Torque Pro is an application that has more than 100,000 downloads and a rating of 3.7 stars. It has two versions, one paid and the other free, which has certain limitations. Its main function is to read the state of our car and show us its performance and health in detail.
OBD and types
What is an OBD emitter? On-Board Diagnostics is its real name and it is a small device that we will have to connect to the diagnostic socket of our car, van or truck. If you have doubts as to whether yours has that, you should know that all those manufactured after 2000 have this port, so it is almost certain that you do. It is usually under the steering wheel, next to the fuses.
If you have doubts about how connecting this to your car can affect, do not worry, this small device that you can buy on Amazon will not do anything to your vehicle, it is more, it is access to information on the status of the same that they use those of the workshops when we take them to do some repair.
There are two types of OBD connectors: OBD1 and OBD2. The big difference between the two is that OBD1 is a type of connection owned by each brand, while OBD2 is universal, the latter being the most used and compatible with the Torque Pro application.
There is also a difference between the different ranges of OBD2 readers, but any of them will be compatible with the app and their differences are the amount of car systems they can read. For example, the cheapest ones will only be able to make offer an engine diagnosis, while the most expensive ones read more systems and even allow some modifications.
How does Torque Pro work?
Once we have OBD2 connected to our car, what the Torque Pro app will do is pair using bluetooth to it (there are models with integrated WiFi) and begin to translate the readings that the device sends to our mobile.
The app will show us in its interface a series of real-time parameters of our car that will help us to know at all times the status of our car. If you are a Formula fan, this is similar to having a team of engineers behind you monitoring your car at all times. Some examples of what Torque Pro can show you are:
- Electronic system or engine failures.
- Horses.
- Torque
- Transmission temperature.
- Acceleration.
- Speed.
- Consumption.
- Revolutions
- CO2 emissions.
- Compass.
- Forces G.
- Turbo Map
By using the app and the GPS of our Android we can keep track of the records at each point on the map, in case we want to check what our car has suffered when climbing a port, for example. This will help us to have greater control of the performance of our car, especially on long trips. It will also serve us for those moments in which we notice the strange car but we can not stop.
An interesting point of Torque Pro is that it has a HUD (Head Up Display) mode to be able to see it reflected in the windshield of our car and thus have greater safety at the wheel, since we can see the parameters without taking our eyes off the road. You can tell that it is a well thought out app for drivers.
The interface is quite practical, although it is not the most attractive of the Android ecosystem. Of course, it allows us to customize it according to the parameters that we want to follow. It also includes a series of widgets so that we can have them directly on the main screen of our smartphone.
On the subject of compatibility, you can use Torque Pro with all OBD2 readers except for the Garmin ecoRoute HD adapters. Here is a list of some of the compatible OBD2 readers that we recommend:
Differences between Torque Pro and Torque Lite
In the Google Play Store you will find two versions of this app, one paid and one free. Both are the same application but the Lite version is a trimmed application that will show us the basic information that includes acceleration, speed, some system failures and also has advertising.
The paid version has a cost of 3.55 euros, an adequate cost for everything it offers us and that it is profitable to pay. Also keep in mind that to use it you will need to buy an OBD2, so the ideal would be to buy both at the same time to have a perfect experience.
