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-   -   Any Advice on Using a ScanGauge (https://www.fuelly.com/forums/f33/any-advice-on-using-a-scangauge-6611.html)

michaelburke 11-05-2007 11:43 AM

Any Advice on Using a ScanGauge
 
I have improved mileage quite a bit since I started using a scangauge but I have no idea how to make use of the LOD or MAP readings to improve mileage. My basic question is how much and when is acceptable? Should I stick to the instant mileage readout? Right now I have mph,gpm,mpg,rpm as my readout. I like reading the mph on the dash as it is more precise and I can keep my eyes on the road easier. We have a couple of "no tolerance" areas in town where 31mph in a 30mph will get you a ticket. I also love the miles left and gas left in the tank read out. It is insanely accurate. Usually within .2 gallons, sometimes dead on. That means I can decide if I have enough gas to run the errand and fuel tomorrow or if I am getting too close to mess around.

GasSavers_Minger 11-05-2007 02:42 PM

Use the xGuage feature if you have it and configure it to have a current average MPG next to the instantanious - it helps to know if what you're doing is helping or not.

Other than that, I'm looking for suggestions as well :)

Mr. Pig 11-06-2007 04:00 AM

I didn't know you could do that. Maybe I should read my manual better. :D We're talking about the scan gauge II, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minger (Post 80248)
Use the xGuage feature if you have it and configure it to have a current average MPG next to the instantanious - it helps to know if what you're doing is helping or not.

Other than that, I'm looking for suggestions as well :)


trebuchet03 11-06-2007 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Pig (Post 80330)
I didn't know you could do that. Maybe I should read my manual better. :D We're talking about the scan gauge II, right?

It might not be in the manual, it's a very new feature... I think it's in firmware version 3.5 or something like that (I have 3.01 - and it doesn't have the feature :( ).

Check the SG website for instructions to check if you have the feature, and how to use it (if you can't find it in the manual) ;)

2TonJellyBean 11-06-2007 06:54 AM

Go grab a coffee this is longwinded... :D

Switch your RPM to LOD and that's basically my set up although I use metric.

Like you, I really like the digital speedo - I use that gauge position for cycling through and checking water temps, etc., but home position is speed. The key thing for me is that at 62 KPH (38 mph) I can shift into 5th - then I make sure that I don't fall below 50 KPH (31 mph) or it'll downshift and I'll have to get back to 62... in a normal urban 50 kph zone, each trip to get into 5th risks a ticket, but mileage in 4th is 20% worse. :rolleyes:

The key 3 for me are MPG, GPM and LOD.

GPM reminds me to be in neutral whenever possible, shut off at lights and what the accessory load is (AC deforst) and also just how warm the engine is (is idle burning 1.8 LPH, still a bit cool, or closer to fully warmed 1.3 LPH).

MPG is the key for calculating coasting speed and starting point. My standard coasts are all engine on (slushbox). Since the GPM doesn't change when coasting but the speed is decreasing, eventually you slow down to a speed where you are below target mileage. My target is 23? MPG so I coast so that I'm down to that level at the end of the coast. If my mileage is higher than 23?, then I started my coast too late or too fast and if my mileage is below 23? near the end then I started too soon.

LOD is the fun one. Maybe someone here can run LOD and HP side by side and see if they are proportional? No x-gauge here yet. Anyway, LOD is the engine load. If you were cycling you'd always know what the load is, you'd feel it in your legs and lungs.

For accelerating, I've found that low 50s tends to be a nice rate. It gets me to 62 KPH fairly quickly (I then lift off so 5th engages) so I'm not spending much time in the lower gears. The engine isn't working very hard and making too much extra heat. If I'm in situations where I can't get into 5th then I pulse and glide using a low 50s LOD for the pulses.

Once into 5th, I switch to cruise control and then play with the load using the plus minus buttons. The cruise is really gentle and the buttons allow very small changes. I then try and stay under 50 for acceleration on flats but could use only low 30s if the road were slightly downhill. Acceleration uphill depends on traffic behind me.

At steady state speed it's all about keeping the LOD flattened out. If the road is going to go up, I might increase the LOD a bit before getting to the rise and then I can let off a bit going up to maintain LOD and MPG uphill, or if I can't grab extra speed before I'll drop the LOD as I go up the hill keeping in mind that I want to go no lower than a given speed by the time I crest it. I adjust my target load for the terrain and traffic. Some really big hills and I try and stay under 60, smaller hills 50 and gradual rises 40...

