Comparison

XLR8 vs RealDash

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

XLR8

Transform your car's audio experience by making it sound like an exotic supercar. This app uses your device's accelerometers to simulate realistic engine sounds based on your driving actions. Choose from a variety of authentic engine sounds and customize their performance for an immersive driving simulation.

Highlights
  • Realistic engine sound simulation
  • Accelerometer-based input
  • Five authentic engine sound options
  • Engine performance tuning
  • Automatic and manual driving modes
  • Bluetooth and cabled audio support
Features
Read full description

Wish you owned an exotic supercar? Now you can with XLR8! XLR8 (pronounced accelerate) is an exciting new app from 2XL Games that makes your car sound like an exotic supercar as you drive! Connect your iPhone, iPod or iPad to your car stereo and you are off and running. Once secured inside your vehicle, XLR8 uses the accelerometers of your device to realistically respond to acceleration, braking and cornering forces. Select from one of five exciting engines: - Classic V8 muscle car - NASCAR engine - Ford GT40 - Ferrari sports car - Lamborghini Supercar Dazzle your friends when you roll into the parking lot with the sound of a lumbering muscle car. Each engine realistically delivers the thrill of driving a different type of supercar. Uses Hollywood quality recordings of the real engines to sound totally authentic. Tune the performance of your engines by adjusting the shift point and gear ratios. Sound like you are burning out your tires and drifting without driving recklessly. Supports both cabled and wireless Bluetooth audio connections to your car stereo. Some vehicle Bluetooth connections can experience a slight delay. Automatic Mode measures the acceleration of your car and Manual Mode lets you control the engine by hand. XLR8 works well with any device, but works best with a GPS. Drive the car of your dreams – XLR8

About

RealDash

Enhance your driving experience with a customizable dashboard for your vehicle or racing simulator. Monitor performance, read error codes, and enjoy hands-free operation with voice commands. Connect to various ECUs and games for real-time data.

Highlights
  • Customizable dashboards
  • Vehicle error code reading
  • Performance meter
  • Voice commands
  • Lap timer
  • Racing game integration
  • ECU connectivity
Features
Read full description

The perfect vehicle companion app for road trips, street and race track. Or just having fun with your favorite racing simulator. RealDash is free to try. Consider subscribing to My RealDash service if you find this app useful. * Pixel Perfect™ customization of dashboards. Limited only by imagination. * Super high quality visuals and animated gauges. * Gallery with downloadable free and premium Dashboards and Gizmos. * Read and clear vehicle error codes. * Map and Speed limit display. * Voice commands allow hands free operation. * Instant and average fuel consumption. * Performance meter 0-60, 0-100, 0-200, 60 feet, 1/8 mile, 1/4 mile, and mile. * Measure horsepower and torque. * A powerful Trigger->Action system. * Create alarms and visual effects based on configurable triggers. * A lap timer with dozens of automatically detected race tracks. Supported ECUs: * Autronic SM4,SM2, and SMC * DTAFast S-Series * EasyEcu 3+ * Ecumaster EMU * Hybrid EMS * KMS MP25 and MD35 * Megasquirt 1,2,3 / Microsquirt * Motorsport-Electronics ME221 * Nissan Consult * OBD2 via ELM327 adapter * Spitronics ECU & TCU * Tatech 32 & 38 * UltraSky EMS * VEMS v3 + Custom hardware and DIY solutions via our open protocol. RealDash can connect to your vehicle with a WiFi, or Bluetooth BLE (OBD2 only) adapter. We recommend serial to WiFi adapters from perfecttuning.net. Supported Racing games: - Assetto Corsa - BeamNG Drive - Codemasters F1 2015-2020 - Dirt Rally - Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Forza Horizon 4 - Forza Motorsport 7 - Gran Turismo Sport - Gran Turismo 7 - Grid 2 - Live for Speed - Project Cars - Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown - Wreckfest 2 RealDash can be used without connection to ECU. Then a GPS and device internal sensors are available for: * Vehicle speed. * Your current location on map. * Current speed limit. * Lap timer. * Acceleration info. * Performance measurements (with limited accuracy). RealDash offers an optional annual My RealDash subscription. My RealDash allows you to stream your live engine data to a web page. The My RealDash subscription is available on an annual tier, which auto-renews. The subscription is priced at 24€ / year. Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off in at least 24-hours before the end of the current payment period. Your account will be charged 24€ for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's My RealDash Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited if you purchase a subscription. Privacy policy: http://www.realdash.net/privacy.html Terms of Service: http://www.realdash.net/terms_of_use.html We hope you enjoy using RealDash. Have Fun!

