Elio Gauge Cluster - Lord Elgin? - Other Options?

[interloper07]

1 and only 1 reason .... the president of the company wants it to be that way .... bottom line as of now, if you want to buy an Elio, it will come with the Elgin dash .... that's pretty much the end of the discussion

Jim

There might be one more compelling reason: the Lord Elgin dash is potentially cheaper.

I came across a Mercedes-Benz C250 the other day. The center of the speedometer contains a digital display, meaning that the needle that points to the vehicle speed is mounted to a ring around the circumference of the speedometer. While I have no idea if Dakota makes the C250 dash, this same mechanism could be used to mechanize the Elio dash. Because the Elio dash only has to be lit in the viewable window, it probably doesn't require the multiple LEDs to keep the needle in the Mercedes-Benz dash uniformly lit as it travels around its circumference. This ultimately saves money, even if it's only pennies.

 

[Jambe]

I came across a Mercedes-Benz C250 the other day.

Here is a picture of a 2014 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter digital dash (analog is to the left). I found I looked at it more than the analog.

 

[BlioKart]

I like the S2000 digital dash

 

[Kronos]

I like the S2000 digital dash

What's not to like about the S2000? That is a well designed dash, I'd say.

 

[RMClubfitter]

This thread has turned into some real high class entertainment.

 

[JEBar]

There might be one more compelling reason: the Lord Elgin dash is potentially cheaper.

certainly possible but based on past experience it is highly doubtful .... example : lets just say that the location of the gas fill port on the right side wasn't met with universal, enthusiastic support .... the response from EM was that its placement saved $10 per vehicle .... at 250,000 vehicles per year, some folks still don't like the placement but doing so is understandable .... there is no doubt that the top folks at EM are aware of the issue with the Elgin .... if it was cheaper, I tend to believe they would have responded as they did with the fill port placement .... based on a direct response from EM to a question on Facebook, if you flat don't want the Elgin, buy a different vehicle .... at this point, they clearly don't believe that folks who want an Elio will not buy due to the Elgin and I think they are probably right

Jim

 

[nthawk68]

Would you marry a mail order bride with an ugly picture because someone told you to "wait and see", she will look better in person?

Ya but normally the ugly mail order bride wont be as much fun to ride......

 

[Ekh]

There is no reason for EM to change out the ECU at all as the data is there but it takes more work to get to it:

Would you expound on that a little? What sort of extra work? Not carping, I've just hit a limit of my understanding of ECUs (or what I read). thanks.

 

[goofyone]

Would you expound on that a little? What sort of extra work? Not carping, I've just hit a limit of my understanding of ECUs (or what I read). thanks.

No problem, I understand that most people do not have an understanding of how these systems work. While I already had some knowledge of them I have learned a lot more in the last few weeks researching the issue and possible solutions.

All the normal sensors you would expect in a modern car are installed in the Elio and these sensors are constantly streaming their data on the vehicles internal communication network which is called the CAN bus. The way an automotive CAN bus functions is that each sensor simply identifies its fuction in the data it streams and anything that connects to the CAN bus can see this information. On many vehicles the ECU also functions as a conduit hosting CAN bus data via the OBD-II port however in the Elio the ECU they have chosen does not support serving as a host for this data so the connection is limited to OBD-II diagnostics information.

There is nothing preventing anyone from simply bypassing the ECU and tapping into the main CAN bus directly thus accessing all the required sensor data nor is this difficult to do. This is what the Skyzmatic system has been designed to do and how it gets around the ECU limitations. Navdy could attempt to create a solution to do the same thing or my guess is that they will more likely simply provide limited functionality in the Elio by drawing power from the OBD-II port but use GPS data from your phone to determine your speed.

The issue is that OBD-II accessories are programmed to work via the OBD-II port and as such are looking to connect to the ECU. This is why I am working on a solution which would integrate the CAN bus information back into an OBD-II connector as this would allow these devices to work. To make it even more convenient I would like to include Bluetooth OBD-II functionality as well without the need for another adapter. There are several ways of accomplishing this, and some are quite easy , however which way is best will be determined by what exactly EM is doing. I have already reached out to EM to get this information and they are very willing to provide the required technical data but of course there are a few hoops I have to jump through as well.

 

[Jay3wheel]

Was feelin nostalgic (due to this thread) last night and punched the AM button, could not find WLS (not WGN good grief) , remembered it was 930 , memberin not so good Yep WKDA was the daytime station, out in the country it went away at night
Wonder if we et AM stations on the Elio radio??? Some good high school football games in he fall on AM.

Yes to the AM