HUD on the R-Spec?

While stuck in Atlanta traffic, I was thinking, wouldn't it be nice to be able sample a HUD on the R-Spec, similar to 2015 Ultimate?
Once I got home, found couple of bits needed to demonstrate this mod.

Before I start, I would like to dedicate this thread to all the modders , from the people who built their own cold intake, tweak the exhaust so it ‘sounds as a V8 should’, “the one” who settled the Eco button debate once and for all, not forgetting the people who remove a certain fuse just to see what happens , or someone trying 10+ LEDs just to find the perfect match and the countless others I have seen over the years in this forum….

This Mod is designed to be (somewhat) economical, fun and may provides useful information to anyone who would like to find out how their vehicle is performing under any given condition, being it at a street corner or down at that drag strip.

Needed items (we will keep it simple, with only two options):

iOS 7: iPhone 4S or later
SW ($10): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-dashboards/id321293183?mt=8
HW ($15) : [ame="http://www.amazon.com/KingMansion-Wireless-Diagnostic-Scanner-iPhone4S/dp/B00DYOVXZ0/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1403238308&sr=1-6&keywords=elm+wifi"]Amazon.com : KingMansion ELM327 WIFI Wireless OBD2 OBDII Car Auto Diagnostic Scanner Adapter Reader for iPhone4S/5 iPad4 iPad mini iOS PC : Vehicle Amplifier Fuses : Automotive[/ame]


Android 4.0 or later ex: Newer (quad core preferable) example Samsung/Google Nexus.
SW($10): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.palmerperformance.DashCommand
HW ($10): [ame="http://www.amazon.com/ELM327-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Interface-Scanner/dp/B008BFEOJY/ref=sr_1_13?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1403239008&sr=1-13&keywords=elm+bluetooth"]Amazon.com: V1.5 ELM327 OBDII OBD2 Bluetooth Auto Car Diagnostic Interface Scanner: Automotive[/ame]


Optional items:

iOS: iPad mini
Andriod 4.0 later 7-8” tab, ex: Samsung tab 2+, Nexus

The mod is somewhat simple:

a – Load the appropriate software on your device(s).
b- Configure Dash Command for your vehicle.
c - Connect the wireless ODB2 reader to the diagnostics port.
d – Start your car.
e – Configure your phone to connect automatically to the wireless OBD2 reader.

You are ready to unleash your monster. while monitoring in great detail what is happening under the hood (/bonnet), for example Speed, HP, TRQ, intake/engine TEMP and everything else that you might need when the moment is just right to let her rip... and oh yes, you do get different readings when the fuse is out ...

I have the full configuration for both the 2009-11 4.6 and the R-Spec, but to keep the thread from being way too long, I will share the details at a later time, if there is enough interest.

The mod technically should work for all of the Genny brethren, including the Coupe and even the Equus

I might have missed it, but I do not recall seeing anything like this on this form, so I would like to hear your feedback, especially where and how to mount the phone and/or the tablet in various trims, the final design should ideally be easily installed and removed on demand, or even better to be able to provide way for a more permanent installation…

Here are some quick samples of how it may look, not perfect pictures, but hopefully should provide us with a good start:














What do you think?

Anything that promotes the tech looks and alike to my ride, I'm in.
I've already got the phone and the hardware.
I now need to buy the app and ?
Would a reflector pad or something like this from Garmin work?

Awesome thread. Thanks for posting. Been pondering this for awhile. I think you put me over the top.

videopho said:

Anything that promotes the tech looks and alike to my ride, I'm in.
I've already got the phone and the hardware.
I now need to buy the app and ?
Would a reflector pad or something like this from Garmin work?

Click to expand...

Brilliant idea, ordering one now...

This is awesome!
My biggest concern with it would be the unit sitting on the dash in the sun all the time. If it were permanent, then an enclosure or something would need to be built, otherwise removable would be an easy fix aside from using it while driving in the sun for a while. Too bad they don't make flat, upward facing pico projectors, that would fit the bill almost perfectly and be much easier to shield/conceal.

NSXNEXT said:

Awesome thread. Thanks for posting. Been pondering this for awhile. I think you put me over the top.

Click to expand...

You are ...

I played some more on the way to work, another interesting 'feature' of this setup is the gear shift (goes to yellow, green when you need to shift), once the gear / final ratio are configured, I always assumed that I get the most optimal torque / acceleration by switching to manual mode and get the gearbox to shift automatically, wrong!

