Let's have a good ol' fashioned debate... Subject: Gauges.
 

Which gauges do we really, truly, absolutely need?

I'm going with a T4 turbo, front mount, RB exhaust, etc. However, I want the car to remain as close to stock appearance as possible. My old T2 had the double pillar gauges, and guess what? That was a nice, attractive sign... for thieves.

So, I want to have the bare minimum of gauges. I don't want anything in the pillar if at all possible. I'm running a double DIN stereo, so no room down there. I have an idea for a 3 gauge mount, if I can pull it off, so guys, give me your absolute top three gauges.

Oil temp, and pressure, and water temp.

Oil pressure not so much, the stock gauge works fine. Oil and water temp, boost. Those would be the most important in your case I'd think.

What's your idea for a mount? I think one could put gauges in the center vent area no problem.

boost pressure, AFR, and fuel pressure

i would say water temp, boost, and oil temp or egt. i would say those are important to monitor with big HP.

wideband!

you dont even need gauges if you dont want them. there are a couple companies that make sensors that will trip a warning light (for your critical functions) so you can have like
low oil psi light
high temp lights
A boost gauge is nice for setup, but not really needed day to day
widebands are expensive to run (and not really needed) day to day, but are also nice for setup.

So if you Have to have gauges boost, egt, and a simple AFR. if you combine those with the warning lights you cover all the bases, and can keep an eye on the day to day stuff.

people bad mouth simple AFR's but there accurate enough to tell you when something fed up.

how long will a wideband sensor last if left in the downpipe? i thought i read they die fast

i second that 87 t-66, def the MOST important. Even more important the egt... Pineapple Racing duel egt gauge. Have you seen it? whooooot!

Keep it further away from the turbo and it'll last a while(at least 30k), its supposed to stay below 1300 *F, or it will severely shorten the life (ask me how I know lol)

there are different grade 02 sensors for wideband. if you buy the cheap pne, you'll buy them more often

wideband should only be needed during tuning or when making changes. for everyday driving or at the track id say water temp, oil pressure, and a far third being boost, but maybe oil temp. changes in these would be the most dangerous.

You can Take your stock gauge cluster, cut out the holes for the gauges on the plastic of the gauge cluster and use that as your gauge pods. Thats what Im going to do. Im doing oil temp, oil press, wideband A/F, dual EGT (if i can still get that pineapple one) boost, and water temp. And if I feel like bein cool ill even put a monster tach :D we shall see

wideband is extremely important during driving. how will you know if you are leaning out without it? unless you think detonating is fun, and rebuilds are cheap... wideband

i would say Boost, Water Temp, and EGT

Boost - becuase you should know boost levels..
Water Temp - lol obvious reasons
EGT - running big boost you should monitor shiz like that.

i would say wideband A/F but i heard from different people that when WOT they dont give out accurate reading. thats just what i heard. but if that is false. then i would get the Wideband A/F over the EGT.

just my 2 cents

Boost, water temp, oil temp, oil pressure (who ever said the stock gauge is fine is a space cadet).

EGT / Wideband would also be nice. You really do not need them in your car when you are DD. However, you can learn alot about how engines run just by watching those gauges daily.

James

Well, the one thing I learned from my last T2... The stock oil pressure gauge is like a hooker: It's all over the place, and it sucks balls. So, that's definitely being replaced. I debated building a custom insert for the stock cluster, but I'm wondering how I'd hook up an aftermarket speedo to that, or are they all interchangeable?

I can't believe I forgot boost, that one is more important than oil pressure, but the stock oil pressure gauge is junk, how many stock gauges are blown, and don't work? I know mine doesn't.

Well for the oil pressure, most of what the gauge is telling you is if you've got pressure and warning you if it's really low due to some sort of problem, the stock gauge will do that just fine. Sure it won't tell you exactly what the pressure is at that moment, but for 3 gauges (remember that limit now) I'd say it's more important to know if you're overheating or overboosting, as those will kill your motor now, slightly low pressure might just contribute to a little more wear.

I's say stuff like fuel pressure, egt, afr are good for tuning, diagnosing problems and things like that, but aren't that important for daily driving,because unless something goes wrong they should just play the same thing over and over.

You have to be careful when putting gauges in that you don't overload yourself with too much information to be useful, or to be comprehended. It can be distracting, or you'll not look at them. It's also important to put them as close to your line of sight as possible. Gauges way off to the side or way down low aren't good.

that dual EGT guage is just SEXXX in my eyes!!!
saving up as we speak!!
im curious though??
does it run 2 probes to each runner onthe manifold BEFORE the turbo?

that would be the only way to get DUAL egt readings wouldnt it.

The actual temperature isnt as important as whats happening in each rotor. you can have an decent egt and still blow your motor. why, because one rotor is running lean and the other is fine, but the probe only reads combined egt.

Does anyone know where I can get aftermarket or universal DIGITAL Gauges (Tach and Speedo? and or any others???

Please pm me if you have some info on these

Thanks

check summit racing

sportcompactonly.com

nolimitmotorsport.com

they may have em

You're right, and I understand this, but thats assuming the stock gauge WORKS, mine, and many others doesn't work at all, sits below 0, or way about 8 on the Metric models. If thats the case, the stock water temp would also work, but with 20 year old electronics you are guestimating. I would have a Minimum 4 gauges, and I do, Boost, Water Temp, Oil pressure, and Oil Temp.

Boost, water temp, and oil pressure.

A wideband O2 sensor would be a good idea as well.

Here's where I got some of mine from:

http://www.egauges.com/