xmatt

I've been sitting on my OBD-II adapter for months, but the app is finally out.

Full version of Rev

Rev features webpage

The app is $50 and the Wifi dongle it requires is $229. There is also a free "Lite" version of the app that will confirm that the Wifi dongle works and show you which metrics you have access to on your car before you buy the full app (you can return the dongle), as well as let you play with the GPS/accelerometer stuff.

So what do you get for $279?

There are a bunch of apps on the iPhone store that use the accelerometer to give you a "dyno" measurement of your car's performance. This is the only solution that actually connects to your ECU and gives you access to everything your car knows (as well as engine codes, GPS tracking, and accelerometer data), so I was pretty excited to have something I could put on my dash and would "do everything". I was one of the first to order the WiFi dongle and when they released the software the other night I clicked my iPhone into my dash mount and went for a spin.

It works great! I had some initial difficulties running a necessary firmware update of the hardware dongle, but after that the iPhone syncs up smoothly, even if my car is off. When I turn the ignition on, it starts reading data. The GPS mode, which I'd played around with in the Lite version, is still fun and should be interesting for track use -- basically will give you a color-coded map of the track showing where you were braking and accelerating. Performance metrics are read off at a high rate, enough that when showing the simulated "gauges", it just feels like a mechanical gauge on your dash. Once you're looking at a metric, they have a "no look" interface so that you can double-tap to see a zoomed-in version of the gauge, or "swipe" across the screen to switch between the gauge and a time plot of whatever you're looking at.

They also added a feature where you can plot up to 3 metrics at once on a graph and save data off to a file that you can email to yourself later.

It's a pricey bundle, but for me, this is a really fun setup already. It costs about as much as some lower-end OBD-II laptop solutions, but this is something I can drive around with every day and the developers are promising to continue to add functionality to this thing, which should be very easy in the iPhone development environment. I kind of see this as buying a platform that will continue to improve.

Here's my iPhone dash-mounted with Rev showing a zoomed-in mode RPM gauge.

QUIKAG

Sweet, I may definitely have to check into this for track days and for playing with around town.

Aerodax

I saw the update to the app posted yesterday and was hoping for a write up exactly like this. THANKS!

Makross

hey what holster is that? ive been looking for something like that for my touch..

freq

Damn that looks REAL close to your wiper stalk.

Thanks for the write-up. So what exactly IS available on the S2000 and how easy it to swap to another vehicle? Just PnP?

xmatt

Yeah, it's very close to the wiper stalk, but I don't find that annoying at all. It's set as far back as the wiper stalk too, so there's no question of hitting it while turning the wheel, but it's very easy to tap the screen without moving moving your hand from the wheel even.

As for what's available on the S2000:

• Air intake temp
• Boost pressure
• Calculated engine load
• Engine coolant temp
• Fuel trim (Long B1)
• Fuel trim (short B1)
• Intake manifold pressure
• RPM
• Throttle position
• Timing advance
• Vehicle speed

(Maybe somebody can explain the "fuel trim" ones -- I don't know what they are.)

The metrics that you don't get for the S2000 are:

• Barometric pressure
• EVAP pressure
• Fuel consumption
• Fuel level
• Fuel pressure
• Fuel trim (long B2)
• Fuel trim (short B2)
• Mass air flow

About the only bummer is fuel consumption, which I'd sorta like to see.

It's very easy to swap to another vehicle; there's no per-vehicle setup at all. The WiFi dongle comes with a cable that plugs into the ECU's OBD-II port and into the dongle itself. If you got another cable and left it hanging in a second car, you could plug in the dongle and you'd be set. I'm thinking about doing just that with my wife's IS300.

Actually about the only thing that annoys me a bit is that there isn't any per-car setup. I'd like to be able to configure things like redline, boost pressure range (no point showing above zero on a non-turbo car), etc. But I'm guessing that will be one of the things the developer adds soon.

xmatt

It's a mount from Arkon, which you can find here:

http://www.arkon.com/iPhone_Car_Mount.php

It's the IPM-129, most of the way down the page on the right.

It isn't ideal because our air vents are so small, but with a little modification it's actually really nice. Basically you have to remove the little "foot" on the bottom, turn it sideways to slide the alligator jaws over the vent slats, and then zip-tie the floating end around a couple slats. It sounds cheesier than it looks (the zip-ties are hidden), and it's super solid. If anybody is interested, I could post some photos of how I did it.

Makross

thanks! the price isnt that bad either! i would most def appreciate it if you can show me how you mounted urs. sorry to thread jack.

Mr. Francesco

Seems promising.

scuderiax8

nice.... pretty cool... i have the lite version on my 3g but there isnt really much that i can do with it... gota get that connector i guess