Car IQ

What is it?

Connected car technology is all the rage these days and for a very good reason. Everyone wants to be on top of things these days which in this case is the health, safety and life of your car. Now, manufacturers themselves have begun to offer the technology through their own devices and services but in most cases, it’s usually with a higher spec variant of the car in question, something that not everyone can afford to own.

With more and more people buying cars, there has come a whole range of cost-effective after-market providers for such services and that’s where the Car IQ comes into play. It’s a connected car service for any vehicle that has an OBD-II port and works via your smartphone. This is useful, especially, if you don’t have a touchscreen interface or one that has very basic features.

What do you get in the box?

Not a lot actually but that’s become the norm these days. The arrival of the smartphone in the previous decade has meant that bulky paper manuals, CDs and pen drives have all become things of the past concerning instructions and packaging. You get, in the box, the IQ device and a thin colour pamphlet showing you the features of the device.

How do I connect it to the car and start using it?

Once you have unboxed the device, download the car IQ app from the Google Play store/Apple store. Open the app and follow the process to register yourself as well as the device with Car IQ’s services. This includes providing details of the car, the device as well as linking the device to a phone number.

Upon completing the registration process, the app will ask you to connect the device to the OBD-II port which is usually located on either side of the steering wheel depending on the manufacturer. Switch the car on and if the device has been plugged in correctly, it will show up in the app. Once connected and registered, you will need to perform a test run of four-six kilometres for the app to register that you have begun to use the device to record your performance.

What do we aim to find out?

In this day and age, having lots of information at your fingertips has become the norm and when you invest in luxury like a car (no matter the size and cost) then why shouldn’t that investment be under your purview as and when you want it. We aim to spend time with the device and its mobile app to see if it is easy to use, how much useful information is gained and lastly should you invest in this device for a connected car experience.

Device: Car IQ

Price: Rs 8000 with one-year subscription included

Annual Renewal: Rs 3000 for subscription and warranty from second year onwards

Photography: Kaustubh Gandhi