larrylu Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I've been working at replacing the MYCAL gauge display with a Nexus 7 tablet running the Torque app. I finally got it set up and running and I tested it today. I love it! IMO there is no comparison between the MYCAL and the Torque app for the gauge display. Torque is intuitive, powerful and flexible. The gauges are more detailed and incredibly beautiful. Any of you who may have given up in the effort to set up the Mycal boost gauge take heart. It's easy as can be with Torque and the boost gauge is a beauty. It automatically switches from boost to vacuum when you are off the throttle and high and low readings reference marks. Torque needs a Bluetooth dongle connected to the OBD2 port to transmit the OBD2 values to the phone or tablet. My first attempt used the most inexpensive ($15) dongle I could find. I was disappointed to find that it and most dongles in fact expect you to unplug the unit to limit battery drain. My cheap Chinese knockoff died after about 8 hours of being plugged in. My replacement OBD Link MX cost a lot more ($150) but in return gave me auto on and off so unplugging is no longer suggested and the connection speed is supposed to be 4 times faster than the standard dongle. Since my tablet is set up for auto sleep and wake, my new set up acts just like OE which was what I wanted to accomplish in the first place. I think it might be possible to direct wire the port to the device with a cable in much the same way as the MYCAL, which would give great speed for live displays and most likely be a lot less expensive than my OBD Link MX however since I'm not an electronic geek and i don't know this for sure, I took the safer more expensive way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhenne4 Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Glad to hear its working well for ya now. I would add (for those considering torque) that my cheap doggle is still working about 3 months later. Im guessing its hit or miss in terms of getting a good on vs a crappy one. All in all glad to see it working. If you find a direct wire to the obd2 let me know, that would most definitely be quicker in terms of pulling data. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigPelo Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I have "dash command" for iPhone with an OBD2 to wifi dongle. I like the app but there is a 1-2 seconds lag before displaying which annoys me. At least I can record runs and look at them later via MS Excel with graphs and all but it's not good for instant reading. Is your OBD2 to Bluetooth with Torque fast enough for instant reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhenne4 Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Yup. But you cant go the bluetooth route with apple. They use a proprietary bluetooth chip and the cheap doggles wont work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yowen2000 Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Where did you mount the tablet? Do you have pictures? I have a tablet too, but am thinking of actually buying a smaller "samung play" with the ~4" screen, because it will be easier to find a spot for it. I have played with torque in my old car and was very impressed and that was just the free version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted February 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Where did you mount the tablet? Do you have pictures? I have a tablet too, but am thinking of actually buying a smaller "samung play" with the ~4" screen, because it will be easier to find a spot for it. I have played with torque in my old car and was very impressed and that was just the free version. [ATTACH]1937[/ATTACH] Mount [ATTACH]1938[/ATTACH] Mhenne, I've been finding my cables on line. Google ODB2 male right angle to ( for my device) USB micro cable. That should turn up some possibles. There is so much I don't know about the little details about electronics I was afraid to take a shot and so I stuck with the tried and proven Bluetooth. After all I know the MYCAL uses a cable and there was no battery issues with that and I left it plugged in for months. I did order on line, a OBD2 pigtail extension (15 inches long) so I could tuck the dongle behind the dash under the carpet edge so the dongle does not extend into critical space in front of drivers pedals The OBD Link MX turns on and off by itself with ignition and is 4 times faster than standard Bluetooth dongles. That was enough to sell me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractorAK Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Does your device get charged from Obd connection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpd1151 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Larry said "tuck the dongle"..... Tee, hee, hee, uhhh..... errrr..... "dongle". Eh,huh, huh, eeeh..... 15 inches..... hee hee. ***sorry, had a flashback to my Beavis & Butthead years*** :bolt: Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhenne4 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Larry said "tuck the dongle"..... Tee, hee, hee, uhhh..... errrr..... "dongle". Eh,huh, huh, eeeh..... 15 inches..... hee hee. ***sorry, had a flashback to my Beavis & Butthead years*** :bolt: Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2 Hahaha. Gotta love our people. Good to see some of these newbs sent mike the beer they owe him, btw I still havent seen any of mine. :banghead: :beer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Larry said "tuck the dongle"..... Tee, hee, hee, uhhh..... errrr..... "dongle". Eh,huh, huh, eeeh..... 15 inches..... hee hee. ***sorry, had a flashback to my Beavis & Butthead years*** :bolt: Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2 C'mon guys, you know that kind of dongle's worth a lot more than $150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yowen2000 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Mount Mhenne, I've been finding my cables on line. Google ODB2 male right angle to ( for my device) USB micro cable. That should turn up some possibles. There is so much I don't know about the little details about electronics I was afraid to take a shot and so I stuck with the tried and proven Bluetooth. After all I know the MYCAL uses a cable and there was no battery issues with that and I left it plugged in for months. I did order on line, a OBD2 pigtail extension (15 inches long) so I could tuck the dongle behind the dash under the carpet edge so the dongle does not extend into critical space in front of drivers pedals The OBD Link MX turns on and off by itself with ignition and is 4 times faster than standard Bluetooth dongles. That was enough to sell me. Ah that looks good! I'd just be concerned with