Version: 2008

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Comments on: Got a lead foot? Try 'Kiwi' device to save gas

About the size of a cell phone, the PLX Kiwi is an in-car display that's designed to reinforce fuel-efficient driving techniques.

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by k2dave July 9, 2008 10:50 AM PDT
I don't see how the thing can improve highway mpg 33%. On a 30 mpg car that equates to 40mpg, sorry that doesn't pass the sniff test (if it smells like a ...). I can see increased city millage more then highway by coasting a lot more and earlier to stops, but these claims are unbelievable. A lot of cars already show mpg and that doesn't seem to help all that much increase mpg. In my own experience adding perhaps 3 mpg is more reasonable on 30mpg, or a 10% gain on the high end.
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by henebry July 9, 2008 11:11 AM PDT
Simple. It doesn't improve a 30 mpg car to 40 mpg. It improves a car to 30 mpg that's capable of getting that sort of mileage, but actually getting 22 mpg due to bad driving habits.

And, yes, I imagine that the savings they list are at the upper end, and assume that the driver in question has very bad driving habits indeed.
by Galaxy5 July 9, 2008 11:02 AM PDT
"Accelerating hard and jamming on the breaks to slow".....embarrassing misuse of homonyms is only one reason why spell-checkers are contributing to bad writing all over the web.
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by mlamonica July 9, 2008 11:16 AM PDT
thanks for spotting. fixed the typo.
by Kev Orng July 9, 2008 11:32 AM PDT
Nice, can it be set to display in kilometres per hour?
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by Kev Orng July 9, 2008 11:34 AM PDT
Sorry, i meant litres per kilometre
by MrOBrian July 9, 2008 12:25 PM PDT
Doesn't anyone proof these articles before they are posted?
"Summer road trips are bit less fun"

And then my favorite: "Making changes to driving patterns can lower gas consumption by 20 percent with gas at $4 a gallon" So if gas were only $3 per gallon, making changes to driving patterns would only lower gas consumption by 15%?

"...all drivers will need to pass a "green-driving tests"" Ummm, a tests?

Some people might think I'm being too picky, but come on, this isn't a blog, this is a news article, check your grammar.


Oh, and "That savings can go up to 33 percent if your driving is mostly on highways." Well, yeah, if you switch from all the necessary in-town driving to strictly highway driving (assuming no traffic), then sure, you can increase your MPG by quite a bit. But if that sentence was meant to mean that this device will increase your highway mileage by up to 33 percent then I call BS.
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by ivallt July 10, 2008 8:39 AM PDT
The difference with the PLX Kiwi is that it is a REAL TIME engine monitoring system. PLX Devices has been making engine tuning products for a while now. All of those cheap monitors built into existing cars work on averages more and are not intereactive live the kiwi is.
Needfultoyz
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by petty026 October 29, 2008 12:32 AM PDT
I was in doubt thinking if that stuff could be very effective. Got read an article that the way we drive our driving style has a big impact on fuel economy and by changing the way we drive improves fuel economy by 37%. But I'm also open and would like to try that stuff <a href="http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/shop_brands/replacement_alloy.html">replacement alloy</a>.
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by petty026 October 29, 2008 12:34 AM PDT
I was in doubt thinking if that stuff could be very effective. Got read an article that the way we drive our driving style has a big impact on fuel economy and by changing the way we drive improves fuel economy by 37%. But I'm also open and would like to try that stuff [url=http://petty.com]....[/url]
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