Customer Reviews

Davis Instruments 8226B CarChip Pro (New Model)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Easy to setup and use. Load the software connect to your computer via USB (cable is supplied) and configure the parameters you want to monitor and the interval desired. Just plug the Car Chip Pro into the OBD-II port and drive. When your are ready to look at the data plug it into the computer and download the data. You can use the built in graphs to look at the data or export the data to a spead sheet and make your own graphs.

The main reason I purchased the Car Chip pro was my temp gauge on the Silhouette was acting up so the car chip provided detailed data regarding the actual temp supplied to the engines computer. The graphs provided data to the performance of the cooling system which showed it was working fine.

One feature that was a surpise to me was the audiable alarms that are available for values the exceed the threshold (which have a default or can be user defined). An example would be if you drove above 70Mph it would beep. Another example is hard acceleration or hard stopping. The audiable alarms can be shut off if desired.

Another data point that came in useful was the long fuel trim data which showed that my injector were probably in need of a serious cleaning.

The car chip pro logged the error codes and provided a brief description of the errors. My Olds silhouette had multiple error codes "EVAP" and "crankshaft sensor" errors. After clearing the codes with the Car chip pro logged the succeeding repeats and allowed me to determine how long before the next occurance.

With this information and the age and milage on the Silhouette I decided it was time for a new car versus putting more money into the Van.

I found the CarChip Pro to be more than expected. It records most of my engine parameters and they are readily understood - for me anyway. Things like short and long term fuel trims (STFT .. LTFT) were especially helpful for finer tuning of my car with a hand held programmer. The only draw back is that the recorded data is only created every five seconds. I know the instructions say every second but that's just what the log file increments in. Actual data collection only takes place for most parameters in five second increments. This isn't nearly fast enough for serious diagnostics but good enough for determining if there is a real problem with maf, map, o2 sensors, timing and fuel trims. The user can only monitor 4 or 5 driving parameters at a time but with a few trips and setting changes, the whole range can be recorded. Just to clear something up; some automotive computers (PCM / ECM) do not report all of the data that the CarChip can collect. Therefore, some people might feel short changed on the data collection but it isn't the CarChip's short coming.

I really think Davis Instruments primarily markets the CarChip as a monitor for drivers but the fact that this little tool can clear DTCs and give a broad brush picture of the engine operation is a plus. They have packed a lot of power in something the size of a walnut. The software provided with the tool is very user friendly, it just won't please a serious gearhead but it's great for the casual enthusiast. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because for the price and ease of use it's a bargain - not to mention a bunch of fun.

I bought my first CarChip 3 years ago when my first child headed off to school. I downloaded the info each time they came home. Did not let them know that the device was there until they were ticketed for going 95 in a 55 zone. I knew their driving habits and retreived the info from the CarChip. Sure enough, they were doin 62 when they got pulled over. We fought it & won.
I now have one in each of our three drivers under 21. Never let them leave home without it. If they remove it, the device records the removal. If they are in an accident it records everything that was taking place when it occurred. My guys know that it is there and that I check them regularly.

I had the check engine light come on....but the car was still running OK. I'm pretty handy, but didn't have a code reader to see what the problem was. So I stumbled across this product, and figured it was the same price as the cheap code readers, more or less. I did have to pull the chip, and bring it into the house computer to read, but a small price to pay. I don't figure I'll be diagnosing cars all that often. Five minutes after I opened the package, it told me that I had a minor emissions evaporative leak, and to check my gas cap. Sure enough. I was giddy for 24 hours. I reset the "check engine" light with the same device, and am recording my other car now (which will fall to a younger driver in two months). I feel like I "found the internet", or something. What a GREAT idea.

This does what it promises, ie records your car data etc

What is less nice is that once you read disconnect the chip for the car (have to do this to read it out, no way to connect the USB while in the car. The manual warns against that!), all trips recorded since the last reading will be assigned to the same driver, even if you have created several driver profiles. And you cannot reassign trips later to another driver. That means that you would have to take out the chip from the OBD connector, read it out every time the driver of the car changes. Yes, at the rest-stop during a long trip, you'd have to do this if you want the carchip software to be able to distinguish between drivers. You'd have to do the same if you drive to work/a visit/a party and your wife/mate/colleague drives back: read out the chip before the driver change. I don't even think that this woud work in a fleet-management scenario, unless each car always has the same driver and others are simply not allowed to take over driving duties, which frankly sounds like an unlikely restriction.

