Which gauges to install?
#1
Which gauges to install?
Not including a turbo, which 3 gauges would one install?
ie no turbo
A. Type of gauges
1. Oil pressure
2. Oil temp
3. Air/fuel --vacuum
4. Volt
5. Water temp
6. other? what?
B. Analog or digital
I prefer analog
C. is 2 " 52 mm same as 2 1/16 52 mm?
D. Is gauge depth important or can it fit most gauge pods? esp the group buy triple gauge that was done a few years ago?
E. What is the approximate total cost? gauge pod, gauges, etc
F. Oil and water temp gauges in car..do they work? somewhere I read oil pressure gauge is not accurate.
F. Which gauge pod do most people recommend?
ie no turbo
A. Type of gauges
1. Oil pressure
2. Oil temp
3. Air/fuel --vacuum
4. Volt
5. Water temp
6. other? what?
B. Analog or digital
I prefer analog
C. is 2 " 52 mm same as 2 1/16 52 mm?
D. Is gauge depth important or can it fit most gauge pods? esp the group buy triple gauge that was done a few years ago?
E. What is the approximate total cost? gauge pod, gauges, etc
F. Oil and water temp gauges in car..do they work? somewhere I read oil pressure gauge is not accurate.
F. Which gauge pod do most people recommend?
#5
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^^ What he said
And the oil pressure and water temp gauges that are already in the car are dummy gauges. They suck. I've never seen my oil pressure gauge higher or lower than two ticks past the middle, even though my oil was actually low.
And the oil pressure and water temp gauges that are already in the car are dummy gauges. They suck. I've never seen my oil pressure gauge higher or lower than two ticks past the middle, even though my oil was actually low.
#8
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^wat?
(Was aimed at longpath, took me a while to post, and the king of posting got in here just before I posted)
In all seriousness, you don't need any exhaust temp, without any type of tuning. Same with wideband/shortband, useless without tuning. Unless you just wanna know what stock runs..
I second the oil pressure/oil temp/water temp.
But if you don't like oil pressure, I'd definitely go with the latter two. The two in the car are dummy gauges. Think about it, you get in, cold oil, and it says the same pressure as hot oil idling, or your oil pressure at 9,000rpm's? Nah, I don't think so.
And water temp? Once it's up to operating temp, I've yet to see it move, even on track days.
My next suggestion would be vacuum. Then volt. Those two are more or less for "Oh ****" moments, before they become those moments. Though some say keeping it in more vacuum helps for fuel economy... (I royally say screw fuel economy, giving my Rx8 ample time to warm up the engine oil, and then I'd rather keep the rpm's up rather than putting more load on the engine at lower rpm's, just in the name of fuel economy.)
I don't know about you, I'm thinking of getting a tripod gauge set for the center of the dash, on the top, and then the next set would be up on the a-pillar. They make a replacement for the ash tray/lighter cover, to hold 1 or 2 gauges, but that's down out of sight.
(I'd put the volt meter, or fuel pressure, anything not vastly important down there. Something you probably would be looking at when you're not looking at the road, anyway.)
But, that's all my info/opinion. The rest, search it up.
(Was aimed at longpath, took me a while to post, and the king of posting got in here just before I posted)
In all seriousness, you don't need any exhaust temp, without any type of tuning. Same with wideband/shortband, useless without tuning. Unless you just wanna know what stock runs..
I second the oil pressure/oil temp/water temp.
But if you don't like oil pressure, I'd definitely go with the latter two. The two in the car are dummy gauges. Think about it, you get in, cold oil, and it says the same pressure as hot oil idling, or your oil pressure at 9,000rpm's? Nah, I don't think so.
And water temp? Once it's up to operating temp, I've yet to see it move, even on track days.
My next suggestion would be vacuum. Then volt. Those two are more or less for "Oh ****" moments, before they become those moments. Though some say keeping it in more vacuum helps for fuel economy... (I royally say screw fuel economy, giving my Rx8 ample time to warm up the engine oil, and then I'd rather keep the rpm's up rather than putting more load on the engine at lower rpm's, just in the name of fuel economy.)
