ScanGauge II 3-in-1 Compact Multifunction Vehicle Computer with Customizable Display

My brother bought a ScanGauge II. After listening to him rave about it through the duration of several of our weekly phone calls I finally broke down and bought one for myself.

On my Mini Cooper S, there were several questions on my mind with regard to engine parameters and how they matched with my driving style. A good example is coolant temperature which tells me how far I need to drive to reach full operating temperature (very short trips are bad for cars) .. and .. how far I should drive before taking full advantage of everything this engine has to offer. But also, for various reasons I wanted to monitor manifold pressure, engine load, and ignition timing. One thing I very much appreciated was being able to set this nifty piece of technology up in a manner that allowed me to monitor all four of these parameters at one time.

Now with all those questions having been answered to my satisfaction I've switched to using it primarily as a trip computer.

My car does much of what this does (If I don't mind giving up my digital speedometer readout to see the various parameters), but with this I can monitor a bunch of driving parameters for .. this trip .. today's driving .. yesterday's driving .. and .. "this tank of gas". One feature I especially like is being able to monitor the gasoline cost at any point in time .. or .. see what the cost of gas was for each of those various trips I made throughout the week (when it was time for gas, After filling the tank, I told it how big my tank is and what the final price on the pump was. It takes that information and provides real time calculation from there.

And finally .. I found the perfect place to mount it and to run the wiring. Mounting and connecting it was really quite easy .. See photo.

This review is based on my limited use of the unit.
I did find the information such as engine temperature, RPM, MPG, speed and few other details informative and helpful. Although the car's instruments have some similar details, it is good to have the confirmation. The MPG information is most valuable. This information keeps me from having a `lead foot' and wasteful. In a way, it guided me the step on the gas lightly. On a recent 300 mile trip the MPG reading `cautioned me to be light footed with the gas pedal'.
On the wish list, it would be nice if the case had some provision to for better mounting other than the supplied Velcro. Under certain conditions while using the Velcro, the unit may vibrate very slightly which makes viewing unpleasant. A suction cup holder similar to the ones used for GPS navigators may be a better option since it is a more solid attachment.
The only negative is the brightness and contrast. On bright sunny day while driving with sun glasses it is difficult to see the display even after changing to the various color options. I may need do some more testing with this.
As with any similar easily removable device, better be safe than sorry and remove the unit when using valet parking.
Over all I am pleased.

This device has really made a difference, I was able to determine which driving habits burned the most gas (with as little as a fraction of an inch on the accelerator), and I was able to move my mpg from 30-32mpg to 36-42mpg. It really makes you aware of your driving style's impact. Top props to anyone purchasing this, it took seconds to install and works like a champ. Note: make sure you have an OBD2 port to use this.

Seldom does a product perform as expected anymore, but this one is tops. With all the information available with it, I can adjust my driving method to get the highest mileage ever. In a motorhome, it is sometimes difficult to tell loading and gear selection for the best performance, but this is really like having your engine looking over your shoulder telling you what to do. It is surprising that not always the highest gear is not the most efficient, and a little lower gear selection makes a huge difference. I mounted it just above my rear vision display where it is very easy to keep track. There are far more readouts than I will use on a regular basis, but they are there for periodic viewing.

If you want to really change your driving style this tool will make the difference. If your vehicle didn't come with the MPG gauge like many now days do then this would be a good investment.