Gadgetory

the obd2 or on-board diagnostics generation to port is located under your dash on any car sold in the US since 1996 or in Europe since 2001 look for it within a couple feet of the steering column usually right about where the dash trim panel stops and the ugly parts begin now that obd2 port is collecting data from sensors all over your car in the engine bay in the suspension parts of the ABS system that detect movement and g-forces generally speaking the newer your car the more data feeds are coming in there things like throttle position fuel flow steering wheel angle and tons more data all right there now you get the data out of that obd2 port into your phone or tablet most likely through an app that talks to one of these wireless dongles these cost anywhere from 10 bucks to $100 or more but that's basically your range so they take the data harvest it and send it out via bluetooth now the difference in price can be quite dramatic because some of them are a little more limited than others I would spend a few more bucks and make sure the app you're using is compatible with the dongle you're about to buy most app support notes will tell you which ones work the best with it pair it once and now the fun part for the car geek there are apps like torque that give you amazing amounts of data from the car in multiple configurable dashboards many of these apps also merge in GPS and time stamping from your phone you can even add a video recording app to record a view of your driving with some virtual data readouts of your choice overlaid on the video and GPS trajectory and speed replayable later over a track or road map for the everyday driver who wants to save fuel automatic gets a lot of buzz it's both a proprietary dongle and an app it's focus is not the firehose of data we just saw but rather conclusions based on it that coach you to drive more efficiently it can also do automatic crash notification if your car doesn't have that function and beep to warn you if you're braking too hard accelerating too hard or exceeding the speed limit for the driver who wants to save on their insurance there's a breed of paid or pay as you drive obd dongles monitor your actual driving usage and can then often qualify you for a discount on your premium these also tend to roll in things like vehicle location monitoring and the ubiquitous crash notification service see if your insurance company offers one of these so these combos of dongles and apps also allow you to view and clear diagnostic trouble codes like those check engine lights look for that function if it's important to you by the way for the tuner you have to step up to something a little different we've been talking about readers that mostly go one way reporting vehicle data but tuning your car too hot it up require something different like the cobb accessport which does connect to obd ii but with a custom controller and cable and only for a limited number of performance cars if you're at all interested get out there and know your car better the data is free and the faucet is right under your dash