map, 30 hp (22.3 kw) shows up at about 2200 RPM on the "operating line."
AVG is hands down the best one. I have TPS beside it. On some cars, LOD is more useful but on the Fit it jumps around so much to be useless. I like to accelerate somewhere around 40 TPS. That's high enough to open up the throttle and reduce the restriction, but not enough to hit the inefficient "high power" programming at the top end. At the bottom I have coolant temp and battery voltage for diagnostics, but they're less important to the mpg side of driving.
