Gauge Pods?!?

[King Tut]

Dave,
The problem I have with any of the solutions that involve surface mounting on the dash or in front of the gauge cluster is the wiring being exposed and looking very aftermarket. I have the single gauge pod, and I will try to take a pic for you from my driving position and head position because I can tell you I have lost no vision. The angle of the pod keeps the gauge and pod in the same line of sight as the A pillar itself which you can't see through anyways. I don't know if this would be the case with additional gauges mounted higher on the pillar though. I still feel the A pillar is the best location to give you full OEM gauge cluster viewing and a gauge right in your line of sight when on the track. By the way your positioning of an oil pressure gauge had me thinking, does this car have an OEM low oil pressure light? Has anyone seen it flash during hard cornering?

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Dave,
The problem I have with any of the solutions that involve surface mounting on the dash or in front of the gauge cluster is the wiring being exposed and looking very aftermarket. I have the single gauge pod, and I will try to take a pic for you from my driving position and head position because I can tell you I have lost no vision. The angle of the pod keeps the gauge and pod in the same line of sight as the A pillar itself which you can't see through anyways. I don't know if this would be the case with additional gauges mounted higher on the pillar though. I still feel the A pillar is the best location to give you full OEM gauge cluster viewing and a gauge right in your line of sight when on the track. By the way your positioning of an oil pressure gauge had me thinking, does this car have an OEM low oil pressure light? Has anyone seen it flash during hard cornering?

Done correctly, there is no exposed wiring. That's why I'm talking about solvent welding to the panels, the cup will be against the OEM part and holes will be cut in the OEM part to fit the gauge and allow wiring.

I probably wasn't super clear on that in the original post. The method I consider correct not only removes visible wiring but also lowers the gauge to basically right against the panel. If you examine (hard from the one pic) the Integra solution I used you can somewhat tell that the gauge actually sits in the OEM panel, there are holes cut for the gauge and the face of the gauge actually extends slightly below the plane of the original panel.

I just dislike A pillar solutions. I know some people love them and that's fine. I will probably go with that solution in the interim (no other options except the ugly surface mount cup with exposed wiring at the moment, and I hate that even more) but I want to check MSA's return policy in case I find it obnoxious before I use it Either way once I have time (or a vendor does) to come up with a "better" solution I'd be selling the A pillar pod.

Oh and none of my comments on the A Pillar pod is a statement on quality of work by any vendors, it's just a personal preference on gauge location.

There is a factory oil pressure idiot light. I haven't seen it flash, not do I know what it's activation PSI is. If it's like a Honda, which was more of a "hey turn off the engine within 3 seconds or it's toast!" light, then it's probably useless for my needs

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

I probably wasn't super clear on that in the original post. The method I consider correct not only removes visible wiring but also lowers the gauge to basically right against the panel. If you examine (hard from the one pic) the Integra solution I used you can somewhat tell that the gauge actually sits in the OEM panel, there are holes cut for the gauge and the face of the gauge actually extends slightly below the plane of the original panel.

That method does sound nice, but I definitely wouldn't want to be cutting holes in the top of my dash, but the steering rack surround I could definitely see. The other downside is that the gauges are down in the line of sight of the OEM gauges, and we all know we very rarely check those when on the track and not on a long straight away, haha. I like the A pillar solution because it is in my line of sight the majority of the time. I'm moving the gauges/warning lights in my racecar up to on top of the dash as well in this offseason because I hated only being able to check them on straightaways. I don't care about drilling holes in that 25 year old cracked dash, haha.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

There is a factory oil pressure idiot light. I haven't seen it flash, not do I know what it's activation PSI is. If it's like a Honda, which was more of a "hey turn off the engine within 3 seconds or it's toast!" light, then it's probably useless for my needs

I believe it is 7 psi in my BMW. Will be interesting to see your oil pressure results once you get the gauge in. I haven't heard anyone talk to the baffling in our oil pans and if it is sufficient for high G cornering on R comps.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by King Tut

That method does sound nice, but I definitely wouldn't want to be cutting holes in the top of my dash, but the steering rack surround I could definitely see. The other downside is that the gauges are down in the line of sight of the OEM gauges, and we all know we very rarely check those when on the track and not on a long straight away, haha. I like the A pillar solution because it is in my line of sight the majority of the time. I'm moving the gauges/warning lights in my racecar up to on top of the dash as well in this offseason because I hated only being able to check them on straightaways. I don't care about drilling holes in that 25 year old cracked dash, haha.

Oh I wouldn't cut the dash itself but the cheap gauge hood or steering column cover is fair game IMO

I'm in the habit of checking mine on straights. Got into the habit because of the race car and never knowing when it would blow up My race car doesn't have a dash, so they are attached to the "dash" bar of the cage instead. Out of line of site for sure, but that's as high as I could go with that setup.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by King Tut

I believe it is 7 psi in my BMW. Will be interesting to see your oil pressure results once you get the gauge in. I haven't heard anyone talk to the baffling in our oil pans and if it is sufficient for high G cornering on R comps.