I don't know about you, I'm thinking of getting a tripod gauge set for the center of the dash, on the top, and then the next set would be up on the a-pillar. They make a replacement for the ash tray/lighter cover, to hold 1 or 2 gauges, but that's down out of sight.
(I'd put the volt meter, or fuel pressure, anything not vastly important down there. Something you probably would be looking at when you're not looking at the road, anyway.)
But, that's all my info/opinion. The rest, search it up.
Last edited by MS Addict; 11-07-2011 at 11:33 PM.
#9
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#10
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^wat?
(Was aimed at longpath, took me a while to post, and the king of posting got in here just before I posted)
In all seriousness, you don't need any exhaust temp, without any type of tuning. Same with wideband/shortband, useless without tuning. Unless you just wanna know what stock runs..
I second the oil pressure/oil temp/water temp.
But if you don't like oil pressure, I'd definitely go with the latter two. The two in the car are dummy gauges. Think about it, you get in, cold oil, and it says the same pressure as hot oil idling, or your oil pressure at 9,000rpm's? Nah, I don't think so.
And water temp? Once it's up to operating temp, I've yet to see it move, even on track days.
My next suggestion would be vacuum. Then volt. Those two are more or less for "Oh ****" moments, before they become those moments. Though some say keeping it in more vacuum helps for fuel economy... (I royally say screw fuel economy, giving my Rx8 ample time to warm up the engine oil, and then I'd rather keep the rpm's up rather than putting more load on the engine at lower rpm's, just in the name of fuel economy.)
I don't know about you, I'm thinking of getting a tripod gauge set for the center of the dash, on the top, and then the next set would be up on the a-pillar. They make a replacement for the ash tray/lighter cover, to hold 1 or 2 gauges, but that's down out of sight.
(I'd put the volt meter, or fuel pressure, anything not vastly important down there. Something you probably would be looking at when you're not looking at the road, anyway.)
But, that's all my info/opinion. The rest, search it up.
(Was aimed at longpath, took me a while to post, and the king of posting got in here just before I posted)
In all seriousness, you don't need any exhaust temp, without any type of tuning. Same with wideband/shortband, useless without tuning. Unless you just wanna know what stock runs..
I second the oil pressure/oil temp/water temp.
But if you don't like oil pressure, I'd definitely go with the latter two. The two in the car are dummy gauges. Think about it, you get in, cold oil, and it says the same pressure as hot oil idling, or your oil pressure at 9,000rpm's? Nah, I don't think so.
And water temp? Once it's up to operating temp, I've yet to see it move, even on track days.
My next suggestion would be vacuum. Then volt. Those two are more or less for "Oh ****" moments, before they become those moments. Though some say keeping it in more vacuum helps for fuel economy... (I royally say screw fuel economy, giving my Rx8 ample time to warm up the engine oil, and then I'd rather keep the rpm's up rather than putting more load on the engine at lower rpm's, just in the name of fuel economy.)
I don't know about you, I'm thinking of getting a tripod gauge set for the center of the dash, on the top, and then the next set would be up on the a-pillar. They make a replacement for the ash tray/lighter cover, to hold 1 or 2 gauges, but that's down out of sight.
(I'd put the volt meter, or fuel pressure, anything not vastly important down there. Something you probably would be looking at when you're not looking at the road, anyway.)
But, that's all my info/opinion. The rest, search it up.
#11
the more things change
he's not turbo, he is NA. he only needs water and oil at the
moment, everything else is a waste of money until he starts
to turbo the car. and thats IF..
moment, everything else is a waste of money until he starts
to turbo the car. and thats IF..
#15
Buy PLX gauges that hook up to your OBD2 so you can display any of the readings you want. Each gauge can display a max of 4 readings and you can make your own gauge display if you want as well. The predefined gauges are pretty damn good. I don't think it does oil but that's an easy install.
#16
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^Something else I'll have to look into.
That's why I said to have the less important gauges off to the side or something. Like fuel pressure, it can be important, but it's not something I want to monitor as closely as either of the temps. Like, if I'm checking for fuel pressure, something's obviously wrong, and I'm probably in a situation where I can take my eyes off the road that little bit, versus practically seeing it looking forward.