the sound quality of the center speaker. Have you noticed anything in this respect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Ah that looks good! I'd just be concerned with the sound quality of the center speaker. Have you noticed anything in this respect? Quick answer is no I haven't. But I should qualify I'm not a discriminating audio person. I'm happy with the stock Sony set up. Also I wondered about the loss of the dash center speaker with the custom center gauge pod that Crash makes and I remember reading in threads that that particular speaker was not very important. When I popped off the center grill to run my wire, I noticed that the speaker itself is a rather unimpressive thing maybe 2.5 or 3 inches in dia. I also am not totally blocking any sound just making it travel a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowsho Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Have you done any 0-60s or look at the hp/tq? I have it and like it alot. But i need to find something to hold it lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractorAK Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Still wondering if the device is being hanged by OBD? Or if you have to run a separate poet cable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Have you done any 0-60s or look at the hp/tq? I have it and like it alot. But i need to find something to hold it lol. Haven't even had a chance to look at that yet. I'm very interested to hear comments on those preprogrammed "widgets". Particularly how they might compare to the ones in the MYCAL. I've been concerned for some time that my boost levels have been below what they should be, so this morning I loaded a newer (the one with "grade assist" turned off) version of 4+ I had on file. The first order of business is to see if it makes any difference. I will run it for a few days to determine if it had any impact. Sure love my new boost gauge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Still wondering if the device is being hanged by OBD? Or if you have to run a separate poet cable? Sorry I'm not following you TractorAK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractorAK Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Does the nexus charge while plugged into your obd2 port? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractorAK Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Does the nexus charge while plugged into your obd2 port? Never mind I see that you are using Bluetooth connection. Anyone using a cable setup have the answer? Damn auto correct butchered my other question sorry. I guess I need to be better with my proof reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Does the nexus charge while plugged into your obd2 port? That's a good question. I'd like to know for sure myself but my guess is that if the MYCAL retained it's charge while hooked up to the OBD2 port so I would expect the Nexus to also. But since I'm using the Bluetooth I had to use another power source to charge the Nexus. I tapped into the fuse box for a hot on ignition only unused source and ran it up under the dash and out beside the speaker grille. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowsho Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 What are you seeing for boost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 What are you seeing for boost? Solid 8 lbs. might bump a bit at the top of the rpm between shifts but not much. I had a harder time reading the MYCAL boost gauge but the torque gauge leaves no doubt. I'd love to have someone else running 4+ use the same torque gauge to compare. That would tell me a lot. Now I'm ready to test out a new flash of a new 4+ file. That's going to tell me something too. One way or another I'll know more in a few days. Hope it's not low output from the turbos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadfoot Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Solid 8 lbs. might bump a bit at the top of the rpm between shifts but not much. I had a harder time reading the MYCAL boost gauge but the torque gauge leaves no doubt. I'd love to have someone else running 4+ use the same torque gauge to compare. That would tell me a lot. Now I'm ready to test out a new flash of a new 4+ file. That's going to tell me something too. One way or another I'll know more in a few days. Hope it's not low output from the turbos. Not really "apples to apples" but with the LMS 93 tune on a Ford racing gauge, I am getting a steady 15 lbs. at WOT full load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted March 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Thanks Leadfoot. I did a lot of searching on this wonderful forum last nite and the bulk of what I found was in line or close to what you are giving me. I have three 4+ files on hand only one of which I've checked the boost on. My first file I only ran for a little while and I did not have the MYCAL boost gauge set up. The mileage on that file was about 4 mpg lower than stock across the driving spectrum and Rick sent me a replacement. I put time and miles on that file. After i set up the MYCAL boost gauge, it took me a while to notice what I thought was low boost. I thought maybe it was just inaccuracy of the boost gauge. Now I've got this great new boost gauge and I'm seeing in a very clear way that either its the 4+ file issue or it's the car. I just happen to have a new untried 4+ which Rick sent to eliminate the mystery Grade Assist occurrence. Loaded that up last night and at the next opportunity I'll try that one out. Got my fingers crossed the boost will be more in line with everybody else's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjht Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 I found a cup holder tablet mount I was looking at getting for this purpose, although I'm not sure that would be a feasible permanent mounting place, but good for intermittent use. Also, what other Bluetooth adapters are people using? From what I've been reading the cheap ones are very hit and miss with some even causing drivability issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrylu Posted March 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2013 I found a cup holder tablet mount I was looking at getting for this purpose' date=' although I'm not sure that would be a feasible permanent mounting place, but good for intermittent use. Also, what other Bluetooth adapters are people using? From what I've been reading the cheap ones are very hit and miss with some even causing drivability issues.[/quote'] Google "USB Link MX" . It's the high priced spread but the feature set is unique. Works great for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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