Question for Discussion

I am posing this two part question for 2 reasons.

1. Hopefully to get some life back in this board.

2. I would like to see the results, out of curiosity and personal education.


What 5 gauges would you mount and why? This is assuming (yes, I know) you will not replace the Temp and Fuel gauges in the dash.

My picks are;

A/R to monitor mixture across operating range
Boost to know I'm gett'n what I paid for
Oil Pressure to keep from hurting the motor
Oil Temp so I know if I'm beating on it too hard
Voltage so I'm sure my spark is blue and my subs don't clip

Boost - Monitor for vacuum or boost leaks
Oil Pressure - To make sure that rabbit in the road didn't snag a line
AFR - To make sure the injectors can keep up with the boost gauge
EGT - to verify that I'm not melting anything
Oil temp OR transmission temp - To know when your current lap session is over

That said, I'm probably not adding any gauges to my car. I have the stock Boost, Oil Temp and voltage gauges and monitor AFR when I log.

Wideband - really important

Boost - this is really the first thing you should have. I don't trust the mitsu bar boost gauge

EGT - because this goes with wideband

Oil pressure- this is another must have

Oil temp - checking the lifeline is good.

other choices: tire pressure gauge. This is another one of those things that I would love to have as OEM option. I think this is something that we all could use.

but if you must, Wideband, boost and EGT will be the most critical. Oil temp and pressure is nice to have, but not really that neccessary.

or you could just get AEM and get the dashboard setup on a 7" monitor, which would be the best and I've found it to be most delightful add on to any car.

Interesting you both have EGT.
I think I understand the logic, on a forced induction engine EGT would be an indicator of whats going on after the valves. which A/R would not show, hadn't made that leap yet.

LOL, I just put a Kenwood 1din head unit in. So much for the 7" touchscreen.

You're correct. EGT would reflect other effects of timing and boost besides AFR. They can be used independently, but EGT and AFR gauges together give you a nice snapshot of what the motor is really doing.

Boost
EGT
Oil Pressure

Oil Temp
AFR

EGT would be the ultimate warning device for you to save the engine.

AFR is nice, but you can't constantly keep track of it, and things will happen so fast, by the time you'll realize that something went wrong, it's too late.

Oil temp and presuure could warn you of an issue before EGT would reflect it.

only thing about oil temp and pressure is that it could be misleading as well.

you could get a knock and have your oil temp and pressure be normal.

And that's why you need them all ...

TouringBubble wrote:

And that's why you need them all ...

One of those sick installs with 11 gauges?

So far no one seems to care about voltage.

I seem to look at my voltage a number of times. When I start, a couple of times while driving and just as I shut down. It really isn't something I consciously do or developed, it's just something I do, weird.

I'd only worry about voltage if I had a mini battery or a system installed. I don't have either. Other than that, it pretty easy to know if your battery is dead ...

Even with a system, I'm not too concerened with my voltage draw. I'm only gonna build up so it stays in line with the voltage/amperes of my alternator.

I actually used the voltage a lot. mostly when the car is on low rpm or stumbling to see if there is a problem with the voltage of the car, to make sure it's not something to do with the engine.

the voltage I used was on my HKS Type 0 Turbo timer, so it wasn't a big deal.

the power windows do suck up a lot of voltage, which make the rpm drop.

anything that says "faze" or autozone on it. lol

sofar i got ...

boost, wideband, batt, oil temp, stock booost,

i would like to get me a oil pressure and egt later