Improving fuel milage is becoming an obsession of many motorists and a way for products to market specifically to this

Example of Fuel Measuring Device by ScanGauge

need.  Recently, I came across a number of fuel mileage measuring devices that plug into the OBD (on board diagnostic) port  on a vehicle that will make saving fuel fun.  The way the device works is it takes the information your vehicle is already producing and presents it in a format that is easy to use and comprehend.

A typical consumer could use the device in a number of ways so here are a few examples:

i) You have decided to remove the roof rack on your vehicle and want to understand if the fuel economy will be impacted enough to keep them off permanently.  You could use the fuel measuring device both before and after to try and understand if you increased fuel efficiency

ii) You have decided to service the spark plugs, clean the fuel injection system and so forth and want to see what the improvement in fuel mileage is

iii) You’ve changed tires and want to measure their impact or you’ve switched to nitrogen fill tires

If you were not planning on making any changes to your vehicle you could still have fun with one of these devices by simply changing your driving style.  You could measure the impact of accelerating slower versus rapidly or using cruise control versus normal acceleration.  The use of one of these devices is not guaranteed to improve fuel economy but it is a great way to understand the impact of some maintenance choices or driving styles to squeeze a few more miles out of every tank.  To find these devices you can do a search on Google for “OBD Fuel Economy Device”.  Here is a picture of one of the more well know devices by Linear Logic called the ScanGauge.

These devices are capable of providing a number of different analytics from current speed, RPM’s, volts to fuel consumption. The higher end devices can even diagnose an engine light!