PLX Devices KIWI Bluetooth OBDII Adaptor and Palmer Performance Dash Command
By Mike Kojima
We have been reviewing the KIWI from PLX devices for the last few months. The KIWI is a device that allows you to wirelessly monitor your car’s OBDII functions via your smartphone. There are plenty of options to do this if you have an iPhone but the KIWI works well with your Droid. Since many of us don’t do iPhones, the KIWI is a product we have been waiting for.
 |
| To get the KIWI going all you do is simply plug it into your car’s OBDII port. It powers up and starts transmitting right away. |
The KIWI simply plugs into your car’s OBDII port and wirelessly transfers the data to your phone via a Bluetooth connection. We received a unit from PLX and have used it on about every OBDII equipped car in the MotoIQ fleet an can report that the KIWI unit itself worked flawlessly. It transmitted properly on every car and everyone of our Droid type phones was able to link with it.
We have evaluated several OBDII reading apps and had issues with many of the cheaper apps not being compatible with our phones or the vehicles we tested them on. For many of the free or $2.99 apps, we found glitches and very little technical support. Actually what do you expect for such low cost tools?
 |
| Pair the KIWI with your phone and you are ready to rock! |
We decided to also try the more expensive $49.95 Palmer Dash Command app to see if a more expensive app would work better. We were pleased to report that Dash Command worked fine on all of our cars and phones.
 |
| Open up the Palmer Dash Command app and wait for it to link to your vehicle. This might take a couple of minutes so be patient. We found that it works every time but it sometimes takes a bit to link and be ready. |
 |
| A handy tuning feature is Dash Command’s dyno feature. You can measure acceleration and create dyno charts from it. This is a handy device to see if your tuning changes and parts upgrades are actually helping. We found that the dyno feature was pretty repeatable and way better than a butt dyno! For quick measurements in between trips to the dyno, this feature is pretty cool. |
