CarChip features

A CarChip or a CarChip Pro can be a data logger of a car or a small “black box." The main features of such a device are monitoring engine performance and driving. It can be easily installed. You must plug in the device, drive your car, and download the information. This information is related to the way the car is driven, to the performance of your car, to hard stops or track speeds.

A CarChip allows setting audible alarms, which may be considered reminders for redundant events. A CarChip Pro is a monitor for the performance of the engine and for driving. It is as small as key fobs, but it represents a great opportunity to monitor your car and the driving as well, regardless the person who is driving it.

A CarChip or a CarChip Pro is ideal for drivers who are environmentally aware, for parents whose teen children just have their driving license but also for commuters who are always pressed by time, or by fleet managers. A CarChip can be used by consumers who are cost conscious or by do it yourselfers as well as by professional mechanics.

The features of CarChip Pro include about three hundred hours covering trip details that mean records of the newest data over the older ones. In addition it offers trip details related to time or date, the distance covered or the speed, at one or five second intervals.

This device can provide summary reports and individual graphs as well as records or shows of maximum acceleration or braking. It allows thresholds that are user set for speed, audible alarms, braking, and acceleration. These post drive graphs or reports show how long, when and how many times the thresholds have been exceeded. Another feature is the accident log. It is an automatic feature associated with the last 20 s before impact. It can assign personal, business or commute trips and it can calculate your gas mileage. Besides, it can view and reset trouble codes for your engine for example the light for engine check and it can test preliminary emissions. To continue with, it includes software that lets you review codes, see detail reports as well as get data in order to analyze them. There are about four parameters, out of 23, which are frequently recorded. These parameters may be battery voltage, fuel pressure, engine load, rate of air flow, coolant temperature, RPM, oxygen sensor of output voltage, timing advance, temperature of air intake and pressure of intake manifold, throttle position, status of fuel system, fuel trim for short and long term. A special system can record when the CarChip is disconnected and it has a warranty of one year.

The CarChip Pro pack includes a data logger, special software, USB cable for downloading, and a power adapter. This software can work with at least Windows 95, with about 5 MB space and a port USB.

You can plug the CarChip into a special connector OBDII in the car and it can continuously collect and store data taken from the control systems of the car computer. Then, using the adapter and the cable, you can download information to the PC. It can be easily installed once you locate the OBDII connector. It can be found in at about three feet distance from the seat of the driver. Next, you can plug in the logger, pushing gently. Now you may start driving and the device will start gathering information. Finally, you can install your software, connect your CarChip, and then download what you get to the PC.