Garmin® ecoRoute™

ecoRoute™ is a new feature for Garmin GPS navigators which allows users to find more fuel efficient routes when navigating and even track fuel usage. ecoRoute™ is available for Malaysia-Singapore version of nuvi 2575R that I'm using at the moment. With ecoRoute™, it is useful to save petrol and money by adopting smarter driving habits.

ecoRoute™ was tested for the first 500km drive [from BB Bangi to Kuala Perlis] during the previous 1500km trip to the Northern and North-Eastern states of Malayan Peninsular. The car was driven on auto-cruise without exceeding speed limits most of the time.

The screen capture below shows some of the ecoRoute™ applications.

There would be fuel report which tracks fuel usage over time, and mileage report which monitors mileage and fuel usage on a per-trip basis.

Fuel consumption trend for the 5hr drive


the ecoChallange™ score chart...

The drive was trying to keep the score as high as possible. Well >80% is 'A' already... :)

1500km-trip - Overall fuel Consumption trend

Fuel: RM231.42@ RM1.90/liter

Distance: 1596km

Avg fuel consumption: 7.63liter/100km or 14.5sen/km

Note: ecoRoute™ is NOT ecoRoute™ HD . Not withstanding, the later would be the most logical upgrade. Stay tuned!

How To Retrieve Trip Log from Garmin 2575R

1. Connect the GPS set to a pc/laptop using provided USB cable
2. Turn on the GPS then select "Mass storage mode"


3. Open mapping application such as Mapsource from the pc/laptop then click "Receive from Device" icon. When Dialogue box appears select the right device from the pull-down list.
4. Select "Tracks" under "what to receive" and then click "Receive". When "Transfer complete" dialogue box appears click OK. Done.
5. List of track logs can be found under "Tracks" tab. Double click on any "Active log" from the list to view "Track Properties" where you can retrieve trip data such as date, time, speed, altitude, latitude, longitude, ...etc.
6. If you click "show profile" you will see the vertical profile for the entire track.

OBD2 Datalogger

For less than RM400 this tiny OBD2 "black box" (35mm x 48mm x 25mm) can record/monitor simultaneously four out of 23 available parameters - e.g engine load, temperature, battery voltage, speed...etc

The stand alone OBD2 Datalogger can log car speed once every second and other data every 5, 10, 20, 30 or 60 seconds intervals as well for up to 300 hours of normal driving. When it’s full, it writes over the oldest data.

It has mini USB port and comes with a cable for connection to a PC and software. The software summarizes each trip with data on time, speed and distance.

One of interesting features is that after a trip, the application will not only show a summary of the drive but can display a line graph of speed and indicate where there was hard acceleration and braking. These are indications that someone has been driving in a potentially unsafe manner, such as with jack-rabbit starts and stops. Unfortunately it can’t show if the seat belts were not used.

The data-logger also watches the car’s operations and shows error codes if exist when it is connected to a pc. In the event of an accident it can grab the data for the last 20 seconds of the car’s operation, letting you prove your speed and whether you slammed on the brakes or otherwise.

Some of the Parameters Available for recording

Vehicle Speed	Range: 0 to 255 km/h Resolution: 1 km/h
Trip Distance Traveled	Range: 0 to 16,000 km Resolution: 0.1 km
Acceleration / Deceleration Threshold	Range: 0 to 3 G (0 to 30 m/sec2) Resolution: 0.03 G (0.3 m/sec2)
Engine Speed	Range: 0 to 16,384 rpm Resolution: 1 rpm
Throttle Position	Range: 0 to 100% Resolution: 0.1%
Coolant Temperature	Range: -40C to 215C Resolution: 1.0C
Engine Load	Range: 0 to 100% Resolution: 0.1%
Air Flow Rate	Range: 0 to 655.35 gm/sec Resolution: 0.01 gm/sec
Intake Air Temperature	Range: -40C to 215C Resolution: 1.0C
Intake Manifold Pressure	Range: 0 to 255 kPaA Resolution: 1 kPaA
Fuel Pressure	Range: 0 to 110 psi Resolution: 0.5 psi
O2 Sensor Voltage (up to 8 Monitored)	Range: 0 to 1.275 Volts Resolution: 0.005 Volts
Ignition Timing Advance	Range: -64° to 63.5° Resolution: 0.5°
Short Term Fuel Trim (Up to 2 Monitored)	Range: -100% to 99.22% Resolution: 0.8%
Long Term Fuel Trim (Up to 2 Monitored)	Range: -100% to 99.22% Resolution: 0.8%
Battery Voltage	Range: 6 to 16 Volts DC Resolution: 0.01 Volts DC

EXAMPLEs

Coolant temperature


Air intake temperature


Speeds


RPM

Depleted Fragrance Cartridge

Don't throw away your Depleted Fragrance Cartridge.

You can reuse it for something that look a little canggih. You can use it as a nice looking and very practical 12v outlet cover...

very ngam in size and design.

