Best Boost, A/F, and Oil Temp Gauges

[JP]

I've had a good run with Stewart Warner gauges for oil temp/pressure and boost. For wideband I prefer the NGK AFX with NTK sensor for it's sensor durability and accuracy, but the display on it is pretty average and it has no serial output.

I tend to street tune with the AFX, then switch in a cheaper innovate unit with bosch sensor for monitoring.

I've also used a set of speedhut revolution gauges in my latest project car. Nice electrical stepper gauges with a neat mounting solution and shallow depth. They come with decent senders but the wiring looms are quite bulky compared to Defi/Greddy etc. Nice thing with the Speedhut gauges is you can specify the number/needle colours, bezel style/colour, customise the face/font etc etc.
They also make AF gauges for a variety of wideband controllers so you can have a complete matching set. http://www.speedhut.com/

[s2d4]

Originally Posted by No Limit Motorsport

The cheap gauges use cheap quality "sender" units I.E. the boost reading unit, or oil pressure unit. I have never seen a Chinese made wideband but I am sure they exist.

The more expensive brands such as Defi, Stack, AEM, Greddy etc use higher quality, more accurate, more durable components.

Most components are still made in china, and to the same quality as the server grade motherboards via companies like HP, apple, microsoft etc.

Still not 100% sure what you are saying. There is the gauge, the controller and the bosch wideband sensor. My guess is that according to your "sender" terminlogy, the one used for prosport AFR gauge is the bosch sensor? Not sure what you were claiming but bosch isn't a cheap senor at all.
The controller also allows you to calibrate (remove inaccuracies) the sensor as we all know they deteriorate over time.

As for scaling 0-5V to the measured values, it only takes one line of code in the microcontroller and is basically a multimeter on the input. Since this is an analog input, the resolution is already handled by that one line of code.
This is childs play compare to apple products that are pumped out by foxconn (taiwanese company) in chinese factories. A difference of 0.01 volts in this day and age can cost you 1 ghz of 64bit instructions cycles.

[No Limit Motorsport]

Originally Posted by s2d4

Still not 100% sure what you are saying.

To be clear I was not referring to any poorly made widebands. I have yet to see one, and many use similar hardware such as the Bosch sensor, which is great. This is why I specifically said I have never seen a cheaply made wideband.

I have seen a lot of poorly made gauges other than widebands, such as boost, oil pressure, or temperature. The senders that come with these gauges are NOT the same senders you get with the higher end stuff. The other installation components included are often usually of poor quality too such as the wiring harness's, air tubing, fittings, and mounting hardware.

The $55 Prosport and similar brand gauges that a lot of vendors push are made poorly, give off inaccurate readings, and have a high failure rate. They seem like a good deal because they are cheap, but many times you end up having to buy another set of gauges again, or end up having non-working gauges shortly after install.

Example of a terrible gauge - I have thrown at least 10 of these in the garbage over the years
http://prosportgauges.com/Clear-lens...gauge-1-1.aspx


TL/DR - When it comes to gauges, you get what you pay for.

[No Limit Motorsport]

Originally Posted by cdemaar

Where did you end up mounting them? Pics?

I am installing a boost gauge in our car today. I am using a Stack gauge with the DCW single gauge pod. Here it is just laid on the dash.

[s2d4]

Originally Posted by No Limit Motorsport

Example of a terrible gauge - I have thrown at least 10 of these in the garbage over the years
http://prosportgauges.com/Clear-lens...gauge-1-1.aspx


TL/DR - When it comes to gauges, you get what you pay for.

Haven't tried that one.

I've tried the AFR and the Dual air temp ones. As mentioned previously the AFR uses Bosch sensor. This bosch sensor is also hooked up to my standalone ecu for the 4agze and they both match within 0.1.

No idea about the temp sensor, it always differs from the IAT by 0.2 degrees (most probably due to location) so is also reliable in my case.

[F1point4]

Went with AEM Failsafe. Wanted the most discrete install possible while showing AFR and Boost

I have more info in my journal


20130615-AEMWidebandGaugePics-055 by VictorN07, on Flickr


20130616-AEMWidebandFailsafeFinished-019 by VictorN07, on Flickr

[jamesm]

You can spend a fortune on gauges if you try hard enough. Defi prices are a joke. Personally I use a prosport electronic boost gauge and it has worked like a charm through two vehicles now. Cost me $99 years ago.

aem failsafe is good value and you get two gauges in one, helps keep the ricey gauges to a minimum in the interior.

The main thing is just that they're electronic. If I had to do it again is probably just use the obd2 vent gauge thing above.

[JerryMichaels7]

Originally Posted by No Limit Motorsport

The AEM gauges are very popular. Innovate Motorsports has some nice ones too. Defi's are sweet, but pricey and they do not have a wideband. Avoid the cheap Prosport etc brands, they are inaccurate and the senders have a high failure rate. You will just end up buying gauges twice.

The AEM wideband/Boost failsafe is cool, I just wish it was easier to toggle between showing wideband or boost. It is annoying to have to connect with laptop to change it. In my cases we just end up installing a separate boost gauge.

I thought that with the AEM failsafe you could have both at the same time?? One on the outside and the other in the digital reading. Is this not the case?

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by JerryMichaels7

I thought that with the AEM failsafe you could have both at the same time?? One on the outside and the other in the digital reading. Is this not the case?

Yes, you have both at the same time. What he is saying is that it's annoying that to switch the digital and LED displays between Boost/AFR, you need to connect a cable and laptop.

[Ross]

I like the aem fail safe as I have found them to be very reliable and accurate. There are several different ways to set them up so try out a few different ways and see what you like.




Beings I can not get the pictures to work see this link.
http://s1282.photobucket.com/user/Tr...?sort=3&page=1

This is how we have mounted the one we did. Depending on seating position and steering wheel position this may not work well for some though. As for oil temp I would just use an obd based monitoring gauge as you can have more options and not have to add more sensors. One thing I would love to see get more attention gauge wise is egt. For some reason people have all but lost concern for egt in force induction applications and is definitely something that should be monitored (my opinion ).