Fuel Economy Compromise
We finished up testing out the WatchDog Fuel Economy Monitor in our ’05 Sentra last week, we went ahead and installed it in a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder – notoriously horrible on fuel economy – averaging 17mpg, with a fair balance between city and highway miles.
Results
When we last posted results from the Sentra we had started with an average of 27mpg and set a goal of 30mpg, we very easily hit that goal without having to change our driving habit too much. We then upped our target to 33mpg, here we started to find the goal a little harder to reach.
As previously stated, the WatchDog does not alter your vehicles factory calibrations in any way, it is simply a monitoring system delivering suggested changes to your personal driving habits that will improve your fuel economy. And it undoubtedly can improve your fuel economy as you adhere to the systems’ recommendations.
The Sentra is primarily used by my wife for mostly running around, city driving, and not a lot of highway mileage. We achieved our original target of 30mpg very easily and the recommended driving became habit, even without the WatchDog a 30mpg average has been maintained, but we were unable to improve on that gain and maintain a practical driving pattern. The WatchDog suggested slower accelerations from stop lights, slower decelerations when stopping, and less time idling, which proved hard to accomplish when the colder weather arrived and the engine needed to warm up.
Added Benefit
We are more than pleased with the 11% increase achieved in the Sentra, after all, the 2005 1.8L Sentra S is only rated at 30mpg based on highway driving by Nissan, we were able to achieve that rating with city driving.
In the last post we calculated the fuel consumption saving, and probably more importantly the amount of money you would keep in your pocket annually (click here), working out we’d save somewhere between $150 and $200 per year (approx). A significant saving, but considering the WatchDog costs $300 from BullyDog.com (*note* We did find the WatchDog cheaper elsewhere online) it may be a little slow paying for itself.
But.
And it’s a noteworthy ‘but’. Here’s the added benefit of the WatchDog monitor, it can be used in all your vehicles. The monitor can be removed and installed in other car within minutes, simply unplug from one vehicle and plug into another. As we stated above, the 11% increase was unnoticeably easy to achieve and after a few weeks of use, the suggested driving tips became habitual.
We’ve now installed the WatchDog into a 2007 Pathfinder averaging 17mpg, set a goal of 19mpg – again, a little over 10% of the average, and sent the driver on his way. If we can achieve this goal it will be a pretty significant saving over an average 15,000 miles annually, this WatchDog could pay for itself pretty quickly and start to look like a very attractive addition to the family.
We recently got our hands on a HD camcorder, as you’ve probably noticed, so in the next few weeks we’ll post some footage of the WatchDog in action.
Week One Testing Review – Click Here
Check out the WatchDog at BullyDog.com Click Here
