Does anyone have a V-checker A501?

[rainagain]

I quite fancied getting a A501 V-Checker:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcqt10I91A4

However I can't seem to find out if they can cope with displaying speed in MPH and fuel consumption in MPG (UK gallon) I've tried asking various people selling them on ebay but I'm only getting vague Chinglish replies.

So if anyone here has one I would be grateful to know what your experience of it is.

[kambites]

FWIW, I get the same functionality from a five pound Bluetooth OBD dongle and my Android phone.

[rainagain]

Yeah I agree (torque I'm assuming) however I like the idea of having something more permanent installed. Also it gets it power from the OBD connector and turns itself on and off automatically.

[kambites]

Would it not be cheaper (and give you more functionality) to buy a cheap smart phone and a dongle and just permanently leave that on your windscreen? This seems to be quite a lot of money to end up with an inferior solution.

[rainagain]

I've got a bluetooth dongle the problem with it is you can't leave it plugged in as it drains the battery. I think I would need to cut it open and add a relay into the power rail that is switched on and off by the ignition. Then I've still got to wire in a neat power supply for the phone and turn the phone on and off everytime I jump in the car as well as having to reconnect the bluetooth. That's what I quite like about the v-checker you just plug in in the OBD socket and that's it done and it's only ~£65 delivered on ebay so it's not too expensive.

[kambites]

Ah, yeah that's an arse. My car shuts off the OBD port when you turn the ignition off so that doesn't happen.

[rainagain]

kambites said:

Ah, yeah that's an arse. My car shuts off the OBD port when you turn the ignition off so that doesn't happen.

Both of my cars are permanently powered I think they are also on all the time on BMWs and this was allowing people to steal them so easily as they could plug their key maker into the socket without turning on the ignition.