Screenshots

XLR84 screens
RealDash4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: RealDash at Free against XLR8's $4.99. RealDash also leads on rating (3.7 vs 2.0) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 7 months). XLR8's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

RealDash is free to download; XLR8 costs $4.99 up front. XLR8 sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and RealDash sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RealDash holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 168 and 88 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 16% of XLR8's written reviews are positive against 43% of RealDash's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

XLR8 ships an update every 7 months, RealDash every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
XLR8 versus RealDash: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterXLR8RealDash
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating2.0 (168 ratings)3.7 (88 ratings) — better
Positive reviews15.6% of reviews42.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings168 — better88
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer2XL Games, Inc.Napko Oy

Customer experience

XLR8

All ratings168 ratings
Positive20.2%
Neutral9.5%
Negative70.2%
Written reviews256 reviews
Positive15.6%
Neutral10.9%
Negative73.4%

RealDash

All ratings88 ratings
Positive68.2%
Neutral6.8%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews96 reviews
Positive42.7%
Neutral21.9%
Negative35.4%

User reviews

XLR8

From 168 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Works great
  • 👍 Transforms car sounds
  • 🤖 Tricks friends

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't work properly
  • 💰 Requires in-app purchases
  • 🔌 Drains battery
  • 🤖 Inaccurate sound effects

RealDash

From 88 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Highly customizable dashboard creation
  • 👍 Intuitive and visually appealing interface
  • 🔌 Multiple connectivity options (OBD2, WiFi, Bluetooth, Arduino)
  • 🎮 Game simulation support (BeamNG, Forza, Assetto Corsa)
  • 💰 Affordable pricing with free version available

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and connection failures
  • ⏱️ Significant lag and latency issues
  • 💸 Misleading premium/subscription model
  • 📺 Excessive ads even after purchase
  • 🔄 Inconsistent performance across devices

Bugs and requests

XLR8

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Doesn't work on iOS 11/12
  • Inconsistent performance
  • Fails to download purchased content
  • Doesn't detect vehicle motion

Requested features

4 requests
  • Background mode
  • Accelerometer integration
  • More car sounds
  • Restore purchases option

RealDash

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • App fails to load files on startup
  • Cannot browse or download dashboards
  • Firmware updates break existing functionality
  • Connection drops repeatedly during use
  • Premium content access issues after purchase
Show 14 more
  • Ads persist after paying for full version
  • App stuck on loading screens
  • Bluetooth pairing failures
  • WiFi connection hangs indefinitely
  • Crashes when connecting to OBD2 adapters
  • Gear display shows incorrect values (11, 8, N in wrong positions)
  • Navigation/maps not displaying properly
  • App stalls vehicle engine
  • Tutorial fails to launch
  • Menu inaccessible on some devices
  • Password change feature broken
  • Forum access denied errors
  • Data transmission lag between iPad and console (2-3 seconds)
  • Inconsistent iPhone vs iPad performance

Requested features

16 requests
  • CarPlay integration support
  • iPad landscape mode support
  • Dark boot screen option
  • Screen orientation lock options
  • ELM327 USB connection support
Show 11 more
  • Game connection for PC games (BeamNG, Forza)
  • F1 2020-2023 game support
  • OBD1 compatibility
  • Arabic language support
  • Auto-rotating map feature
  • Air/fuel ratio parameters
  • Easier dashboard section deletion
  • Smoother data transmission algorithm
  • OEM-style auxiliary display graphics
  • Password change functionality
  • Better forum access and support channels

In-app purchases

5 purchases

XLR8

One-time5
  • Stock Car$0.99
  • American Sports Car$1.99
  • Italian Supercar$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Italian Sports Car$2.99
  • Unlock All Engines$4.99
10 purchases

RealDash

One-time10
  • 'No-Bull#?!' Racedash$1.99
  • Data Engineers Dream premium dashboard$1.99
  • Classic S2000$3.99
Show 7 more
  • RealDash full version activation$5.99
  • RealDash premium supercar dashboard 1$5.99
  • Virtual Cockpit dashboard$5.99
  • Bavarian Powerhouse$5.99
  • Benztown Hammer$5.99
  • 720RD$5.99
  • New Boss on the Block$5.99

Questions

Is XLR8 free?
XLR8 costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is RealDash free?
RealDash is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, XLR8 or RealDash?
RealDash is rated higher. XLR8 averages 2.0 out of 5 from 168 ratings, while RealDash averages 3.7 from 88 ratings.
Do XLR8 or RealDash have ads?
RealDash shows ads; XLR8 does not.
Which is updated more often, XLR8 or RealDash?
XLR8 ships an update every 7 months, and RealDash every 3 weeks. Most recently, XLR8 was updated on November 6, 2026 and RealDash on November 6, 2026.

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