Anyone using the Ecoroute HD?

Wow.
I guess the thing is sitting on the store shelves.

The reviews that are on Amazon are the same ones that get repeated at other sites, with the exception of Youtube, and those are more how to install and what you'll see during operation.

Since my car is mostly gauge-less, I thought the additional info might be useful, but not at the current retail of $132. I have an alert in pricespider for $99. I guess others may be waiting for the price to drop before they buy too...

Here's one with pictures of how the guy hooked it up and screen shots of the data collected etc.:

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=132371

Thx T.
I had seen the first page but had failed to load page 2.

Interesting, but still, for something that has been out for a few months, there isn't much in the way of user comments or reviews out there. At least from what I've found.

I figured at least one person here would have bought it by now...

The current ecoroute only work on certain Garmin systems such as the Nuvi and certain Kenwood/Garmin coventures. As far as I know it is not being added to older models. Don't know if this is to push people to upgrade to newer units or because hardware changes would required. A very interesting ecoroute feature is the video gauges. I am considering doing this by adding an HKS-Camp2 or Magden M1.b to my DNX8120. Note that most video gauges require a connection to the OBDII which is available in newer cars. This would normally be done via one of the two video inputs but selecting video to see the gauges will kill any audio. The better way to do this is would be to use the backup camera input which would then enable displaying HKS CAMP II video gauges by holding a certain button down for about 2 seconds. If you also want the rear view camera input you would need to add a video selector. Theoretically a circuit could enable auto/manual selection. Some of these units have a VGA USB interface that enable touch-screen interaction which does not work on the Kenwood/Garmin units so another means of interaction is required such as remote control.

That was my review over at GPSpassion. I'm kinda surprised the ecoRoute HD device hasn't had more exposure.

I bought it in lieu of a Scan Gauge II as I was in the market for a new GPS and had been waiting on a nice sale over at Amazon.com on the SGII. When I discovered the ecoRoute HD and found a price of $130, I jumped on it and decided on the 1690 too.

Ask away if you have any questions and I'll try to answer.

My 775T has Ecoroute and they say I have to buy a 1xxx to BUY their unit? This won't happen.

This is about FW, not a new unit. Garmin can KMA.

I posted a couple of images showing the expanded speedometer with and without ecoroute hd over at:
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=132371...

Looks like you can't post images here.

Looks like I might like this new gadget

I'm going to check this out. Too bad it won't work with my Lotus but I guess I can try it out on my Caravan.

Bob

I too have a price alert set and am waiting for the device to get closer to the $100 range.

Very nice looking unit.... hadn't even heard of it before today.

I don't think I'll be trashing my current Garmin to get this info displayed but certainly something to consider in a couple of years. I'd still put MP3 capability over this though.

Time will tell

what is it?

not me.

It connects the OBDII data port under your steering wheel to the GPS through Bluetooth. This lets the GPS display real time engine data, essentially giving you a set of virtual gauges to monitor your car's performance. It also calculates MPG and can show engine error codes. The Ecoroute HD is mostly for the geekiest of users who want lots of data about their car's operation.

I'll be getting one as soon as the firmware for the 3790T is released to allow its use (said the geek).

Search for Ecoroute HD on Amazon.com for more details.

My main interests in this unit are the greater accuracy of the gas mileage determination and the ability to read the codes when the check engine light comes on. Three vehicles under the car port to provide support for...

Not sure that the other information available is really anything I need to know, but that's just me.

It would be best if I could download the data and load it into something like Google Earth so I could not only see the car's performance, but see exactly where the variations occurred. Without location information the entire thing is much less useful. Garmin could send the data points right to the SD card on the GPSr so you could have an essentially unlimited amount of data to review over the course of your trip.

There are several reviews on Youtube. Here is one from OZ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFGsXfy2oR4

I'm not sure now if this would work with my 255W since it doesn't have bluetooth although I thought is was listed as a supported GPS.

I guess I will need to do some more research.

Bob

I have been using mine now for about 2 months.

Pros
- Being a gadget geek and a car nut it is great. I love the gauges and being able to monitor different car functions.
- Layout is nice, it is great to be able to watch RPM's and other items as you are running through the gears and not have to look down.
- Seems pretty stable, have only had it drop connection on me once or twice.
- Being able to clear out DTC codes is a nice feature

CONS
- The gauges are great though disappointed in the bit of lag that I have been seeing on the RPM gauge. This can be a big negative if you are running up to redline to shift and there is a delay.

- The MPG feature, thought this would be great and it works "sometimes" But mostly has been giving me garbage. It likes to tell me I am getting 30 + mpg average. As much as I would like to see that, there is no way my 05 Mustang GT will get anywhere close to that. I need to stop putting off calling Garmin customer support on this issue. Anyone else noticing incorrect MPG coming up?

[quote=13centThe MPG feature, thought this would be great and it works "sometimes" But mostly has been giving me garbage. It likes to tell me I am getting 30 + mpg average. As much as I would like to see that, there is no way my 05 Mustang GT will get anywhere close to that. I need to stop putting off calling Garmin customer support on this issue. Anyone else noticing incorrect MPG coming up?

Apparently doesn't work with 765T's

No, it doesn't. The compatibility list is here:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=38354#productTab

On a related note, is anyone using an OBD II splitter cable so the ecoRoute HD can be used at the same time the OBD II port is being used for something else?

I ran into that today when I had my vehicle inspected and had to disconnect my ecoRoute HD device so they could complete the inspection.

A quick google search will show you bunches of them, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Cable-J1962M-2-J1962F-Splitter-145802/...

It hardly seems worth having all the extra wires there just to keep from switching out the jack. I would just ask the mechanic or inspector to put the jack back in when he is finished testing.

The problem is that the connecting cable with the ecoRoute HD is so short that I have to dismount the OBD port from the mounting bracket in order to let me properly secure the HD device under the dash.

It's one thing if the OBD port is securely mounted in the bracket. It's another if it's removed from the bracket as in my installation. (see link to image below)

Although Y splitters for the OBD port are easy to find, the question is: can multiple devices successfully run at the same time?

My research indicates that the devices will fight over control of the data. I don't know if that has been corrected with the CAN bus or not... or even if the CAN bus has been implemented. From what I've read, the CAN bus was supposed to be in all vehicles from 2008 on.

http://imgur.com/djABF.jpg

Most MPG readouts are wildly wrong, especially when looking at moment-to-moment readouts. Long-term averages are better but they also are usually way off actual consumption. The best thing to do is to fill-up and measure the miles traveled until the next fill-up. Do the calculations and then see how closely it matches the computers average MPG calculation. After a few tanks you will have a better idea how much the computer varies from the actual mpg.

I happened to spot this for the first time a few days ago, and it looked like it might be a nice addition to my new 1490T (two weeks old, and just LOVE it).

I'm a big-time Car Geek, and this looked like it would be right up my alley. I have a hand-held tuner for my truck that has a number of different tunes (performance/towing/etc), and also has the ability to adjust various parameters individually, but I've held off from playing with those because I have no real way of measuring the differences, and I'd like to actually see if there's a quantitative difference in the various tunes - other than seat-of-the-pants.....looks like this would fill the bill, though I think I'll hold off a bit longer for the eventual price-drop.