Just ordered ultra-gauge

[Vikas]

http://www.ultra-gauge.com

The offer was too good to be true but I still went for it. I was careful not to give them my credit card number and used PayPal for checkout. Shipping was reasonable.

When I googled it, all the "recommendations" were done by newbies with single post to their credit. It sounds fishy.

We will see. This is my 5th scanner, I think I need help!

Pros:-
Great functionality
Insanely cheap price
No shipping gouging
Excellent user manual (written in English and NOT in Chinglish)
Very well thought out features

Cons:-
Something smells

- Vikas

 

[2oldtommy]

Vikas, Let us know how you like it. Thanks --Oldtommy

 

[Jim_Beverlin]

I have a DashDyno SPD by Auterra. This unit cost me about the same as the suggested list for the Ultra-Gauge. Keep us posted how you like it. The DashDyno is not exactly user friendly. A lot of secondary operations you have to do. Any return privledges if you so not like the unit?

 

[Vikas]

Does not say anything about the return privileges. Fortunately, after reading the user manual, I do not think I would return it unless it is completely broken.

I would urge people to download the user guide from the support page. It does seem like manufacturer has done his homework well and lot of thought has gone in the design of this unit.

ScanGauge is established itself as the gold standard but this one has lot more features and is lot cheaper. I suspect there is going to be some legal wrangling between manufacturers of these type of units and ScanGauge would be only one left standing.

- Vikas

 

[sciphi]

Let us know how this compares to the ScanGauge. I love the ScanGauge in my car. But something cheaper for other cars would be great.

 

[HTSS_TR]

It said "UltraGauge can display 75 possible gauges*. The note said "* Actual available gauges is vehicle dependent."

One of the gauge I'm interested is Engine Oil Temperature, and it is listed as one of the 75 possible gauges.

Can you try to see if it can display the Engine Oil Temperature of one your cars.

 

[calvin1]

Wow, add me to the list of those eager to hear what you find think of it. I too have a ScanGaugeII but this thing looks a lot more interesting. The price seems fishy but giving them the benefit of the doubt that they're just trying to get their foot in the door with early adopters.


OOOH, I just saw that they have alarms for all gauges. That'd be really nice.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Vikas,

If you can post your opinions about this Ultra-gauge features, specially the Engine Oil Temperature will be appreciated greatly.

It look like they may end the $39 promotion soon, the price may go up to $69. Below is a post of Ultra-gauge Admin in the Ultra-gauge forum:

"We are anticipating a September 1st 2010 end date. However, the resulting demand has been much greater than anticipated and we may end the promotion sooner in order to throttle back the demand to match supply.
The current promotion will likely be replaced with another that sets the price point of UltraGauge around $69. However, this is just speculation at this point."

 

[Jimbonj]

I'm very interested in reading your opinions on the Ultra-Gauge. Would be a great alternative to the ScanGaugeII @ $39.

Can you post if the unit has an input jack for the cable or if it's already attached to the unit.

Thanks.

 

[HTSS_TR]

According to UltraGauge Admin in UltraGauge forum the $39 promotion (after $9 mail in rebate) will ended on 08/22. The price will go back to $48.

He also said: "Support of Engine Oil Temperature is very rare. I would say that the Honda does not support it and I can't even guess if the Benz would support it, but I would say the odds are against it."

If Engine Oil Temperature is not needed, then UltraGauge at $39 is a good buy, better value than ScanGauge II. They charge USPS Priority Mail at $7.36 (probably the flat rate). The total is $56.31 before $9 rebate so the net cost will be $47.31, unless you're in a state that charged sale tax.

 

[Vikas]

Can you borrow a friend's scanner with live data support? That will tell you exactly which readings will be reported by your specific vehicle.

Here are my preliminary comments on Ultra-Gauge.

Mine got shipped way before I thought it would! I am in touch with the developer/owner/entrepreneur and he has been very prompt in answering my questions.

I just hooked it up to Maxima 2000 because it does have MAF and that is the car I use daily.

The rebate form filing procedure is *atrocious*. If I were ever to go under brain surgery, I would have to sign my initials at *fewer* number of places I have never worked harder for that $9.00 rebate in my entire life ~/~

The unit itself is lot smaller than it looks in the picture. Quality of the unit and the attachment is first rate.

It has some learning curve and non-trivial setup but it is a heck of a bargain for $39 that is for sure!

Now on the cons of the units; if there were ever any need for firmware upgrade, the unit will have to be shipped back to the factory. I had asked for more scanner type features but he feels that his customers are mainly non-technical people and would not understand freeze frame or mode 6 data.

Answering another question, the cable is permanently attached to the unit. Connector is right angle and slickly designed.

There are 3 pages of 6 gauges, so you could select up to 18 gauges to be displayed via "flipping" pages. It has a very nice looking alphanumeric display with high enough resolution.

- Vikas

 

[calvin1]

Can you add new gauges like the SG2?

 

[Vikas]

Here are some pictures. Please excuse the cellphone quality but this should give you an idea. It was getting way too hot in the windshield corner and was generating over temperature alarm! I have now kept it on the instrument cluster. As you can see I have yet to drive the car with this hooked up. I have only started the engine couple of times in the parking lot.

 

[Vikas]

Here are better pictures after driving about 60 miles. It is fun to watch the instantaneous mpg go as high as 130 when coasting in gear! The average is mileage is at least 25% higher than what I expect. There are many tweaks to calibrate it but I am waiting until I run a full tank of gas.

 

[IndyIan]

Is the display good for night driving? The scanguage has adjustable colours and back lighting levels, I use a low level red which is easily visible in the day but is just right at night.

 

[Vikas]

It has sensor and has setting for either auto or manual back lighting. No colors though :-(

I have not driven in the dark yet but inside the garage the display had automatically adjusted itself.

- Vikas

 

[HTSS_TR]

Just received it today. As expected, it is made in China. The $9 rebate is a pain to fill out online.

Tried it on S2000, the average gas mileage is a little optimistic about 5-10% more than I expected. There are many tweaks to calibrate, I need to print out the manual to read it at least once to learn.

I don't know how this ultra-gauge is comparing to Scangauge, but for $48 shipped is not a bad toy to play with. Too bad that it doesn't support either oil temperature or pressure for my car.

 

[Vikas]

That is not the fault of the gauge. If the car ECM does not report it, neither ultra-gauge nor scangauge can display it.

I sure hope these guys won't end up making their lawyers rich if you get my drift.

- Vikas

 

[Ross]

Mine came in the mail today. Plan on using it in my 09 outlook
that doesn't have a MPG computer. Haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but it does look smaller than in the pictures. That may be a good thing for me. I started the rebate, and stopped after it started to ask questions, forcing me to read the manual. I will start the rebate again on my laptop sitting in my car...

 

[Vikas]

Also make sure that you are using the newer rebate form. I was told that the rebate form that I used had dummy address to send :-(

That was like surgeon chopping the wrong leg off after getting millions signatures from the patient on the wrong form :-(

The price has jumped from $39 to $59.

- Vikas