Although, the markers seem to change with the engine temp, roughly it is around 5900 rpm for the first gear, 6100 rpm for the second, did not get third (way over the posted speed, which is bad with all those Ka/Lasers dotted around here), but maybe it will be nice to try out on a drag strip one of these days... while collecting some 'real' drive train data by enabling the logging feature.

On to mounting options, ! am considering something like this;

http://www.amazon.com/AboveTEK®-Uni...403289328&sr=1-7&keywords=ipad+mini+car+mount

But I am sure someone else will come up with a much better idea!?

Garmin sells a real aftermarket HUD for $150 though it's not pretty. Defi used to make an excellent one but discontinued it. Phone "HUDs" tend to glare quite a bit and aren't meant as full-time solutions.

http://motorburn.com/2014/02/4-ways-to-get-the-hud-experience-without-shelling-out-for-a-luxury-car/

Maybe mount one of these on the dash.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/400719747822?lpid=82

^ I see.... It is times like these, I am reminded why I do not bother to post or share much on forums, frankly it more effort than it is worth to deal with the 'jokers club'...

But in this particular case, I was rather hoping to generate sufficient interest with people who share the same way of thinking, so we can collectively get some 'real' drive train data, to better understand why some models exhibit certain behaviors, for example, why does the engine hesitates while accelerating during a left turn!?

Or does cold intake makes any difference in HP readings? and if so, at what ambient temperature?

So if the subject does not interest you, please in the future, feel free to skip this thread all together...

PMCErnie said:

Maybe mount one of these on the dash.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/400719747822?lpid=82

Click to expand...

What a great idea, you PMCErnie are a great innovator. Why don't you show us your setup using that projector!

OP, great post, that is pretty cool, and for quite a low price to boot!

See this reflector on fleeBay. It may work but could potentially degrade the look of the car at the same time is what I'm not too fond with.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ADD-W1-Head-up-Display-HUD-Film-4-x-3-Inches-2pcs-/141296305071?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20e5ea83af&vxp=mtr

videopho said:

See this reflector on fleeBay. It may work but could potentially degrade the look of the car at the same time is what I'm not too fond with.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ADD-W1-Head-up-Display-HUD-Film-4-x-3-Inches-2pcs-/141296305071?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20e5ea83af&vxp=mtr

Click to expand...

I agree, that may present a major cosmetic degradation...

Ok, thinking outside the box, I had couple of screen protectors of different sizes lying around, so I experimented a little, with some very promising results, and as bonus I can cut the screen protector to exact shape needed for this application.

Unfortunately, all the screen protectors that I currently have are all 'HD / Anti glare' which seems to reduce the desired effect, so I canceled the other order, and placed a new one for few different versions, that could work to address the current issues we have at hand:

1 - Sufficient screen reflection at an angle in most if not all lighting conditions
2 - Minimal cosmetic foot print (i.e. as invisible as possible)
3 - Provide some level of heat protection to address Maulis425 very valid concern.

Will start with these:

http://www.amazon.com/Kamor®-Screen...&sr=1-2&keywords=Mirror+Screen+protector+IPAD

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Everydaysource-Compatible-Mirror-Screen-Protector/dp/B00A3NTNYS/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top"]Amazon.com: Everydaysource Compatible with Apple® iPad® Mini / Mini 2 Mirror Screen Protector: Computers & Accessories[/ame]


And see how it goes...

I am thinking we can try more than one layer, to see if that provides some level of protection / heat shielding effect. What do you think?

daviderle said:

^ I see.... It is times like these, I am reminded why I do not bother to post or share much on forums, frankly it more effort than it is worth to deal with the 'jokers club'...

But in this particular case, I was rather hoping to generate sufficient interest with people who share the same way of thinking, so we can collectively get some 'real' drive train data, to better understand why some models exhibit certain behaviors, for example, why does the engine hesitates while accelerating during a left turn!?

Or does cold intake makes any difference in HP readings? and if so, at what ambient temperature?

So if the subject does not interest you, please in the future, feel free to skip this thread all together...

Click to expand...

Ehhh, DashCommand (which I have owned for ~6 years along with Torque) is not useful for troubleshooting as you suggest or for power determination. It's really only a novelty app (and it serves that purpose well for what it does), not a tuning grade engine.

In order to see what's going on that's causing hesitation you would need a much more intensive logger and a wideband O2 sensor to view full changes in timing and fueling to spot minor misfire or oscillations. DashCommand only provides live data based off the factory equipment, not rapid snapshots. The only thing DashCommand can do regarding trouble shooting is act as a code reader.

