Customer Reviews

Davis Instruments 8226 CarChip Pro

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this unit to diagnose an issue with one of my cars and to also serve as a training aid for my son who is a new driver. It works as described and proved to be very useful in troubleshooting my car. I would give the device 5 stars if the software were better but it needs work.
You review each trip as a separate graph. Also each graph only has one parameter on it such as speed. This limits the ability to use the software directly to analyze the data by comparing two measurements on the same time axis.
To do any real analysis, you have to export all of the data to excel which is not a simple process but instead involved cutting and pasting the numbers.

I had seen this product that a friend of mine had for a long time. I was excited to get one when I got a car that would meet the qualifications. I just bought this this last month. I have traveled over 1000 miles already with it and is works beautifully. It has a LOT of potential for car up-keeping, but it also already does more than I thought it could. It is great for keeping up mileage, MPG usage, self-troubleshooting, breaking bad driving habits, and much more. I highly recommend this product and will get another one for the rest of the cars that I get.

First, the unit has been replaced with a newer version called the CarChip Pro (which is what I got). While the first unit I got was faulty, they shipped a replacement immediately - an A+ for their customer service.

I got it for a series of uses. I am considering switching over to an electric vehicle for our commuting use (best alternative with high gas prices, oil wars, climate change, etc), so I first wanted to really dig down into our typical driving so that I can figure out the right choice for us.

It is a "plug and play" unit and the software is extremely easy to use. Literally, just plug it into the OBD-II port. Pull it out and plug it to your computer and press a button to download the data into the CarChip software. Then plug it back into the vehicle.

Saving the trip data to a CSV file is relatively easy for a single trip. But to do it for several isn't - one has to keep repeating this for every trip. Bummer.

I created an Excel file with some formulas for deeper analysis. I found that on our city commute trips we use engine power for only 40-50% of our trip duration (the rest is either idling or coasting) - we are excellent candidates for commuting using electric mode only (either an electric vehicle or electric mode only in a plugin hybrid)!! To put in another way, we are wasting gas for at least half of our trips.

My area is hilly with plenty of slopes - some steep but most are mild. So I now tried "saving gas" driving techniques in our compact manual shift car (2002 VW Golf). Been doing that for about 4 weeks now since my last fill up. And no, I am not driving like a "little old lady" - just preserving momentum well and using gas judiciously. I've logged my driving over the last month (Apr 2008) and got 37 MPG!! That is significantly over the 23-24 MPG I got before I changed my driving style - a 50% gain. So I expect to recover my cost in just a couple of months.

So after a few months my need for the CarChip is almost nil, right? Well, not really. While one can continue to use it to monitor car usage, mileage, etc, it can also be used to get an insight into the computer error codes and take action before it becomes too bad.

The unit retains the last 20 seconds of speed data in case of an accident. So it can be used to advantage. However, I am not aware of the validity of the data from a legal perspective, a good lawyer should be able to use it to "win the case".

The unit also captures hard/extreme braking and acceleration. While hard/extreme braking is required in certain circumstances, it should be minimal/none for a good driver. Both are not good for gas mileage as well. This information can be used to improve driving style. Since my older one will be of legal driving age in a couple of years, I plan to have this unit in his vehicle for the first few years to help him improve his driving habits.

While it is a no-brainer for fleets, it is good for the average family too.

I have little to add to the previous reviews for this device - they've covered most everything accurately. However there's one bit of advice for owners and prospective owners that I'd like to share: the Car Chip isn't especially robust when it comes to electrical system anomalies. I'm basing this comment on a previous version, however from what I can see, the power input appears to be approximately the same on this one.

So specifically what am I talking about? Well, for example, if you happen to find yourself with a dead battery, you should unplug the CarChip before doing any kind of jump starting, battery replacement, battery charging, or any other electrical system repairs. It's VERY easy to blow the protective device in the CarChip which will almost certainly blow the fuse for the 12V supply to your OBDII port. The consequences of this will vary from vehicle to vehicle, ranging from nothing more than no data collection (and an inoperative OBDII port, naturally) to a No-Start condition. The latter occurred to me on a Chrysler product which, for reasons passing understanding, the engineers decided to share power to the OBDII port with the supply to the engine computer. Not realizing that it was the CarChip that was blowing the fuse sent me and the service folks in some expensive circles.

Bottom line: if you're having ANY kind of electrical issues in your vehicle, remove the CarChip immediately until they are resolved.

Otherwise, with that above caveat, this is a very useful gadget especially for those who love digging into things.

I got this thing on a lark and frankly I am very impressed. It allows me to easily track business mileage, time on jobs, driving behavior and a lot more. It also lets me clear "check engine" lights and has user programmable alarms for engine issues, temperatures, excessive speed, excessive acceleration and excessive braking. These beeping reminders are helping me to drive less aggressively and to save gas. And I can change or turn off the alarms any time I choose. And the data logging capability is rather impressive!

And of course it painlessly captures all car computer diagnostic error codes and allows you to display them on hour PC in English.

I have two boys that are of driving age. I have a carchip in both of their cars. I have found that having the carchip installed is like having me sitting in the car with them, warning them to slow down, or not start up as fast. My oldest son jokes with his girl friend every time the carchip beeps at him, that it's dad watching. It provides a gental reminder to kids when their driving habits are getting sloppy. The other real nice part of it is the trouble code diagnostics. When the check engine light comes on, I can get the trouble code from the carchip and know what it is before I take it to the mechanic. This is a must have for any parent of teenagers.

My purpose was to collect LTFT, STFT, and Upstream HO2 Voltage periodic test runs. DTC and emission readiness is Ok but not primary.
User choice data are limited to 5 selected sensors, one of which is assigned to mph. Leaves 4 and needs two more fields. V6 has two banks each LTFT,STFT, Upstream HO2 = 3 each bank. Limits choices and data. I collect LTFT, Upstream HO2, copy and paste in excel for analysis. Adequate but would be much better with STFT. Sensor will not record Wideband Air Fuel Ratio sensors and that's what my 05 Accord V6 has. I use LTFT and STFT. (Am I over 13? Better ask my wife)

The first one only lasted 6 trips before it "fried". Called tech support and they said they'd send out another one right away. That's good! I'll write more when that one gets here, for now, it didn't work.