Scan Gauge II - first impressions

[rpm]

Hi everyone. I would like to share my first impressions upon receiving my Scan Gauge. The test car was a 2001 Honda Civic.

First, two minor issues I had:

1. The SG does not recognize fuel cutoff. You know that when you take your foot off the pedal for a prolonged time while leaving the car in gear, the engine will keep on turning without using any fuel. The SG seems to be agnostic to this, the FE reading never dropping below ~2.5l/100Km.
2. Trip distance seems to be inaccurate. At the moment, the car's digital odometer shows 156Km after the last fillup. The SG shows only 152Km.

Now, concerning FE-oriented driving. I am currently monitoring: instantaneous FE, consumption per hour, engine load and throttle position.
I found it a bit shocking that throttle position and specially engine load seem to have a much bigger influence on FE than engine RPM. I'm having trouble climbing hills, for no matter what I do, engine load increases and my FE starts sinking like Titanic.

Should I use a lower gear? I tried it but it didn't seem to help much.
I live in a very mountainous region, so I think efficient hill climbing will be the key to improving my numbers.

Any comments appreciated.