HardPlant

Evening all! (Well, it is in the UK at least!)

I have recently bought a new S5 FC 'Vert. It's UK Spec T2, with everything apart from the exhaust, suspension and wheels stock.

While I was driving it home, I noticed that the boost gauge only ever crept slightly above the 0 position under very hard acceleration, right to the redline. At idle, it sits at the bottom, which I'd expect, but with the engine off but ignition on, it also sit right at the bottom, where I'd expect it to be at 0.

The exhaust is so loud I can't hear the turbo spooling over it. (If anybody in the UK wants a loud stainless twin exit for their FC, it might be up for swapsies for a quieter system!)

Can any FC TII owners tell me where their boost gauge needle point with the a: ignition on, engine not running, b: ignition on, engine running, c: what the highest point it points to on a stock engine is, and d: where it generally points during normal driving, eg holding about 60mph for example.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Jpk3200

Here are my experiences while driving my '90 TII.

moves from -20 to 0 with ignition on , engine not running

reads at -20. I run an aftermarket boost gauge as well, and my idle (when warmed up at ~700 rpm non-ported engine) is about 17 inches

I have the Racing Beat REV II system, and I have an FCD, so it will not read my actual max psi on the stock gauge. It will read at the dash below the +45 mark on the stock gauge (aftermarket reads ~10 psi)

in 5th gear, flat road, and just enough throttle to maintain 60 mph, reads somewhere between -20 and 0 (aftermarket gauge reading around 15 inches of vacuum).

I know a lot of people dislike the stock gauge, and I really can't blame them. The response time is slow, and the scale makes it impossible to know exactly what vacuum/boost pressures the engine sees. However, I will say that the "0" mark is pretty spot on as far as telling you whether or not there is boost (comparing to the aftermarket gauge).

I had the same problem with mine years ago. No matter how hard I romped on it, the stock gauge would barely rise above "0". Ended up being a pretty big boost leak around the intercooler as well as the turbo.. Hope this helps.