Tested: Palmer Performance Engineering's DashCommand

In the end, however, we chose the not so exciting "Hybrid Test 1" because it offered the most pertinent information in one, easy to read screen.  Obviously, the regen meter at the top left is useless to us, but the instantaneous fuel consumption readouts were especially useful for "right foot training" to maximize fuel mileage.  This screen also helped diagnose a faulty thermostat (luckily, VW thermostats fail closed!) and a faulty MAF.

Multiple screens of data are dedicated to fuel consumption, giving you your instantaneous MPG, MPG average for the trip, lifetime average, and how much that drive just cost you.  At the end of each fillup, you can trim the estimated fuel used to reality – which DashCommand will automatically apply to future estimates so you can continue to dial-in the built-in estimates – and input the price per gallon paid to give accurate trip costs.  Very cool.

This screen is extremely useful for fuel mileage estimates, with current fuel usage (bottom right), average economy, and current trip economy.  These numbers for Project Hypermiler were before calibrations were complete, so the average economy and fuel usage numbers were a little wonky.  After 3-4 tanks, the numbers become pretty close to reality (about 2-5% off, plus or minus).

The fillup screen is paramount to accurate fuel consumption readings for DashCommand.  Expect to see realistic numbers after 3 or 4 fillups.  This screen also allows you to input fuel price for $/mile calculations.

However, the data doesn't end there.  DashCommand's dashboards have built-in algorithms to display fun things like average speed with idle, average speed when not idling, number of stops, idle time, emissions, total elapsed time on a trip, and on and on.  We found that these features of the Dashboards were especially useful in finding not only the quickest way to work, but also the most efficient way to work every day.   In essence, think of DashCommand  as a relatively inexpensive product that puts the power of a racecar's telemetry into a device you carry around with you every day.  The factory default skin even gives you horsepower, torque and acceleration numbers.

This screen shows overall economy and other trip information.  Speed averages, pollution numbers, and number of stops help you not only tune your right foot, they also help you choose more efficient routes by telling you how much time you spent stopped and how many times you've stopped.  Stopping does not help fuel economy.