Once cresting a hill, I wait until the LOD is dropping and then when it's back near the lower 30s I'll tap for a bit of speed, wait til the LOD drops a bit again, then tap, etc until I back at speed. If the LOD falls below 30 and I don't want to make up any more speed, then I glide in neutral.

There's a lot of rolling terrain so just like cycling peddling downhill for a bit more speed helps give you some speed to lose going up the other side. Your average speed stays pretty good without the engine having to work very hard. Just like heavy cyclists, rolling terrain affects heavier vehicles far more more than lighter ones.

Your LOD targets may be entirely different. Our Accord has the 2.3L but I haven't driven it much with the ScanGauge hooked up. I think that on something like a Prius you'd drive with much higher LOD readings for the most part.

My advice would be to just observe what your LOD is during your normal driving for a couple of days and then start trying to find an optimal LOD for acceleration and then start anticipating and adjusting speed for terrain to keep the LOD steadier over distances when the terrain goes up and down.

GasSavers_Minger 11-06-2007 08:30 PM

Odd, for my car, whenever I set it to IGN or LOD, it stays blank. Would be kind of nice though, so instead, I'm currently using TPS instead...but even thats kind of senseless in an automatic, although usually I'm in 4th gear.

Rick Rae 11-07-2007 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minger (Post 80514)
Odd, for my car, whenever I set it to IGN or LOD, it stays blank.

Huh. I'd have thought just about any ECU would report IGN. But the SG manual does say not every computer reports everything. (MAP stays blank on my VW, for example.)

Quote:

...I'm currently using TPS instead...but even thats kind of senseless in an automatic, although usually I'm in 4th gear.
Really? It's a near-critical gauge for me anymore. I get my best FE at the lowest possible RPMs in 4th. If conditions are perfect I can run RPM in the low 1600s/high 1500s, but the slightest incline can cause a downshift so I usually target 1700.

TPS lets me know exactly where the "go pedal" is and gives me a reference. TPS 8 to 10 is about 1700 RPM in 4th on the flats. When accelerating from a light, stop sign, corner, etc., I run mid-20s TPS to shift reasonably quickly without getting too much TC slip, and as soon as I get to about 2200 RPM in 3rd I pull back to TPS 10, which drops me into 4th and puts me right where I need to be. I can do it fairly well by "feel" but being able to glance at the TPS gauge lets me confirm and adjust if I'm off slightly.

Plus on roads I know, I have a good idea of when I have to nudge TPS up to 11 or 12 to avoid a downshift.

But hey, that's why we each get to pick our own four gauges... use what works best for you! :thumbup::)

Does anybody else wish there was room on the SG for two more gauges? :D

Rick

Bennet Pullen 11-08-2007 11:03 PM

I set mine up with MPG, TPS, LOD and right now LP. I don't really use TPS anymore, so if I ever bother to send in my Scanguage for the software update that will become the current trip MPG.

The LP spot cycles between LP and other things (fWT and GPH mostly). I use LP because it will tell me what the maximum throttle I can use is before fuel enrichment begins, and because if it goes to "open" while my foot is off the gas I know it is in fuel cut-off mode. I like looking at that because the car cuts off the fuel at different RPMs in different gears, and starts the fuel up again at different RPMs in different gears. By monitoring LP I can see when to downshift or how much to brake while slowing to keep the car in cutoff mode.

In my manual transmission LOD is great for knowing when to coast. In my new car no load on the engine shows at 11-12. So if I rev the engine in neutral it always shows 11 or 12. What that tells me as I'm driving is that if I'm maintaining speed and I see 12 or less I can coast without loosing any MPH.

2TonJellyBean 11-09-2007 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Rae (Post 80572)
Does anybody else wish there was room on the SG for two more gauges? :D

Yup... or even room for 2 ScanGauges! :D

GasSavers_Minger 11-09-2007 08:42 PM

Theres a way to daisy chain them...I think. Saw it on cleanmpg.

And I guess my car does LOD, not sure about IGN...except Iw asn't too sure how to read LOD so I'll try it sometime.

It seems that 3 of my spots are reserved: TPS, Current MPG, Instantanious MPG, and one that switches between coolant temp, intake temp, and rpm...joys of the VP, no tach.

And I guess mine does report MAP, I've just never left it on that long enough to actually see what it gives me...


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