Scan Gauge II Benefits?

Actually, most Prius drivers don't. Those of us who do generally fall a category of enthusiasts, geeks, competitive hypermilers, or generally OCD.

My previous car burned twice as much fuel and had no MPG display, so the ScanGauge paid for itself in fuel savings fairly quickly. In a Prius, it provides more information to help optimize driving style and learn better technique faster. But because the Prius already has the most important feature, the built-in MPG displays, a ScanGauge provides much less value and may never pay back. Drivers who don't fit any of the above categories can very rationally elect to skip it.

But if you want to take mine away, you'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands ...

 

No the TPMS does not transmit tire pressure.

 

Most that use the ScanGaugeII, including me, use it to learn more about how the hybrid components operate. This knowledge can help in optimizing mpg. The more you understand how the system operates the better you can use it to your advantage.

It also allows you to adjust Custom Features like turn off the reverse beep, etc. It can also read Prius specific Diagnostic Trouble Codes that you would have to take it to the dealer and pay ~$100 to hook up their computer and read the codes. It can also reset the warning and fault lights.

Other devices that connect to the OBDII port like the Torque App for the Android devices and Engine Link for the Apple devices can also be configured to give you the same information.

 

As a brand new Prius owner looking to maximize MPG and cool factor I installed a scangauge II.
Absolutely the bbest thing I've done to any car I've owned.
On top of that you can use it in multiple cars.
Its also more accurate after calibrating from what I hear.

 

There's MANY guages you can set on the ScanGuage. These are the ones I've settled on with mine, and what I get out of them:

Instant mpg

Gives much better feedback (albeit with a slight delay, 1~2 second) as to how you're doing, comparing to the rudimentary vertical bar graph in dash.

Accumulating mpg

Let's you know how you're doing for the current trip.

RPM

Mainly to clue in as to when the engine's actually on/off. I don't watch it much other than that.

Coolant Temp

Gives feedback as to warm-up duration, what temp-related behaviours are, and so on.

 

If you are a 'car guy' you may miss the traditional gauges you used to have. I have RPM, Engine Water temp, Intake Air temp, and voltage (of the car, not the hybrid system) currently, but the scan gauge offers over 100 items you COULD measure. (I assume torque has a similar list). It can also read, clear and set codes.

You cannot measure what the car does not sense on the ODBII bus. Oil pressure is just an on/off switch, so you cannot get more accuracy than that.

 

Once you learn how to edit the XGauges and enter the configuration parameters it is not hard. There are current Excel spreadsheets here that list all of the available Prius specific XGauges. Once you configure the 25 available XGauges it is just a manner of the selecting the four that you want to view at a time.

 

Can the UltraGauge do this? I've got an UG on my TSX, but I'm just wondering why I don't see it mentioned on this forum.

 

I had never heard of an Ultragauge, this is JUST by looking at the website.

As I read the Ultragauge FAQs, it will return data from the engine ECU, but not any of the other ECUs in the Prius.
(Most cars only have an Engine ECU)

Compared to the twice as expensive Scangauge, it appears to lack the ability to add gauges manually (xgauges), it lacks ODBII programability, and it only queries the engine ECU. These are reasonable choices for half the money, as few cars are as computer controlled as the Prius.