There's also that gauge you can turn your LED Display in your dash, into a gauge. I don't remember how many it can display though. But that's pretty pimp.
That's why I said to have the less important gauges off to the side or something. Like fuel pressure, it can be important, but it's not something I want to monitor as closely as either of the temps. Like, if I'm checking for fuel pressure, something's obviously wrong, and I'm probably in a situation where I can take my eyes off the road that little bit, versus practically seeing it looking forward.
There's also that gauge you can turn your LED Display in your dash, into a gauge. I don't remember how many it can display though. But that's pretty pimp.
#17
Registered
Get em all!
...by getting an OBD2 gauge.
Here are some (in order of decreasing price):
* Aeroforce Interceptor: http://www.aeroforcetech.com
* PLX: http://www.plxdevices.com/multigauges.html
* Used DashHawk
* UltraGauge: http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/index.htm <--- I have this and am getting 2 more. The hi/lo configurable alarms for all parameters are great.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, the cheapest one is the best in this list, except for the DashHawk, but DH is way more expensive.
...by getting an OBD2 gauge.
Here are some (in order of decreasing price):
* Aeroforce Interceptor: http://www.aeroforcetech.com
* PLX: http://www.plxdevices.com/multigauges.html
* Used DashHawk
* UltraGauge: http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/index.htm <--- I have this and am getting 2 more. The hi/lo configurable alarms for all parameters are great.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, the cheapest one is the best in this list, except for the DashHawk, but DH is way more expensive.
Last edited by dynamho; 11-08-2011 at 12:12 PM.
#18
#19
Will getting an OBD2 gauge give accurate water temp/oil temp readings or will you have to get a physical sensor for those as well?
Get em all!
...by getting an OBD2 gauge.
Here are some (in order of decreasing price):
* Aeroforce Interceptor: http://www.aeroforcetech.com
* PLX: http://www.plxdevices.com/multigauges.html
* Used DashHawk
* UltraGauge: http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/index.htm <--- I have this and am getting 2 more. The hi/lo configurable alarms for all parameters are great.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, the cheapest one is the best in this list, except for the DashHawk, but DH is way more expensive.
...by getting an OBD2 gauge.
Here are some (in order of decreasing price):
* Aeroforce Interceptor: http://www.aeroforcetech.com
* PLX: http://www.plxdevices.com/multigauges.html
* Used DashHawk
* UltraGauge: http://www.ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/index.htm <--- I have this and am getting 2 more. The hi/lo configurable alarms for all parameters are great.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, the cheapest one is the best in this list, except for the DashHawk, but DH is way more expensive.
#20
Registered
Originally Posted by scorcherjf
will you have to get a physical sensor for those as well?
#21
Registered
actually, that unit looks really good.
I wonder how accurate is the oil reading.
I still prefer the look of the analog gauges, but this unit does get my attention. I am thinking that it would look awesome on a very strategic location.
#22
I zoom therefore I am.
I have the defi gauges.
Water temp, oil pressure, oil temp
My car is NA (for now) and those three things are something that can kill a rotary. I've always felt mazda dropped the ball not making these gauges stock.
Water temp, oil pressure, oil temp
My car is NA (for now) and those three things are something that can kill a rotary. I've always felt mazda dropped the ball not making these gauges stock.
#24
I HATE SPEEDBUMPS!
I know...i know...
I'm the only one on earth...maybe the universe too...ha ha ha!
Anyway, the op wants opinions, and i gave him one. It's really up to the op, not me.
#25
change AND moniter temperature?
I would like to monitor oil temp, pressure and water temperature but I would also like to change the programming for WHEN the fans turn on, do any if these gauges allow you to do that as well as monitor.
For example: COBB ACCESS PORT, OBD2 reader, Mazda Maniac???
I plan to add oil cooler fans as well.
I have a 2007 manual with a new engine just installed and I live in Arizona so I want this car to survive our summers!
For example: COBB ACCESS PORT, OBD2 reader, Mazda Maniac???
I plan to add oil cooler fans as well.
I have a 2007 manual with a new engine just installed and I live in Arizona so I want this car to survive our summers!