By: jusjake on 09-09-2009 in Product Reviews

I was recently given the opportunity to complete a review of scantool.nets OBDlink CI by mp3 car. After having tested The OBDlink CI on multiple makes and models I've found it's limited to vehicles newer than 2004. It does however work very well on all the U.S. Models as well as Honda's and Toyota's. This tool is also very simple to work with, after loading the software and choosing the correct com port I was up and running. It picked up multiple trouble codes and monitored each sensor on the vehicle just as accurately as my $2000 snap on scanner.

After trying a couple more things to get the scanner to work on older vehicles and failing I contacted Vitaliy through the scantool.net forum because the new CI can have firmware upgrades made to it. I thought he would have some insight as to how I could set up the CI to work on vehicles like my 2001 Focus, or my fathers 2002 Cadillac DHS. Instead I was delightfully surprised at how personable and helpful he was (customer service is worth more than anything to me these days). Although there was no software or means to get the unit to work on older vehicles hen explained people that purchased the Cl were eligible to get a discount on the new OBDLINK which was coming out soon. We however worked out a deal where I would also get to review the new OBDLINK. So the pluses are; Easy to load software, Easy to hook everything up, works great on vehicles newer than 2004. Easy to read sensor information, DTC's are not only shown but the description is given as well. Negatives; This unit only works on vehicles newer than 2004.



By: Sean Clark on 07-07-2009 in Products and Technology



Sean from mp3Car reviews DashCommand for iPhone from Palmer Performance.

DashCommand stems from its window's counterpart that has been long since in car computers. It offers a wireless connection to your OBD2 port to bring you a ton of engine diagnostic tools.

With DashCommand for iPhone you can see all your available PID's in multiple skins, follow your acceleration and braking, see your g-forces going around turns, read your car's angle while driving, and keep all of this data for a log.

The only downside to DashCommand is that you can't swipe between screens, and that you need to tell it to switch to landscape or portrait mode before the sensor graphics look correct. That is because you will be able to customize the dash boards in later version.



By: Sean Clark on 05-06-2009 in How To Videos, mp3Car News



You don't need an expensive hybrid vehicle or car computer to get the most miles per gallon out of your car. Hypermiling is a set of techniques that maximize your MPG.

Some common techniques are:
Don't drive aggressively
Don't go over the speed limit
Avoid traffic
Avoid coming to a complete stop
Try to accelerate as slowly as possible
Using neutral when going down hills

Some uncommon techniques are"
Drafting behind trucks
Using centripetal force to go around turns fast
Over-inflating your tires to reduce friction

We took a look at how what kind of MPG we got out of our Toyota Matrix when doing basic hypermiling around town. We averaged 61 MPG when hypermiling and 27 MPG when driving normal. At some points on the trip going down hill in neutral we got up to 247 MPG.

If you have any of your own techniques or stories of your own hypermiling let's hear it.



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