Do Inexpensive Performance Meters Work?

[Rtech]

Car & Driver conducted this (Linky) test in 2005. They pitted various off-the-shelf performance meters against the proven Vbox to check their accuracy.

The Products tested:

• Escort: Passport G-Timer GT2
• Gold Coast Systems: Tazzo VPC
• Hamilton Performance Electronics: PocketDYNO
• Nology Engineering: PDA-Dyno
• Race Technology: AX22
• Tesla Electronics: G-tech/Pro RR
• Vericom Computers: VC3000

The Results:
The yellow bar is the actual drag strip timing. The closer it is to that, the more accurate the reading.

1/4 Mile times


1/4 Mile Speed


Skidpad (lateral G's)


Braking



Their conclusion:
Not as accurate as the Vbox in most cases, but, with proper calibration, these can produce extremely accurate results. Remember, the Vbox costs around 10,000$, and these start from 100$! Also, the important bit is that it will show you the performance increase (or decrease as the case may be) each modification brings about.

For India, where there are no public dyno's available, something like this is really the only way to tell whether that last change you made actually shows up as a performance increase in the real world, and not just sounds or feels like its improved your cars performance.

Considering the amount of money some spend on souping up cars, why not spend a couple of 100 dollars more and get one of these.

You can read the detailed test of the individual products on The Car&Driver site

[GTO]

What do they mean by calibration? In the case of the Gtech, its as simple as adjusting the angle.

For $50, the Gtech is highway robbery! I remember reading a similar review back in 2003 and the Gtech was within 2 - 3 % of the Vbox. For $50 you really cant do much better.

A word of caution to anyone buying these meters : Say bye bye to your tranny. All you will do on weekends is try to better your previous time....its that addictive. We realised this the hard way after performing times on a cousin's BMW. And smelling a burnt clutch at the end of the day.

[Rtech]

What do they mean by calibration? In the case of the Gtech, its as simple as adjusting the angle.

They have progressed since you bought you Gtech. You need to input some additional parameters in some of these models now.

[nitroxx]

Well as fas as i know if you get the calibaration right it shouldnt be a problem at all,the only thing being, if you really need accurate runs to pin point precision, then the Vbox is the only key...if you are into professional racing.
If its street legal stuff then just use the Nology PDA dyno thats pretty close.