CTS Insight OBD2 reader review

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Trunk Monkey

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I picked up my CTS Insight OBD2 reader from Rob (tarmacblack) last week. I've had a Scangauge for about 4 years and wanted to give something a little better a try.

The CTS is a totally different animal than the SG. With it's large, color, touch screen, it has much more eye appeal than the small dot matrix SG screen. The CTS operates in much the same way, pulls power from the OBD port and turns on and off by itself according to signal from that port.

With the SG you choose the 4 things you want to monitor and that's it. With the CTS you have many more options. I usually leave it on 3 "analog" style gauges and two smaller fields, but you can go up to 8 fields at once. You also get customizable wallpaper - bling!

One thing I noticed that the SG had that the CTS didn't was a trip and fuel economy feature. Now, while I say it doesn't have it, it's not like the SG's mileage calculator is something to write home about. I tried to use it when I first got it but found it too difficult to calibrate to any kind of accuracy to use reliably.

The CTS makes recalculating MPH with different tires sizes total cake with several different ways to enter tire sizes (stock to aftermarket metric or overall diameter or percent change).

Another area the CTS shines at is expansion. With it's USB port you can hook it up to your PC and with the provided software get any updates that EDGE might put out, new inputs, or add wallpaper like I mentioned earlier. With the SG you're pretty limited to adding a additonal codes (and only one new one that I know of - tranny temp). tarmac already mentioned the input for a back-up camera and a 5v input for other sensors like EGT or boost (I can dream . . .).

I haven't done a side by side list to see what inputs the CTS has vs. the SG, but it seems like all the ones I used frequently on the SG are present on the CTS. And, if they're not, Rob's told me to let him know and he'll see about adding them in. He's done a lot of work for the Toyota on his own time, which is cool.

All in all, yes, the CTS is more expensive than the SG, but it's apples and oranges for appearance and usability. If cost is your concern I'd look at their smaller model that still has a sweet color screen. I've only had this thing a week and will update this as I play with it more.
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Nice write up. Thanks for the review. Looks like the market for these types of products is arriving, SG will have to make something a little better to compete in the market that is soon becoming.
 
Thanks Corey, It looks like the maintenance manager is getting close to being done. It will do what the Scan Gauge does for Fuel calculations as well as give you reminders for general maintenance such as Oil changes, brake changes etc.
 
Thanks for the review. Can you tell me the overall dimensions and perhaps a picture of the backside?
 
Thanks for the review. Can you tell me the overall dimensions and perhaps a picture of the backside?
:doh:

Sorry Hoser, I completely dropped the ball on that one, I feel like a jerk.

I'll get you some dimensions tomorrow.
 
No worries. I forgot about it too... 'til TM started this thread!:cheers:
 
Looks pretty cool, I like the custom background option!

Something that just came to mind. I like how the scangauge is pretty low key. The CTS Insight could be mistaken for a mobile GPS (i.e. Garmin, Tom Tom, etc). I don't know about where you live, but around here there are a high amount of break-ins targeting mobile GPS units in cars. Just food for thought.
 
Yeah, that's why I want the dimensions. There's no way this would last in plain sight in my area either.
 
Looks pretty cool, I like the custom background option!

Something that just came to mind. I like how the scangauge is pretty low key. The CTS Insight could be mistaken for a mobile GPS (i.e. Garmin, Tom Tom, etc). I don't know about where you live, but around here there are a high amount of break-ins targeting mobile GPS units in cars. Just food for thought.

It would be nice to have a custom mount option, that's for sure.

In my Duramax I relocated the stereo into the front of the center console and mounted the CTS in a CNC'd piece of Polished ABS plastic in the stock stereo location. It turned out really nice.

The Cruiser is a bit different animal, so a good solution may take a bit more work.
 
Here are the dimensions and some drawings of the back side of both units:

cs-cts-back.bmp


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Thank you! Now to go sit in the 100 and ponder where to mount it. So the OBD2 cable plugs into the right side of the unit, correct? Or is that the USB hook-up? Or both?
 
This thing looks awesome. Came across it when doing a search for the ScanGauge. I'd much rather have the CTS Insight or any other Edge product. But I must say that anything not "installed" and especially something looking like a GPS will be gone in 60 seconds if left in plain view. Just about every burglary of a vehicle report I take involves someone leaving a GPS, iPod, backpack, or purse sitting in plain view. So, since I know that I'm realistically not going to remove this thing every time I get out of the truck to run into a store or restaurant, maybe I'll just stick to the Insight CS (looks to be quite a bit smaller) and have a stereo shop custom fabricate a fiberglass pod for it. Or I'll just use the ScanGaugeII.

Besides, it looks like the Edge MyStyle software is only compatible with Windows and I'm a Mac user. :frown:
 

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