Is anyone using one of these in thier TCH and if you are, what is the advantage of having one other than giving you a tachometer? I hear some people are using it to save gas. If so, could you explain how? Other than a really neat gizmo I don't know why I would want to spend the money for one of these with a new vehicle. Thanks, Rick
I'm thinking I'd really like to see this thing in action. I'm going to have to check around and see if I can find someone in my area that has one of these. Thanks for the quick reply. Rick
The Scanguage II (or similar instrumentation) is the single best item you can have in your arsenal to improve mpg...it is far from a gizmo...it saves fuel by teaching you how to drive your car more efficiently. The advantage is in the information it provides for you. Just seeing the rpm alone is a HUGE help in limiting high rev rpm and raising mpg. If you're into pulse and glide and driving in EV mode as long as possible the SGII will help you find the "sweet spots" of the vehicle to get into and stay with those techniques longer. If you're not into these techniques...you're probably not into getting better mpg. I am constantly monitoring my SGII during my drive (back and forth from SGII to the road as I'm accelerating/decelrating/coasting). The SGII takes the guessing out of what is the most effiecient way to drive your car (it tells you exactly what speed, what throttle position, what rpm is ideal to get the best out of your car). I was amazed how inefficiently I was driving (this was in my 4runner at the time I got my SGII). I would credit at least a 2-3 mpg gain just from the SGII. Take 1 trip on the highway with the SGII and monitor your real-time mpg at 55, 60, 65, 70 mph and you will see what speed produces the best mpg (mystery solved...now drive at or near the optimum speed and your maximizing your mpg just driving at the proper speed alone). Throw in some pulse and glide while monitoring your SGII and you're on your way to great mpg's! There are many options out there for instrumentation. Scanguage II, MPGuino, Can-View. It depends how much you want to pay and what options you want to monitor in your vehicle.
Wow, thanks for the review. You talked me in to it. I went ahead and ordered the scanguageII. Now I can't wait to get it. I am practicing the pulse and glide ever time I drive somewhere and that alone has made an improvement in my mileage. I think I read it will monitor more than one function. Any suggestions on what I should have up and be looking at besides the tach. Thanks again, Rick
Great purchase rickkop...it will pay for itself many times over...I know mine has. Not sure if you're up to speed on what functions the SGII reads but you can monitor 4 functions on the screen at the same time. The functions can be changed very quickly if you decide to monitor different ones (pushing 1 button does it). Here's the link to the Scanguage II user manual...if you read through it you can get up to speed on everything before it arrives...it's a pdf file... http://www.scangauge.com/support/pdfs/SGIIManual.pdf The 4 functions I choose to monitor are: MPG - instant real-time miles per gallon FWT - Water temperature (I run a grill block so I keep an eye on this) IGN - Ignition Timing...I've been toying with this one to find sweet spots (in EV mode and neutral coast it reads 5 but normal operation is between 13-20) RPM - I probably reference this most as I try to not over-rev the engine up hills or off the blocks at lights and stopsigns You can browse the other functions in the link above. Obviously, being able to read error codes from your vehicle is also a huge advantage when trouble arises but hopefully you will not need to use this feature. There's plenty of threads on the SGII on this site and ecomodder.com if you want to do more reading. When you can actually see what your car is doing in a graphic display you will be surprised just how much improvement you can make by driving smarter and monitoring your SGII. As they say - the biggest modification you can do to improve MPG is adjusting the "nut behind the wheel"...aka you the way you drive your vehicle
You'll be pleased with SG. Though there are subtle differences between Prius and TCH, they are similar enough that I believe most of the Prius SG tips you find here will cross over to the TCH. And on that subject, here's more.
New person here. Just bought my 09 Camry Hybrid and no tachometer. So looking at getting this Scanguage II as like to see my RPMs when the engine is running. Simple questions – how hard is it to find and use the OBDII Connector? Once found is it rather simple – plug and play? Indicates there is one wire to connect to live connection – assume this is for the background light -- how and where did you connect this wire? Found a place that sells them for $159 which includes shipment … so about ready to order. Thanks for any help …
The OBDII outlet is usually found just under your steering wheel just above where your feet are while driving. It is about 2 inches long by 1/2 inch wide. Just get out of your car and look up under your dash and you should see it somewhere in that area. The wire is just a male plug that fits into the female OBDII sensor (so you don't have to hard wire anything to get power as it comes from the OBDII sensor). The SGII is plug and use instrumentation and you just have to perform an easy set up function (takes about 1 minute) to enter your car stats (engine size, tank size, etc).
Thanks for the additional info. Those of you that installed one, where did you put the device (and where you able to hide the attached wire) so it wouldn't clutter up the dash?
I keep mine directly on the top of the steering wheel base...with the back up against the instrument panel for support. You'll find the adhesive/velcro that is included with the kit is marginal but acceptable to keep it stuck to that area. I find this position allows me to casually glance down to the SGII while not looking too far away from the road. As you get used to glancing at the SGII you will become more comfortable with it but if you are using it to its max potential you will be glancing at it often! I run the wire down the right side of the steering column and have it velcro tied as tight as possible near the OBDII sensor so it doesn't hang down to my throttle foot position. I usually adjust it about once a month to keep it tight.
OK i skimmed the PDF and didn't find what i was looking for. Can the scan gauge show hrs on the ICE? Like on other type of rigs that show on a hr meter?
Received my ScanguageII yesterday and installed today. Was a piece of cake to install -- so many functions/readings are available that will take me a while to learn how to use. Placed on the steering column like recommended. During the setup, changed the engine size to 2.4, fuel to Hybrid, gallons to 17. My initial thoughts are the MPH in the SGII reads at least 3-4 mph less then the speedometer at speeds below 45 ... it even reads less than the GPS which was 2 - 3 mph less than the speedo on the car at lower speeds. Haven't had time yet to make the adjustment in the SG system, but when I get time will adjust to match the GPS which I believe is the most accurate. Also noticed that the MPG reads higher than the car ... and in a previous post I already indicated that the car tank average was overstated, so the SG is probably even more overstated. Hopefully, after a couple of fillups and adjustments the MPG will get more accurate. Is this what others have experienced? Any tips to get the most out of the SGII?
I asked their tech support the same question and for now, no it won't track that. I had seen a post where it was claimed an xgage could be set upon the SG2 to see this, but I don't know if it resets every trip or keeps accumulating like a real hr meter.
Would this work on a non hybrid to get the same results? I would be interested in trying it in both my cars and my Diesel.
Yes the scanguage will work with any auto that has the OBDII outlet -- which most newer cars do have. You can find more info ont he scangauge web site at ScanGaugeII - Trip Computers + Digital Gauges + Scan Tool. It also indicates it will work with a diesel.
I think I will get one, would be interesting to see what kind of mileage I can squeeze out of a V6 and a Diesel with it.