... especially when you have multiple 12v-socket extensions and not use all of them.

If you have plenty of depleted fragrance cartridges you can use them to cover all those socket for safety and aesthetics as shown below.


Click HERE to see how to dismantle the depleted fragrance cartridge.

How to Cool a Hotspot?

If u own a 308, most likely u also have a 3G smartphone (or more) with Wi-Fi and...

Probably u might have already been using it as a Wi-Fi hotspot for connecting ur Wi-Fi enabled devices to the Internet. If u haven't done so for not knowing ur smartphone capability take a look HERE, no one is peeping, hee....heeeee

There is one problem though. The hotspot can be extremely hot. The heat generated can damage ur precious device during extended use. But don't worry and u don't have to place it in refrigerated glovebox or somewhere out of ur sight. U can make it freezing cold and at the same time u may place it at a strategic location on ur 308 dashboard for normal use too, such as for gps navigation.....

All u need is a smartphone holder that can be fixed onto ur middle aircond vent....
...which u can buy @pasarmalam for +-RM10.00, u may also need an in-car charger because when u turn on the smartphone as a Hotspot and worst still u turn on the gps navigation at the same time, the bugger eats up lots of battery charge, just like ur 308T's do, hu huu..

Now u can have a cool hotspot in ur 308 to make ur passangers or urselves [if u r x drivin' la] enjoy the long trip with iPod Touch, iPad or any other tablets that do not have 3G.If ur rear pasengers are addicted to podcasts they can download and play their favorites on iDevice which can be attached on the back of the front seat...
... and of course I like watching IRC too whenever I'm in the backseat....
So, if u wanna buy an iPhone... think again because u can buy much lower-cost iPod Touch or even an iPad [or BOTH, he heeee] at a fraction of the price, and u do not have to get rid of your old faithful 3G SmartPhones.

How to avoid saman E-k0q?

Traffic speedtrap/red_light cameras can be tricky and very annoying. They don't prevent infractions and sometimes are misleading and you end up being charged hundreds if not thousand of ringgit for driving only a couple of km over the unreasonable SLOW speed limit such as 70km/hr around school zone at NIGHT where there is no school children around! 75% of the saman E-k0q's I got are around 70km/hr zone between midnight and 5am while driving around Bentong and Raub on my monthly trips to Kelantan.

Fortunately there are several ways to protect ourselves from kena saman E-koq. These product are proven overseas to be effective. Please be advised that the 'thing' may have legal restrictions here in Malaysia. Use on your own risk.

Special formula cover incorporates a thin diffusional lens designed to protect you from unjust saman E-k0q is now avaialble. The design claims to be effective, inconspicuous, and successful against all types of traffic cameras.


We buy 308 Turbo on purpose
Right, no? No matter how safe-driving style we practice sooner or later we will receive a reminder letter or two in white envelope. If u don't, accept it or not 308Turbo is not for you. You are buying the wrong car for the right reason. Period.

If you've been "shot", you've been got! But fortunately there is a 'thing' now available designed to diffuse the infrared laser beam.

How do laser guns work?
Laser guns work by emitting a laser beam which is bounced off a flat, reflective surface on your vehicle. Your registration no. plate is the preferred area of the vehicle that a laser is pointed against by the enforcement authority. Most conventional laser detectors are ineffective. Even if you do detect the beam, its too late. You're caught!

How does the 'thing' work?
This specially designed cover works to absorb and diffuse the incoming laser beam. This significantly shortens the effective distance of laser guns.
Avoid a costly saman E-k0q!

Simple DIY

Some of the simplest DIYs everybody can do...

Now AHW308 has a rear roof_spoiler and a stubby chubby 'bespoke' antenna...

Many readers contacted AHW asking for the info about the stubby antenna... well, if u guys are really interested to buy 'screw-n-play' stubby antennae click HERE.

• Type A: Fixed-length
• Length: 2.55"
• Reception: 3 out of 5

BTW AHW308 stubby chubby antenna is custom made by A. H.Wan @ uncle.D himself... not available for sale but everybody can DIY too.

What u need is a bolt or two with matching thread and usual cap u r familiar with. Just look closely. They look very familiar, don't they? Apply any type of glue to stick them together. Any of these stubby chubby antenna works anywhere in Klang Valley. No problem on FM reception.

Well, this is just the simplest DIY which uncle.D wanna share with u readers. If u scroll down the pages u will find some of DIYs u all can do by yourselves. There will be much more DIYs in the pipeline to be shared...

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Better Place for GPS Device

Mounting Garmin NUVI GPS on suction pad to the windscreen is quite common but it could be too far to operate. There is a better place to mount it, especially for a second set...
.__.
... simply by sticking the suction pad onto the circular plate that comes with the package then insert it into the compartment below head unit.

No drilling, no screwing and no cutting needed. It just perfectly 'ngam' in there.

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