Speedometer Apps for phones.

[Adrian Southgate]

I have been experimenting with various speedo apps for my phones over the last year or so and have a couple which I thought I would share with you guys.

I'll try to do an assessment for each if I can.

I only use the free versions and some of these have more features on the paid version.

DigiHUD

This one is the one I am currently trying out. Works quite well, suffers a little from acceleration lag. Display doesn't update without a slight delay (milliseconds) Clear and easy to read display with 10 different colours easily selectable, variable brightness for night use and useful on screen features. Doesn't wait for GPS fix before starting the display which I like, doesn't show any on screen adverts like the others do but I understand the compass goes after 30 days to be replaced by an advert if you don't buy the full version (£0.99p) This can also be used to great effect at night by changing to HUD mode and reversing the display then facing the screen towards the windscreen to produce a very good HUD effect. 

The one on the bottom left might be a bit naughty though as it can't be removed or disabled 

Two shots of the next one which is called speedview.

This has two modes which rotate just by touching the screen. The colours are variable however its a pain to change them as the menus are complex. The items on the second screen are also variable with a choice of what info is displayed. The pro version of this also has a G meter although I have no idea how accurate it is. The total mileage displayed in the first one is accurate and I have never reset it, just moved it from one car to another. The graphical speedo is quite easy to read and has a variable top limit which when reduced makes the display more accurate. This one waits for the GPS fix before initializing the display which is a bit of a drag. Overall this is not so easy to configure and contains adverts which are supposed to vanish when you use the pro version. This also suffers a little from lag between reaction and display and can also freeze for a few seconds at a time. I have this on two phones and use it in the Sierra as it is also recording how many miles I am doing. It does read avg speed and max speed but you can choose not to display them if you wish.

I have a couple of others which I will post later.

[neil parsons]

Because i am still messing about with dasboards and stuff , would this been MOT friendly.

 

Easy to mount a phone on the dasboard lol

 

Neil

[Adrian Southgate]

I have both but as I was concerned about the accuracy of the speedo I thought I would use my sat nav, the display was too small so I switched to the phone.

I can ask my MOT tester however I am led to believe it not a compulsory instrument. Someone will come along and correct me if I'm wrong. The unit will record the speed of the vehicle and also the miles covered so it fullfills the same purpose as an analogue speedo. If you took the sim card out then it would cease to be a phone altogether and just be a digital display.

[James Doulton]

I have read in the kit car press that you need a speedo and that it cannot depend on GPS, but that might be for IVA. I am sure that they don't check the speedo at MOT.

[Dave Taylor]

That's what I use, my old Sony Experia without sim. Speedo, Gps, tracker, Camera and Video. works well.

[Dave Taylor]

Sorry forgot to say it uses Speedview. This also records 0-60 and 1/4 mile time and speed.

[Dave Taylor]

Daryl I think Ade can vouch for my old Phaeton's performance. 

[James Doulton]

Most of the GPS devices I have tried only update once per second, so they have quite a lot of lag. I use Speedometer GPS 2.8.5 when I don't have anything else. They are really good for steady state measurements.

I have a couple of other GPS data loggers that also record once per second but I don't know how good a 0-60 plot you can get unless you start exactly on the second. I couldn't get anything reasonable when I tried. Instead, I used to video the speedo and single-step the frames but that is affected by speedo lag and you need to sort out the speedo accuracy to know what is really 60mph.

I now have a Racelogic Vbox Sport which is a GPS device that takes 20 samples per second, but it wasn't cheap. It does a reasonable job of 0-60 times if you pick a site with no obstructions to the GPS - tunnels are an obvious problem but bridges and even rows of trees can upset mine. RaceLogic also do systems that do 1000 samples per second, for race data recording, but you must get tons of data to look through.

This was a recent run I did with my Rickman Ranger. There was a row of trees near one side of the road near the end of the run, which I blame for the noise on the signal.

[James Doulton]

No, Daryl, not yet. I haven't done a 0-60 in the Legerra since I replaced the cam but I will do it soon. It did 8.1s before the change of cam so I'd expect it to achieve 7.5 as it is now.

[alfie murie]

I hope you are not refering to me Mr Heasman, when you decry my fellow countrymen !! lol

[alfie murie]

Why does that not surprise me !! come up over the Border and call anyone a big saftie and you would be taken back to your Southern home by Air-ambulance I would say pmsl

[1midz0wwbl268]

Alfie, if he is daft enough to stray  over the border,  you can keep him, we do not want him back, we got shot of one Southerner , oh if Scotland becomes  independant, dont forget your passport when you head over the border next year, otherwise you may not be allowed  back in  , so is there any truth that scotsmen wear their sisters knickers under their kilts??  you know, the ones with frilly lace on the edges  :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[alfie murie]

Martin, after that statement, that will make two on the hit-list !! Be very wary if you come thro' passport control at our borders, there may be a rocket-launcher aimed at your wee noddy car and we don't tolerate illegal immigrants at all up here :o)))))
Further to your education Martin, it is full thermal long-johns under the kilt because that cold wind blows everywhere !! After all, we are the true Northern Duttoneers :o)))))))