Davis Instruments 8225B CarChip E/X with Alarm All-In-One Driving and Engine Performance Monitor, USB Version

by Davis

Product Features

• Plug into your cars on-board diagnostics (OBDII ) port and record every second of every trip
• Keep your car in peak running condition
• User settable alarms for speed, acceleration, and driving to monitor your kids driving habits
• Check emissions readiness before your next smog test
• For most cards and trucks sold in USA and Canada, model years 1996 and later

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000FP0KBY
• Item model number: 8225B
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,417 in Automotive (See Top 100 in Automotive)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

The CarChip E/X from Davis Instruments is the all-in-one driving and engine performance monitor that takes the guesswork out of diagnosing engine problems. No tools or automotive expertise are required. Just plug CarChip E/X into the OBDII port (easily found under the dashboard or steering wheel) and you're ready to roll. Once installed, CarChip E/X reads and stores the data from your vehicle's on-board computers, continuously logging driving and engine performance. With the ability to record 300 hours of trip details you can track time, speed, distance, plus any 4 out of 23 engine parameters at a time. The available parameters to choose are RPM, throttle position, engine load, fuel pressure, fuel system status, short-term fuel trim, long-term fuel trim, battery voltage, timing advance, coolant temperature, air flow rate, intake air temperature, intake manifold pressure, and oxygen sensor output voltage. With the CarChip E/X you can read the diagnostic trouble code when you car's check engine light comes on, get details on engine status and sensor readings, and clear the check engine light yourself. The included software also allows you to view summary and detail reports for each trip, including vehicle speed as often as every second. Set thresholds for speed, acceleration, and braking, and view the number of times these thresholds were exceeded, and copy data to spreadsheets and text documents for further analysis. On top of all this you can also test for emissions status and see if the used car you are looking to buy will pass the smog test before you but it, and if you are unfortunate enough to be in an accident then CarChip E/X will automatically generate an accident log showing the last critical 20 seconds of speed for use in filing insurance claims. Package includes Car Chip data logger, software on CD, and the USB cable for downloading data. System requirements are Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP and a USB port.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly as advertised, June 13, 2007

By 

Hadley V. Stacey "hvstacey" (Colorado, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Davis Instruments 8225B CarChip E/X with Alarm All-In-One Driving and Engine Performance Monitor, USB Version (Electronics)

Great device for a teen driver. It monitors many of the driving parameters and notifies the driver when preset limits are exceeded. Most teens don't like passive monitoring since it "invades their privacy"!. This device lets them monitor themselves and lets me look at engine data when service is required.

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun and useful tool that almost qualifies as a tuning aid., August 19, 2007

By 

G Wheels "wheels" (NE USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Davis Instruments 8225B CarChip E/X with Alarm All-In-One Driving and Engine Performance Monitor, USB Version (Electronics)

First of all, I like my CarChip 8225B alot. The accompanying software is really pretty nice and could only offer a very small improvement - in my humble opinion. The device itself is simply cool and although it lays in the palm of my hand, smaller than a chicken egg, I feel it is worth the modest price that I paid to Familysafemedia to send it to me.

The device communicates and flashes as it goes about gathering my car's data. I think it is primarily intended for parents and employers to monitor how their vehicle is driven but for me, I want to diagnose my performance and know where my fuel trims are. The watchdog aspect of the CarChip is probably perfect but for my performance data gathering, it's one of those - you get what you pay for things.

For the cost it does a remarkable amount of data logging. Its drawback is the wide spacing sample rate. Speed can be monitored every second but everything else is only reported in 5 second intervals - so you might as well set the speed monitoring at 5 seconds as well if you're looking for performance data. You have to realize a processor in such a small enclosure that draws current through those tiny wires from the diagnostic port of a car can only do so much. Never the less, it is unique, efficient and sophisticated. It's glaring limit beside the slow sampling is that it only monitors 5 streams of information. Once again, for the price this is a remarkable value.

Now for the software that allows you to configure, view and store the logged data. It's really easy to understand, efficient and fun. What it lacks is almost unimportant but maybe Davis Instrument will consider the upgrade I'm about to suggest. They only need to make the data window scroll with a scroll wheel to make the navigation perfect. Other than that, I have no complaints. In fact, I'd like to tell you what I like about it too. For one thing, you can re-configure things without "starting over" like one reviewer mentioned. I think his software was earlier or he didn't realize you can change names, intervals, thresholds etc.. There's excellent help in the software and it's so easy a Troglodyte can do it. Well not really but if you want something easy to learn and use, the CarChip software won't disappoint.