Yeah I'm interested to see what it'll show also. The CANBUS shows oil temp but for pressure it's only on/off (ie low pressure or not). Honda was 3PSI IIRC.

I run baffled pans in my other cars so we shall see. Next track day is Feb 23/24 at Sebring so the cooler and gauges will be installed by then.

[PrimeMotoring]

When I finish this run of pods I may offer a solution with a spacer to add if the steering wheel blocks sight of the pod. I found its a matter of your height and how you keep your steering wheel. I'm 6'1 and Have no problem seeing the gauge with how I keep my steering wheel.

[serial gixxer]

If the airbags deployed, is there a chance that a gauge/gauges in a pillar pod could be damaged?

*Forgot to mention that I'd like to compliment everybody on their pod designs. I'm digging all of them and just need to determine which setup would work best for me. Thanks everyone!

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by King Tut

I believe it is 7 psi in my BMW. Will be interesting to see your oil pressure results once you get the gauge in. I haven't heard anyone talk to the baffling in our oil pans and if it is sufficient for high G cornering on R comps.

I haven't seen the FA oil pan taken apart, but you should reach out to Crawford and ask what they saw when they tore theirs apart. Stock windage trays/baffling haven't been adequate in the long-run for high G corner on R comps, from my perusal of the WRX forums (oil pooling in heads from cornering forces). Hence Killer B Motorsport's awesome oil pan, pickup, and windage tray for the EJ series.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by serial gixxer

If the airbags deployed, is there a chance that a gauge/gauges in a pillar pod could be damaged?

*Forgot to mention that I'd like to compliment everybody on their pod designs. I'm digging all of them and just need to determine which setup would work best for me. Thanks everyone!

I would say there is a very good chance of damage to the gauges, but that is the last thing I would be worrying about at the time.

[msa]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Done correctly, there is no exposed wiring. That's why I'm talking about solvent welding to the panels, the cup will be against the OEM part and holes will be cut in the OEM part to fit the gauge and allow wiring.

I probably wasn't super clear on that in the original post. The method I consider correct not only removes visible wiring but also lowers the gauge to basically right against the panel. If you examine (hard from the one pic) the Integra solution I used you can somewhat tell that the gauge actually sits in the OEM panel, there are holes cut for the gauge and the face of the gauge actually extends slightly below the plane of the original panel.

I just dislike A pillar solutions. I know some people love them and that's fine. I will probably go with that solution in the interim (no other options except the ugly surface mount cup with exposed wiring at the moment, and I hate that even more) but I want to check MSA's return policy in case I find it obnoxious before I use it Either way once I have time (or a vendor does) to come up with a "better" solution I'd be selling the A pillar pod.

Oh and none of my comments on the A Pillar pod is a statement on quality of work by any vendors, it's just a personal preference on gauge location.

There is a factory oil pressure idiot light. I haven't seen it flash, not do I know what it's activation PSI is. If it's like a Honda, which was more of a "hey turn off the engine within 3 seconds or it's toast!" light, then it's probably useless for my needs

If you buy our pods, we'll happily allow you to return it. We refund your full payment minus shipping costs is all. We have had 1 return so far in 2 years of making these for Gen Coupes, and that's because the guy sold his car. So we are 100% confident in our product and will always back it up.

[msa]

Originally Posted by serial gixxer

If the airbags deployed, is there a chance that a gauge/gauges in a pillar pod could be damaged?

*Forgot to mention that I'd like to compliment everybody on their pod designs. I'm digging all of them and just need to determine which setup would work best for me. Thanks everyone!

There's a chance with any type of pressure like that. But let's go through the scenario. We mold onto the factory pillars, so the clips break away just like factory. We only drill as many holes as there are pillars to run wires and that's all, so your gauges will still at least have a plastic "barrier" from the physical airbag. The only real concern would be the wires, tubing, and whatever else you have that's running through the hole. As long as there is enough slack, you have a better chance of not damaging anything. When placing it into position after everything is wired should give you the proper slack, anyway. Mechanical boost gauge sure, but we highly recommend electrical gauges when you're doing oil temp, oil pressure...basically anything liquid.

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

That's one of the options I posted, the problem comes when you need two gauges, some people won't like losing sight of most of the coolant temp gauge.

When you need two gauges and only have room for one...



I'm probably going to go with the SPA Techniques DG 213 gauge because there is no room for two gauges in the dash area looking through the steering wheel. I don't feel like blocking off the water temp gauge, even if it's an 'idiot' gauge - but the stupidly redundant and worthless analog speedometer is fair game. Should be able to see the programmable warning lights fine in my periphery as the shift light is easily viewable without directly looking at it. Plan to modify the column cover to graft on a gauge pod, making it look like a factory piece.

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by PrimeMotoring

Heres my solution to relocating the buttons from the cluster

Originally Posted by PrimeMotoring

Tough thing is that the brz has that panel used up already for the headlight leveling. I have to figure out a spot I can move it to elsewhere in the car but most likely it would need a harness extension.

Prime this is my BRZ area for relocating the buttons. Isn't the space right of the Trunk Release the one you used for the FRS relocation? If yes, ins't it available in the BRZ? (See pictures below)