MPG Consciousness

One of the most beneficial aspects of driving a hybrid (so I've read) is that they come with nifty little gauges that tell you what your fuel economy is in real-time. As you're driving you get to see how different circumstances affect your miles-per-gallon. In a regular ol' car, you don't get that luxury--excepting some of the higher-end or just more forward-thinking models.

You always hear people talk about different things you can do to reduce your fuel consumption, such as driving at certain speeds, refraining from using the A/C, keeping your tires inflated to the right level, etc., but what has come to be an annoyance to me is that it's all just speculation for me. I don't have the patients or memory capacity to keep a tally of my mileage every time I fill up the car, and then try to remember what things I did since the last fill-up that might have made a difference.

Thankfully, as always, technology saves the day. I found an aftermarket device, call the ScanGauge II, that can be connected directly into your cars on-board computer and give you real-time data readings on your MPG's, plus a whole host of other potentially useful information. Mainly I'm interested in the fuel economy, though, because I do think that seeing how much your using at any given time can go a long way to changing your driving habits. Perhaps that's why most auto-manufacturers don't bother including them in the cars already? The info is already there, after all, because the only thing this gauge does is provide a readout--it doesn't make calculations itself.

The ScanGauge II has a pretty hefty price tag, at $170 (including shipping) but you have to ask yourself how much money you could save on gas if you were using it. I don't have that answer, but I am of the opinion that this little device--unlike most auto accessories out there--is actually worth the money.