Kiwi Wifi Review

The entire review was done with the Kiwi Wifi in conjunction with Rev 2.

The Box

Front


Back


Installation

Installation was as easy as plugging in the cable to the OBDII port then entering some numbers into your Iphone/Itouch.

Here are the instructions it came with.


Plugging it in was the easy part. The hard part is deciding where to put it. You want to put it in a location that's easily accessible. If you put it hidden under your dash then you'll need to climb under it every time you use it because you need to be able to turn it on and off or it may drain your battery if left on for too long. Or you could unplug it from the OBDII port every time but that would be a pain. If your like me then you don't want wires hanging around and you want it to be hidden. If not then it will be easy to mount. You could just feed it through and use double sided tape on the top of the steering wheel column or something.If you want it hidden as I do you could put it in the cubby to the right of the steering wheel but the problem is getting it in there. You'll need to feed one of the two ends of the wire through it. At one end is the plug for the OBDII port and the other end is the wifi unit. So you'll need to drill a decent sized hole to fit either side through. I decided to put mine in the center console because it's hidden when it's closed and it can be easily accessed.

How to Install in the Center Console

First
Remove the carpet.

Second
Unbolt the two bolts on the bottom. This needs to be done in order to be able to squeeze the OBDII side of the cable between the console and the metal underneath.



Third
Cut the plastic so the whole is big enough for the cable to fit through. It may look messy but you won't be able to see it once the carpet is installed again.



Fourth
Feed the wire through the whole and then pull it out from where the plastic center goes down and meets the carpet on the side of the transmission hump. Pull the wire forward until you get to the dash and lift the plastic that meets the carpet up slightly and put the wire underneath. Then feed the wire under the dash to the OBDII port which is to the left of the steering wheel. Plug it in.

Fifth
Use a hole puncher and punch a small hole in the back of the carpet so the wire can fit into in.



Sixth
Put the carpet back while holding up the Kiwi Wifi and put the wire in the whole and now it's installed.



Turn it on and enjoy




The Rev Software

The app does not come with the Kiwi Wifi. It's and additional $30 or $40 on top of it. It can be purchased in the app store through Itunes.

I like the layout of the app. It has a nice black background.

The home screen.


Here's the gauges screen



You can select five gauges to display here. You could put any of them into the center.

Here is all the information the 2nd Gen Tacoma's OBDII port gives. The ones with the green dashes works. The orange dashes either won't work or require additional sensors.







One thing I don't like is the whp and the torque use the weight of the vehicle and the accelerometer. This means that you have to know the weight of the vehicle. It varies so much though and your particular truck is going to be different then the factory spec sheet because of add ons like the hitch bed box etc. Also the weight is always changing due to passengers and fuel. It may be accurate but it won't be spot on. Also because it uses the accelerometer the Iphone/Itouch needs to be firmly mounted and calibrated(it's easy to calibrate though.) Other than that I love all the info that it gives. It even very thoroughly explains what everything is and how it gets the information.



Engine Codes

I like how it tells you if something is wrong with the engine codes. If you don't want to go to the dealer to get an CEL reset then you could do it yourself with this. This would have been so nice when my mom didn't close her gas cap correctly a couple of times and we had to go across town to the dealer to get the code wiped.

Here is the information it gives on engine codes.





A Few Thoughts on the Kiwi Wifi vs. Scangauge 2

With the kiwi wifi it's only useful when you have your Iphone/Itouch on and with the app running as opposed to the scangauge which is always running. This may or may not be a big deal with rpm and stuff like that but if you're trying to get a running total for mpg this may be a disadvantage. The Kiwi may be cheaper than the ScanGauge 2 but you still need to buy the app for the Kiwi making it more expensive than the Scangauge. As far as I know the Scangauge is limited to it's display but there is software for a laptop to make the kiwi compatible so you could use it on a computer.


If owners of either product have anything to add please don't hesitate.

 

very interesting.

 

I just had another thought about the comparison I added it to the original post also

As far as I know the Scangauge is limited to it's display but there is software for a laptop to make the kiwi compatible so you could use it on a computer.

 

So thats how the Rev software works.

I Jailbroke my iphone and downloaded the Rev software free of charge and had never gotten it figured out but i guess this is the trick.

Thanks for the heads up though, i'm definitely gonna look into this.

 

Haha. Yeah, it needs to get the information from somewhere. haha.

 

If there is software for a laptop than i can see it being more valuable. I like how you can view and clear out the CEL codes from the Rev2. The scan just shows u the codes.

 

Looks like i will be jailbreaking my iphone again....

 

Here's all the software recommended by PLX Kiwi

http://www.plxkiwi.com/kiwiwifi/software.html

 

WTF!!! The software for the laptop is free but in order for it to work with wifi you need a $100 license. Looks like I'm going to have to talk to my dads friend.

 

well the software is only for PC so doesnt do me any good

 

hmmm. I wonder if anybody else makes some for the mac.