Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I really want three new guages - boost in PSI, oil temp and exhaust gas temp.

Boost and temp will be cheap Splitfires. I think I'll match it with an oil or water temp guage so there's a neat 3 guages in the central console.

The EGT however will end up being most likely an Autometer or Apex EL on the A-pillar.

Seems ok? I have doubts about the A-pillar as I don't want to be defectable.

T.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/22870-what-guages-are-important-to-you/
Share on other sites

Originally posted by Shane

It may only be heresay, but isn't an A-Pillar legal as long as its below the top of steering wheel? That's where I just put mine anyway *shrugs*

Anything u mount on the dash/a pillar has to be lower than the highest point on your dash. Tried to mount a 5' tacho legally in my old car, didnt work, but close :(

I have EL boost on the A-pillar and Water Temp, Oil Temp and Fuel Pressure Defi's on the console. Also AVCR and RSM (mmm - Gs) are on the dash.

I look at the AVCR and water-temp most of the time. I use the speed readout on the RSM for highway driving (it flashes at 103km/h).

G's are good for passengers :)

I've never understood why people want a boost gauge. I set my boost on the dyno, and I leave it. Most boost controllers have a digital boost readout anyway.

People say "What if your boost spikes? or if you overboost to 1.5 bar? Don't you want to know about it?"

I say in reply: "You should set you boost up on a dyno and iron out all the spikes there. Has your boost controller ever "broken" and you've overboosted over what you set your boost controller at? I haven't."

Anyway. If I were to have any gauges it would be:

Water Temp

Oil Temp

in WA u can get permits for a pillar mounted gauges, aslong as they dont obstruct the vision. I had permit for Oil pressure gauge and monser tacho(albiet that was a wank permit haha). But we also have permit for the Sti with boost and oil pressure.

small gauges are fine. In words of guy at pits, cop was an idiot for point out the gauges as a defect.

"Boost and temp will be cheap Splitfires"

Don't get anything cheap - unless you just want them for the 'looks'. Otherwise you are defeating the purpose of trying to accurately monitor what's going on with your car.

As for "why have a boost gauge?" - if I, for example, blew a hose, the boost gauge would instantly tell me that. If there is a problem with the car, and it is boost related, the gauge will instantly tell me that. If my car starts to spike (for whatever reason), I can see it instantly and shut her down.

And my other 2c: buy defi

Originally posted by DaiOni

As for "why have a boost gauge?" - if I, for example, blew a hose, the boost gauge would instantly tell me that.  If there is a problem with the car, and it is boost related, the gauge will instantly tell me that.  If my car starts to spike (for whatever reason), I can see it instantly and shut her down.

What hose could you blow that would affect boost? Intercooler plumbing? Silicon hoses on the intake plumbing? They'd all REDUCE boost, so you don't have to worry. The only thing would be the hose to your wastegate actuator.... How many people do you know who's wastegate vacuum hose has fallen off? None?

You'd notice any increased boost, or an "unlimited boost" effect from the wastegate problems before you'd look at the boost gauge anyway, true?

What other reasons are there that the boost would suddenly decide to spike? If you have a decent boost controller, I can't see it EVER changing it's settings, unless you've stuffed around with it.

The only time I can ever see a boost gauge coming in handy is when setting up the car's boost levels and gain/balance.

I think Summoner gave the truth :) Everyone loves it because it's the most active gauge. The others (water temp, oil temp, EGT, whatever) don't move anywhere near as much, and doesn't have the "COOL" factor :D

Yes, I too like boost gauges cos they move :) Everyone wants to see something working and it's actually doing something. I think boost gauges are important (to me anyway) because I have the Profec B boost controller (no boost display). I have low and high boost and sometimes I like to see what the max boost is set at. I sometimes adjust the low and high settings too, so I don't want to set it too high and blow something. I think boost gauges are useful.

"What hose could you blow that would affect boost? Intercooler plumbing? Silicon hoses on the intake plumbing? They'd all REDUCE boost, so you don't have to worry"

I'm talking about the sequential setup of a late model rx7, which is my case. Your original post didn't specify 'skylines' which is why I responded as such. On my car, the boost gauge is a neccesity - which is why 'people' sometimes need them. However, I can't imagine why having a boost gauge would be a bad thing on any turbocharged car.

The defi gauges have a memory function - so you can record the boost gauge (for around 3 minutes) and play it back. This is a great little diagnostic tool - which has plenty of uses.

