Mechanical vs. electric guages? What's the diff?

[T0nyGTSt]

I'm after an oil temp guage. I intend to mount it on the steering column. I have the choice of mechanical or electric. What should I get? Same price.

T.

[AeroGrace]

the main difference is in the way it receives it's readings...

for example, an oil temp gauge:

electronic ones get their signals via an electronic sender mounted in the engine bay.

whereas a mechanical one would require you to physically route the oil lines through the gauge or something....meaning potentially messy cabin if one of the hoses bursts.

probably why back in the old days when the ol' school cars had their various gauges mounted on the bonnet.

[Guest RedLineGTR]

what about responce times eg. boost gauge

[hippy]

that shouldn't matter ... its all in the sensor and all sensors should be pretty much the same ... i'd go electrical all the time if price don't matter ... it so much easier to route wires and thing like that ...

[AeroGrace]

Originally posted by hippy

i'd go electrical all the time if price don't matter ...

yes..that would be nice would it?

also with most electronic boost gauges you would get those additional 'features' like overshoot warning/peak hold etc etc...

they are supposed to be more accurate than mechanical gauges...though i'm not sure how much is the margin of error if you compare a mechanical boost gauge VS. an electronic version