As for the dyno feature, any method that provides power numbers via accelerometer readings is by default going to give nothing but unsubstantiated results. Reading to reading can be 50 hp different on the slightest whim, not that the base numbers are accurate anyways. I did it once on Torque and my numbers were over 100 off from what I actually put down on a dyno. In order to get accurate off-dyno results (ie VirtualDyno (http://www.virtualdyno.net/), requires a laptop and an OBD2 cable. Results also to be taken with a grain of salt), the calculations need to be based off gearing, weight, tire size, etc not by Gs of acceleration. I know you can input some of those numbers (not all of them) into the app, but they are not required or used by the dyno feature. Also even dynos typically cannot show before and after gains with a simple mod like an intake because they tend to be so small that they are well within the margin for error from run to run.

And who are you going off on?

brfatal said:

And who are you going off on?

Click to expand...

brfatal, that post was not intended for you, I thought “Gambler” addressed it nicely and put that one to bed.

I sent you a PM, I am hopeful it will answer some of your other concerns.

I am really trying hard to keep this thread light hearted, easy and fun, that is why I mentioned “we will keep it simple, with only two options” in my original post, so anyone else please feel free to PM me if you have any concerns, issues or simply interested in a deeper dive…

Lighten up.

"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is." Sir Francis Bacon

TTT for update...
I copied this device from the coupe clan folks who were also looking to do the same thing.
I also downloaded the digihud app from Google playstore.

daviderle said:

I have the full configuration for both the 2009-11 4.6 and the R-Spec, but to keep the thread from being way too long, I will share the details at a later time, if there is enough interest.

Click to expand...

I think there is enough interest to post the configs.

videopho said:

See this reflector on fleeBay. It may work but could potentially degrade the look of the car at the same time is what I'm not too fond with.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ADD-W1-Head-up-Display-HUD-Film-4-x-3-Inches-2pcs-/141296305071?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20e5ea83af&vxp=mtr

Click to expand...

Picked this HUD reflector up yesterday and will post results.
I mainly need two features to be displayed on the HUD when driving at dark:
Speed and GPS direction.
I will be using digiHUD phone app for now and I'm open for any future upgrade later on.

Update: The two screen protectors did work, but still does not look as good as I hoped.

videopho said:

TTT for update...
I also downloaded the digihud app from Google playstore.

Click to expand...

Nice, but that app is in a different category, as it is based on GPS data rather than OBDII output.
Here is the iOS equivalent:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/awesome-hud/id397445612?mt=8

My intention was if there is sufficient interest is to continue to build on the basic concept, with two more stages of the mod, the idea would be to get real time data from the drive train and provide additional information for better analysis/understanding on how our vehicles behaves under certain conditions.

NSXNEXT said:

I think there is enough interest to post the configs.

Click to expand...

Dash Command Settings:

Engine Displacement (cc):
3.8 3778
4.6 4627
5.0 5038

Fuel tank capacity: 20.3

Volumetric Efficiency: 75%

Tire size (please change if using aftermarket):
4.6 235/50/R18
5.0 235/45R19

(ZF=2009-2011 Models)

---------- 3.8/ZF---4.6/ZF---5.0/8Spd
AxleRTO----3.91------3.13----- 3.91
First------- 3.52------4.17------3.66
Second---- 2.04------2.34------2.40
Third -------1.40------1.52------1.61
Fourth------1.00------1.14------1.19
Fifth---------0.71------0.86------1.00
Sixth--------0.58------0.69------0.83
Seventh-----N/A-------N/A-------0.64

Curb Weight:

3.8/ZF=3748 4.6/ZF=4012
3.8/8=3824 5.0/R-Spec=4046

Additional Weigh: 1?? (I always over estimate )

Drag Coefficient: 0.27

Frontal Area: 2.04 m2 (meters squared)

Min Engine speed: (warm up your engine for 5 min and take a snapshot while in Park/Neutral)
4.6=650 (K&N Filter) R-Spec=500 (K&N)

Shift Point
6500

Speed correction:
You can use one of the two free tools mentioned above in the post (which uses GPS to calculate your speed, drive at 50mph on a safe road and calculate the difference.
For example using the easy method, if the GPS tool reads 50 while your speedometer reads 51, you need to add the speed correction factor:
(GPS/Speedo) 50/51=0.98

This weekend if I can find few free hours, I will start on phase two..
Have fun...

videopho said:

Picked this HUD reflector up yesterday and will post results.
I mainly need two features to be displayed on the HUD when driving at dark:
Speed and GPS direction.
I will be using digiHUD phone app for now and I'm open for any future upgrade later on.

Click to expand...

That looks great and useful, even better I think it will fits nicely in the next phase of the mod...