Whan Davis' support was contacted on that (took 2 weeks to respond in the first place), the answer simply was: that is not possible.

Another niggly thing is that the accelerometer goes off chiming at odd times when there is no acceleration/decceleration event (ie driving happily along a straight road) or sometimes in gentle turns. Not explainable and getting annoying.

I have not had a fault code recorded yet, so cannot say anything about that.

The software does seem to work find in WinXP running under vmware fusion 1.2 on a mac, so that is no issue.

I got this to be able to record the engine fault codes etc and to see if different driving styles between me and my wife influence fuel consumption. The first it may be doing well (even though having a carchip constantly connected is not necessary for that, as the ECU keeps the faultcodes in its memory). Recording the driving characteristics it does well, but seeing that it is (practically) impossible to associate each trip with the correct driver makes the analysis way too hard and time-consuming.

Would i get this again? Not sure. The software would really need to improve to allow better management of cars/drivers etc. Knowing this I'd likely just go for a cheaper OBD cable and software-reader and not bother with the chip.

This is a low-power unit (with built-in 5-year coin battery and also powered by the vehicle) that requires a Windows computer to configure via USB. It automatically replaces older data when the memory is full. When you need the data, just plug into your USB, start up the software, and download. You will get charts of (default) engine speed (every 1 second), engine RPM (every 5 seconds), and coolant temperature. You can configure other OBD-II parameters but they aren't as useful. All data is indexed by time, to the second, and you can sync your Windows time to the device.

You can leave this plugged in when the vehicle is off. You can disable via the Windows software the loud "beep" when the vehicle is started ("Disable alarm"). I've installed one in both my and my wife's vehicles. Because the device is out of sight, I'm not worried about theft.

I recommend that if you are stopped by a police officer, that you remove this unit after the traffic stop has been completed, before you start your car. This way, you can be certain that the most recent data on the unit was for the most recent stop.

The speed measured by the device is that reported by the OBD-II unit, which in both cars matched exactly with the speedometer needle. The true speed (measured with two iPhone apps) may and was different for one car, so be aware of that.

I agree with the other poster that it's a sad situation that this device appears to be required in this day. I witnessed first hand a San Jose CHP officer lie under oath, and an inexperienced temporary traffic court judge in Palo Alto, CA, make fundamental mistakes. I used to have a pretty high opinion of both CHP and the Court, and true it's just a couple individuals, but you just never believe it until you see it firsthand. What I've learned: 1) Always drive safely, (2) Don't stick out, and (3) Optionally purchase this if you want to do society a service and try to catch a dishonest officer (hopefully, the few of them) in a lie.

However I wish that the software was a lot more robust. It works as advertised and has been very convenient for automotive data-logging. Nice for keeping track of business mileage and diagnosing and resetting engine codes. Best feature of all for me is the settable excessive speed, acceleration and braking warnings. Helps to keep me from getting speeding tickets and with driving habits that improve gas economy.

This is my third unit. The oldest is approximately 2 years old and all three do exactly what they say. I can record up to 5 different parameters (speed, rpm, etc) and also have alarms. For example. If I ever hit 75, it will start beeping and remind me to slow it down. Overall, I can not recommend these enough. I have used them on XP, Vista, and now Win 7 with no problems. It is like have a "black box" (similar to airplanes) in each of my cars/trucks.

Simple little device. Plugged into Subaru Forester easily, setup on laptop was easy. Monitor's new driver's speed, braking, and acceleration. Easy to use graphs, reports. Also monitors engine performance. All in all, great product. Gives nice peace of mind and new driver knows he is being watched even when we are not there. Can't be unplugged without us knowing too. Thanks - really good product.

My 22 year old wanted to buy a high-performance car. My condition was a CarChip 8226. It works great. Just plug it into the OBDII port and it starts recording. It records speed, throttle, braking and I set it to record engine temp. since he was having overheating problems. It works like a champ.

If you want to keep tabs on a driver, or record data to troubleshoot a problem, I would highly recommend the CarChip. This is an excellent product for under $100!Davis Instruments 8226B CarChip Pro (New Model)