Ultragauge review

proximal

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2 Sport manual
The UltraGauge I ordered came in yesterday. Here's a little review since I think there's a lot of people here who would find this thing useful. I have a Scangauge II in my MINI so I can do a little comparison.

ScanGaugeII on top, UltraGauge on bottom. Note that the UltraGauge connector is not detachable. Don't worry, there's still enough room to route the cable down the steering column and under the dash panel.

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Ultragauge is a lot thinner and can display 6 items at a time compared to ScanGauge's 4. In addition, UltraGauge lets you have three pages with 6 items each and you can set it to scroll through those pages automatically (I don't have this set up- too much info IMO).

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Here's a list of all the things UltraGauge can display: http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/TEN/gauges.htm . I haven't tried them all but the ones I think most people would be interested in (fuel level, fuel usage (MPG or GPH), coolant temp, engine load, throttle position) work on the 2 just fine. I think it can give more data out of the box compared to a ScanGauge, but the ScanGauge has user-programmable commands through the X-Gauge function. You can also program in min/max alarms to the UltraGauge where it will beep if you exceed a value for one of the gauges. Both units can be used to pull and clear OBDII error codes.

The UltraGauge display isn't particularly pretty, but it works. It's backlit and the viewing angles are good. The backlight color is not adjustable. By comparison, the ScanGauge can be programmed to a color that matches the 2's gauges closely.

UltraGauge:
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ScanGauge set up in my MINI:
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My overall setup. Engine temp, system voltage, throttle position, remaining fuel, distance to empty, and fuel level percentage. The cable is routed across and then down the steering column, then up the lower dash panel to the OBDII connector. I taped the wire to the panel and then tie wrapped/taped the remaining wires and tucked them under the panel. The wire isn't really noticeable or in the way of anything.

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I primarily bought this for fuel level and engine temperature monitoring capabilities. It does those two functions nicely although the fuel level fluctuates a lot when the car is moving (duh). I like having the details for fuel info since the car should theoretically have more than enough range for a week's commute for me but the gas gauge doesn't think so. Another thread on this forum says that the factory gas gauge is conservative. That's probably true but you know what I found out? The gas pump at my local station shuts off after the tank has about 9.5 gallons. The tank is supposed to be 11.3 gallons, so that's another 70ish miles per tank.

You can get the UltraGauge here for $68.95 plus shipping ($7.56 to me in CA). It shipped within a day and got to me within three. Highly recommended purchase.
 
Great review bro.

Curiously i wonder if it comes with any mounts or arms to mount, or if its double sided taped at the back.
It comes with a suction cup windshield mount and two small velcro strips. I opted for the velcro but it fell apart after the first day. I replaced it with a 1" strip of 3M Dual Lock.
 
Nice. I've owned a ScanGauge for a few years. It's adjustable colors worked well in my Ford but only kind of match the M2 colors. I haven't checked the ScanGauge prices lately but I believe I paid $150 for mine. While the ScanGauge has worked without any issues, it's rather bulky (thick) and the UltraGauge has a nice price.

Is it easy to use the reset buttons on the UltraGauge? They look to be on the bottom and since you'll need to use velcro, I wasn't sure if use would mess with the alignment of the gauge.
 
Another thread on this forum says that the factory gas gauge is conservative. That's probably true but you know what I found out? The gas pump at my local station shuts off after the tank has about 9.5 gallons. The tank is supposed to be 11.3 gallons, so that's another 70ish miles per tank.

My understanding is that Mazda does this on purpose in order to keep the fuel pump submerged (and thus keep it cool and stave off premature failure). A lot of people run their tanks down until the "you're out of gas" light comes on, instead of filling up when there's 1/4 tank left like the manual specifies. It's the same way on the Mazda3; I've never been able to put more than 11 gallons into our 2006 3, even though it's got a 14-gallon tank.
 
Is it easy to use the reset buttons on the UltraGauge? They look to be on the bottom and since you'll need to use velcro, I wasn't sure if use would mess with the alignment of the gauge.
The three buttons (menu, up, down) are on the back. The things on the top and bottom are the clips for the mounting bracket (you can remove it unit from the bracket without disturbing the velcro). I would not recommend trying to mess with the display while driving.

My understanding is that Mazda does this on purpose in order to keep the fuel pump submerged (and thus keep it cool and stave off premature failure). A lot of people run their tanks down until the "you're out of gas" light comes on, instead of filling up when there's 1/4 tank left like the manual specifies. It's the same way on the Mazda3; I've never been able to put more than 11 gallons into our 2006 3, even though it's got a 14-gallon tank.
What I mean is that when filling up, the pump (that is, the fuel dispenser and not the pump in the car) shuts off well before the tank is full.
 
Just ordered one. Been looking for a MPG reader that wasn't 160 bucks ><

Thanks for the post.
 
Install it with the arm last night.
I love it, it's not pretty but it's very very useful.
The arm is awesome! it's super long which is nice since the M2 front window slope is so steep.
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Great thread here and this pretty much convinced me to get an Ultra Gauge.

I have one question for the OP. What did you use and how did you mount the ultra gauge and to wait did you mount it to? Did you mount it to the steering column or the dash?

- Thanks!
 
Showed this to my wife and she wanted one for her 5. I didn't argue. Should be getting it next week!
 
Anybody get more than one? Any breaks on the shipping and do you get the rebate on each one?

Thanks,
John
(Ch**p B*st*rd ! ! !)
 
Just ordered one last night. I live in Vancouver, B.C. and the shipping charges to here were $23.xx. So, instead I shipped it to Blaine, Washington (35 minute drive at non-peak time) for $8.21. Should be here early next week and I'll hopefully run down for the day on Wednesday and grab it (my day off and gf working). Looking forward to finding an interesting spot to mount it and trying it out. Thinking I may even try mounting it near my accident recorder video camera I have hard-wired.
 
Went to install into my wife's car tonight and noticed the attachment arm is different than in redkills post. Its a long, straight arm, and only the angle of the guage can be adjusted, not the angle of the arm. So its useless. I'm not happy. I suppose I'll be sending them an e-mail.

edit: After some searching on their site and checking the mount again, I found the entire arm peice is flexible. It just feels like solid plastic and I didn't try with enough force to bend it.
 
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