Best Apps to Track your Car’s Performance

Before you buy a car, you probably pore over performance statistics carefully to choose the best combination of engine power and efficiency. But when you’re actually behind the wheel, have you ever found that the reality doesn’t quite measure up to the manufacturer’s promise? If you’re always looking for ways to boost efficiency and tweak performance, you’ll want to download one or more of the following performance-tracking apps. Use your smartphone’s connectivity to help boost the quality of your ride.

Dash

Today’s latest vehicles come full loaded with digital displays, wireless connectivity and fully integrated electronics. Take a look at any recent Land Rover on Carsales to see examples of this. However, if you drive an older vehicle you can still get all the bells and whistles of a modern integrated dashboard by downloading Dash, a free app for Android. It connects to an onboard diagnostics tool to give you real-time statistics including everything from your mileage information to where to find the cheapest gas nearby.

Dynolicious

Perhaps the most popular performance tracker, Dynolicious works with your iPhone to sense acceleration from all angles. This allows the phone to measure and record performance, scoring your car in a number of ways. Track horsepower, acceleration, speed, and cornering force. If you’re thinking about modifying your car, this allows you to track changes in performance before and after.

greenMeter

Driving style has a big influence on how efficient your car is. If you’re looking for ways to tweak your efficiency, you might want to download greenMeter to do so. This helps you break down the energy used when driving at different speeds, using a number of factors including aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, and your car’s engine power. You can also track the energy expended in dollars along with your CO2 output. Like Dynolicious, greenMeter uses the accelerometer sensors that are already inside of your iPhone to come up with these calculations.

My Max Speed 2.0

My Max Speed is available for Android phones, using the smartphone’s built-in accelerometer. The app calculates our speed and location every 5 seconds, and then can export this data to a spreadsheet. Whether you want to track your own driving or monitor a teenage driver, you’ll have an accurate printout. This also comes in handy if you want to contest a speeding ticket.

gMeter

Not to be confused with greenMeter above, gMeter is an iPhone app that is purely focused on engine power and speed. It automatically records these figures using the iPhone’s accelerometers, along with how far you’ve travelled and how quickly your car is able to stop. You can then adjust these figures depending on the climate and adjust losses according to aerodynamic or mechanical drag, for a more accurate portrait of your car’s performance.

All use the same basic function of your smartphone’s accelerometers to provide accurate, up-to-date information. Whether you’re interested in improving your car’s performance with modifications or simply staying on top of these figures for fun, you’ll find any of these apps to be worth the price of download.