Gauges the good, bad, and ugly

[tysonK]

So there are a number of gauges available. Mechanical, Electric, other hybirds I guess. What are some Gauges you people have used or heard good things about. It seems the price for your standard mechanical boost gauge can range from $60-$360. I'll admit I'm a bit confounded by the whole arrangement. I looked at the autometer phantom series and thought I liked the look of them. A nice three pod in the scoobie, with boost-EGT-oil temp. Any help thanks?

[ArthurS]

At the meet tomorrow, you will see the gauages that I have install (used to be Sperry's). They are all Autometer. I belive Scott has a Defi boost guage also.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

The big decision is mechanical gauges vs. electrical... mechanical ones actually run capillary tubing inside the driver's compartment right up to the gauge on your dash, and the capillary tubing is filled with whatever fluid you're measuring, oil, water, etc. This means you have hot oil & water in lines under your dashboard... up to you, and I've seen plenty of people do it on street cars, but I myself am shying away from that for street use due to the potential leak they represent. Electrical gauges have a sender unit under the hood hooked into whatever line or engine part you want to measure, and then just run an electrical wire inside the driver's compartment up to the back of the gauge. The thing that's nice about mechanical gauges is that they have full-sweep (270 degree) readings that are nicer and have more precise markings than most electrical gauges which are only 90-degree sweep. You can find some full-sweep electrical gauges however, they're usually just harder to find and I think might be more expensive than standard sweep electricals.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

The big decision is mechanical gauges vs. electrical... mechanical ones actually run capillary tubing inside the driver's compartment right up to the gauge on your dash, and the capillary tubing is filled with whatever fluid you're measuring, oil, water, etc. This means you have hot oil & water in lines under your dashboard... up to you, and I've seen plenty of people do it on street cars, but I myself am shying away from that for street use due to the potential leak they represent. Electrical gauges have a sender unit under the hood hooked into whatever line or engine part you want to measure, and then just run an electrical wire inside the driver's compartment up to the back of the gauge. The thing that's nice about mechanical gauges is that they have full-sweep (270 degree) readings that are nicer and have more precise markings than most electrical gauges which are only 90-degree sweep. You can find some full-sweep electrical gauges however, they're usually just harder to find and I think might be more expensive than standard sweep electricals.

All that's true until you start talking about the Japanese gauges. Japanese companies like GReddy, Defi and Omori have full sweep electrical gauges that are probably more accurate than mechanical gauges due to their stepper motor design. The problem is that you have to pay serious bling to get them.

For example:

Autometer Mechanical Boost Gauge: <$50
- run a tube into the cabin and measure the boost directly w/ a pressure gauge

Autometer Electrical Boost Gauge: ~$120 (IIRC)
- sender measures boost in the engine compartment, sends a voltage to the cabin, gauge is a mechanical voltmeter

Defi Electrical Boost Gauge: $275 (Including control unit that is used w/ other gauges)
- sender measures boost in the engine compartment, sends a voltage to the control unit, control unit sends ditigal instructions to the stepper motor to make the gauge point right at indicated boost. Control unit allows for recording/playback of data, along with peak values.

If you want to spend less than $1000 on a complete gauge setup, then you pretty much have to go with Autometer or another domestic company. The gauges are pretty decent, especially considering their lower prices, but there are some limitations: As LabMonkey mentioned, the electrical gauges that are based on voltmeters usually have lower sweeps, like 90 degree, and the gauges don't usually have a linear scale.

I don't know if you checked out Arthur's setup (they used to be mine) but he's got the full-on Autometer suite: Mechanical Boost, Electrical EGT, Oil Pressure and Oil Temp. Plus a nifty clock! When I had them, I found they worked really well (esp. the EGT gauge, since it had the high-end racing sender unit that gave it a *very* quick response time) but I decided they were just too busy... too many dials and stuff in the cockpit.

Now I've got a Defi boost gauge, and I'm slowly saving up for the Defi digital display so I can wire up Oil Temp / Pressure and EGT w/ having a specific gauge for each one.

[tysonK]

thanks guys, that was helpful, I just didn't want to get some gauges that no one ever used, and then have them turn out to be seriously flawed, but it looks like autometer will work for me, I'm not planning on doing any engine for at least a year or two, so I'm not seriously worried about the spec temps of my engine but it nice to have peace of mind...!

[MattR]

FWIW, I use VDO guages , availible at Summit. Their priced about the same as Autometers, and are probably about the same level in quality. I have had no issue with them at all, they've worked great for the 1 yr I've had them. The turbo guage is a bit slow, but it gives an accurate reading as far as I can tell.

[khail19]

I've got Autometer Ultra-lite gauges, if you want to take a look you can swing by Napa on Wrondel Way and look at them. I'm there Mon, Tue, and Fri until 5pm and Sat until 4pm. I have oil pressure and temperature and a vacuum gauge on the dash housing, water temp and voltmeter under the ashtray, and an A/F ratio in the cupholder by the e-brake. Except for the vacuum gauge they are all electrical.

Khail

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by khail19

I've got Autometer Ultra-lite gauges, if you want to take a look you can swing by Napa on Wrondel Way and look at them. I'm there Mon, Tue, and Fri until 5pm and Sat until 4pm. I have oil pressure and temperature and a vacuum gauge on the dash housing, water temp and voltmeter under the ashtray, and an A/F ratio in the cupholder by the e-brake. Except for the vacuum gauge they are all electrical.

Khail

How do you like the ultra-lites? Are those full-sweep or 90-sweep electrical, and do they have lighting for use at night? I kinda like the look of the C2 full-sweep electricals that are new for 2003 also, anyone know anything about these?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

How do you like the ultra-lites? Are those full-sweep or 90-sweep electrical, and do they have lighting for use at night? I kinda like the look of the C2 full-sweep electricals that are new for 2003 also, anyone know anything about these?

Does *anyone* make gauges w/o lighting? I'm pretty sure they all light up. The Autometers have a lit ring around the inside lip that light up the gauge. The Defi's numbers and needle light up more like the stock gauges.

BTW: for the WRX, I thought the Autometer Sport-Comp line matches the interior the best. They have a silver bezel that dead-on matches the silver of the center console, and they're back-lit green w/ red needles, not exactly the same as stock, but damn close. If you're looking for exact matches to the stock gauges, check out Omori, they're bank, but they're designed explicitly to match the WRX's stock gauges.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by sperry

BTW: for the WRX, I thought the Autometer Sport-Comp line matches the interior the best. They have a silver bezel that dead-on matches the silver of the center console, and they're back-lit green w/ red needles, not exactly the same as stock, but damn close. If you're looking for exact matches to the stock gauges, check out Omori, they're bank, but they're designed explicitly to match the WRX's stock gauges.

Umm... I don't have a WRX, remember?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

Umm... I don't have a WRX, remember?

No, I musta forgot That was obviously for all the WRX owners on here looking for gauges... *cough* Reno Area Subaru Owners Chat *cough*

[khail19]

How do you like the ultra-lites? Are those full-sweep or 90-sweep electrical, and do they have lighting for use at night? I kinda like the look of the C2 full-sweep electricals that are new for 2003 also, anyone know anything about these?

I like them a lot, especially for as inexpensive as they are compared with the Japanese brands. Mine are 90 degree sweep electrical, except my vacuum gauge, and they use a 194 size bulb for backlighting, so you can change the bulb color to match your dash lighting. The Sport-comps do match our interior better, but they don't seem to light up as brightly at night, so I got the Ultra-lites. I like the all silver look anyways.

Khail