You are damn lucky to get DEFI link gauges! :) They are quite pricey aren't they? Is it true that when you start up the car the gauges calibrate and the pointer on the gauges moves right through the range? Example: If you have a boost gauge from 0bar to 2bar, when you start the car the "pointer" moves from 0 bar to 2 bar and then moves back down to 0bar? Nice :D

my cefiro has a tomei boost gauge and i have hardly looked at it. Mind u at present my EBC isnt wired up properly(so it looks), so i was curious as to what boost it was running, seems to be about 0.7bar or so.. Short of that i doubt i'll actually be looking at it :)

yeah, the gauge cycles on start up, beeps, has a whizz-bang closing down 'ceremony' etc

I got them because they are made by a company that specialises in gauges - not a company that makes all sorts of shit, and does gauges on the side.

I've shopped around and they are by far the best quality on the market.

And yeah, expensive, but not as bad from within japan (cost me about 34,000 yen for the control unit, boost gauge and holder)

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Thanks for that, I'll check it all out. I can always do the brakes last anyway if its a problem.  The 16's are super cool, if they do fit I'll cruise around with them for a bit.  
    • Well, that's kinda the point. The calipers might interfere with the inside of the barrels 16" rims are only about 14" inside the barrels, which is ~350mm, and 334mm rotors only leave about 8mm outboard for the caliper before you get to 350, And.... that;s not gunna be enough. If the rims have a larger ID than that, you might sneak it in. I'd be putting a measuring stick inside the wheel and eyeballing the extra required for the caliper outboard of the rotor before committing to bolting it all on.
    • OK, so again it has been a bit of a break but it was around researching what had been done since I didn't have access to Neil's records and not everything is obvious without pulling stuff apart. Happily the guy who assembled the engine had kept reasonable records, so we now know the final spec is: Bottom end: Standard block and crank Ross 86.5mm forgies, 9:1 compression Spool forged rods Standard main bolts Oil pump Spool billet gears in standard housing Aeroflow extended and baffled sump Head Freshly rebuilt standard head with new 80lb valve springs Mild porting/port match Head oil feed restrictor VCT disabled Tighe 805C reground cams (255 duration, 8.93 lift)  Adjustable cam gears on inlet/exhaust Standard head bolts, gasket not confirmed but assumed MLS External 555cc Nismo injectors Z32 AFM Bosch 023 Intank fuel pump Garret 2871 (factory housings and manifold) Hypertune FFP plenum with standard throttle   Time to book in a trip to Unigroup
    • I forgot about my shiny new plates!
    • Well, apparently they do fit, however this wont be a problem if not because the car will be stationary while i do the suspension work. I was just going to use the 16's to roll the old girl around if I needed to. I just need to get the E90 back on the road first. Yes! I'm a believer! 🙌 So, I contacted them because the site kinda sucks and I was really confused about what I'd need. They put together a package for me and because I was spraying all the seat surfaces and not doing spot fixes I decided not to send them a headrest to colour match, I just used their colour on file (and it was spot on).  I got some heavy duty cleaner, 1L of colour, a small bottle of dye hardener and a small bottle of the dye top coat. I also got a spray gun as I needed a larger nozzle than the gun I had and it was only $40 extra. From memory the total was ~$450 ish. Its not cheap but the result is awesome. They did add repair bits and pieces to the quote originally and the cost came down significantly when I said I didn't need any repair products. I did it over a weekend. The only issues I had were my own; I forgot to mix the hardener into the dye two coats but I had enough dye for 2 more coats with the hardener. I also just used up all the dye because why not and i rushed the last coat which gave me some runs. Thankfully the runs are under the headrests. The gun pattern wasn't great, very round and would have been better if it was a line. It made it a little tricky to get consistent coverage and I think having done the extra coats probably helped conceal any coverage issues. I contacted them again a few months later so I could get our X5 done (who the f**k thought white leather was a good idea for a family car?!) and they said they had some training to do in Sydney and I could get a reduced rate on the leather fix in the X5 if I let them demo their product on our car. So I agreed. When I took Bec in the E39 to pick it up, I showed them the job I'd done in my car and they were all (students included) really impressed. Note that they said the runs I created could be fixed easily at the time with a brush or an air compressor gun. So, now with the two cars done I can absolutely recommend Colourlock.  I'll take pics of both interiors and create a new thread.
×
×
  • Create New...