In general, the federally-mandated On Board Diagnostics 2 (OBD2) platform has been a real pain in the ass. Required on all cars from model year 1996 on, the advanced computer and sensor system makes it a lot more difficult to add aftermarket modifications to your car—the go-fast kind, not the ruin-my-aerodynamics kind.
There is a single upside to OBD2, though, and that’s the requirement that all cars have an easily-accessible diagnostics port in the passenger compartment of the car. The ScanGauge is a 3-in-1 automotive computer that plugs right in, giving you tons of handy information like fuel economy, temperature, and manifold pressure, as well as trip data like maximum and average speed. But probably worth the $130 purchase price alone is the ability to read and reset vehicle ‘Trouble Codes,’ allowing you to make your own judgments about whether or not you need to take your ride in to see a professional. And if everything looks good to you (or you fix it yourself), you can use the ScanGuage to reset the Check Engine lights yourself. (Thanks, Allan!)
Product Page [ScanGuage]
