Average and current fuel economy gauges, best options at the lowest cost?

[bhgl]

Howdy folks,

I'm looking to get a gauge that displays current and average fuel economy, most options display more than just that which is a bonus for some, but not really needed in my use case. I was considering the Scangauge E which was for a longtime favored by the folks on Ecomodders, but it appears as though it's not longer sold unfortunately.

NOTE: I am Canadian, suggestions with confirmed shipping to Canada, and fair prices are preffered.

The most trusted option at the moment appears to be the Scangauge II, which at least in Canada is retailing for over 200$ on Amazon, and most other retailers.

There appears to be some variety of off-brand ones available online, but I have no idea how well or accurately these things work.

Any recommendation is as always much appreciated.

Thanks again,

-Ross

 

[sgtsandman]

I have the scangaugeII in both trucks. Mostly for different temperature sensor readings. I have used the average mpg function in the past and it gives a decent idea what you are getting but nothing beats the old fashioned distance traveled divided by the volume of fuel used.

I didn't play with the real time fuel usage much since it jumps all over the place due to accellerating, decelerating, going up a hill, and going down a hill. I feel it is a more useful function where one is keeping a constant RPM, like in a plane or a boat.

As far as the unit itself, it's fairly easy to setup and use unless you are using one of the less common features available from their website. But once you get it figured out and configured, it's pretty simple. I added the transmission temperature function to the one in the 2019 so I can monitor how it's doing when I'm towing my trailer. There were 3 different codes to try and wouldn't you know it, the 3rd one was the one I needed.

There is also a distance until empty feature but I never tried using it. The unit offers quite a bit in a little package for the price.

 

[superj]

I have a scangage in the garage, on the toolbox. My son had it for his focus st but he changed to something else.

I should try it in the ranger

 

[bhgl]

I have the scangaugeII in both trucks. Mostly for different temperature sensor readings. I have used the average mpg function in the past and it gives a decent idea what you are getting but nothing beats the old fashioned distance traveled divided by the volume of fuel used.

I didn't play with the real time fuel usage much since it jumps all over the place due to accellerating, decelerating, going up a hill, and going down a hill. I feel it is a more useful function where one is keeping a constant RPM, like in a plane or a boat.

As far as the unit itself, it's fairly easy to setup and use unless you are using one of the less common features available from their website. But once you get it figured out and configured, it's pretty simple. I added the transmission temperature function to the one in the 2019 so I can monitor how it's doing when I'm towing my trailer. There were 3 different codes to try and wouldn't you know it, the 3rd one was the one I needed.

There is also a distance until empty feature but I never tried using it. The unit offers quite a bit in a little package for the price.

With my build I'm trying to find what RPM range the truck likes most for fuel economy, and that live readout would help give me some accurate data compared to just doing some rough guesstimating after fillups.

I find the odometer + fuel in method to be fine, just not the most consistent, and cost effective since I buy my gasoline effectively in bulk. I'm usually filling up at home with a non-metered pump, so when I do mileage testing I typically have to fill-up at a station where the cost per litre is higher compared to my bulk purchased gas.

The only thing that's holding me back is the cost for the unit itself, while I'm sure I'll be getting enough use out of it, I really don't want to spend 200+ $ for a gauge.

 

[gaz]

@bhgl
Another, all be it less accurate method is to fill up until the pump turns itself off from ½ a tank on your fuel gauge, it will give you more of a ball park number but still useful.

While I have driven many 3.0l powered Rangers (fleet trucks at work), I've never worked on any of them BUT I do know how to determine the ideal engine RPM to drive for optimal fuel economy:

Max Torque engine RPM × Tire diameter/
Gear Ratio × 1 × 336 = vehicle speed

This formula will provide the vehicle speed to drive prior to shifting into overdrive, to get the highest possible fuel economy in any given set up. It is also useful to determine the optimum size tire or gear ratio to use for a know driving speed necessity.

Look up you engine's max torque RPM and go-to town!!

FOR EXAMPLE:
If I know how fast I need to drive on a daily commute, I can plug in different variables for tire size and or gear ratio to optimize those factors.

 

[superj]

Use a vacuum gage mounted to your dash and the hose attached to the intake manifold at an unmetered port. Drive at the hughest vacuum you can get it to read.

 

[bhgl]

@bhgl
Another, all be it less accurate method is to fill up until the pump turns itself off from ½ a tank on your fuel gauge, it will give you more of a ball park number but still useful.

While I have driven many 3.0l powered Rangers (fleet trucks at work), I've never worked on any of them BUT I do know how to determine the ideal engine RPM to drive for optimal fuel economy:

Max Torque engine RPM × Tire diameter/
Gear Ratio × 1 × 336 = vehicle speed

This formula will provide the vehicle speed to drive prior to shifting into overdrive, to get the highest possible fuel economy in any given set up. It is also useful to determine the optimum size tire or gear ratio to use for a know driving speed necessity.

Look up you engine's max torque RPM and go-to town!!

FOR EXAMPLE:
If I know how fast I need to drive on a daily commute, I can plug in different variables for tire size and or gear ratio to optimize those factors.

That equation is super useful, it's given me an idea of where to put the engine overall, but there's still some issues that a live readout could help with.

The ideal RPM for this truck is just about 3250 or so, the main trouble is this truck is used for long distance hauling and faces a lot of changes in speed along the highway routes. What I've been able to find out is that most anytime under 120 KpH, I'm better off cruising with overdrive turned off. With the current gearing and tires, in order to get to that magic number requires speeding, sometimes more than what I would consider reasonable.

Having a live readout would be useful in general for a lot of other things too, like fuel usage when coasting in different gears e.t.c.

For better fuel economy across the board, I selected some 205/70R16 Firestone Destination LE3s, these aren't exactly low rolling resistance tires but they do have hightreadware characteristics.

 

[bhgl]

Use a vacuum gage mounted to your dash and the hose attached to the intake manifold at an unmetered port. Drive at the hughest vacuum you can get it to read.

I do intend to install one at some point, I'm just not looking forward to for to touching vacuum lines, at all. Given the age of the truck, and the reality of rubber when faced with our climate up here, I'm always terrfied of touching rubbers and plastics.

 

[superj]

Turns out i have scangage and ultragage. I think i have had them in the truck but don't know enough about that kind of thing and took them out after trying them for a few days

 

[bhgl]

Turns out i have scangage and ultragage. I think i have had them in the truck but don't know enough about that kind of thing and took them out after trying them for a few days

View attachment 110267

View attachment 110268

I'm about to pull the trigger on either the Scangauge II or the Ultragauge, do you have any preference at all or opinions?

 

[superj]

the ultragauge has a larger screen so you can see more stuff. thats about the only thing i have noticed that is really that different between them.

 

[bhgl]

the ultragauge has a larger screen so you can see more stuff. thats about the only thing i have noticed that is really that different between them.

Would you be interested in selling the ultragauge?I'm over here in Canada, but the utlragauge website is asking like 90$+ USD just in shipping. I'm sure it could be done cheaper.

 

[superj]

thats actually my son's. he bought it and never uses it but i can ask.