What are the 2 most important gauges that I should put in my FD? I want to put them on a gauge pod/piller mount right next to the windshield towards the left side. Also, what are the best gauges to purchase?

 

I'd say boost and water temp..

 

Second that.

 

Boost and then watertemp. After that, EGT, Fuel pressure, Oil Temp etc..
How much do you want to spend? Do you want something that works (Autometer) or something that will amaze your friends? (Defi, etc)

 

Oops, I forgot to mention that I have a temp gauge already. I want to put the best gauges in my FD, I don't like using cheap aftermarket parts. I have plenty of money, so this wouldn't be a problem for me getting the best stuff for my little baby. Why is the EGT important? Also, are there any great companies that makes gauges that will match the rest of the interior?

Thank you for all your help guys.

 

egt (exhaust gas temp) gauges show exactly that, exhaust temp. the hotter you run, the more lean you run. it is a very good and accurate way to tune and watch what is happening with the a/f ratio. of course you also have to know what values are the safe zone and what is too hot. i have no clue there.

 

About the companies that make the gauges from what I've seen and heard Apexi and HKS are some of the best gauges. Just my .02 someone else may have a diffrent opinion.

 

From what I have found, Blitz gauges are the most stock looking gauges.

 

I highly recommend Defi gauges... I have the boost gauge and my water temp is on the way. The green is a very good contrast with our stock lighting and the needles look the same. It also seems very accurate and has many features that i havent even had a chance to play with yet...... Not to mention the daisy chain system.

 

I think the Autometer gauges look the most stock. They have the Amber backlight, red pointer, and black backing. The boost (without a doubt), and A/F ratio. I would say temp. but you already have that one.

 

yeah I love blitz gauge also....but those are the olders ones...the newer ones dont look oem anymore

I have a white SPI boost gauge that I will install when I put my white gauge faces back in...and a old white face blitz EGT also...blitz boost is only in Bar which iritates me...my SPi is inlbs..

Looking for older white faced blitz 52mm gauge for fuel pressure if anyone is selling...

water temp I rely on the PFC commander....

 

I have a set of Autometer gauges, they match the stock lighting and look very good. Also they are in standard units of measurment so I can understand them. Screw Bar and Celius and $hit.
The best gauge for the price is the autometer gauges.
Ormin (sp) is supposed to be introducing a line of gagues that match the stock amber light with a chrome bezel, there was a thread on here of few days ago, do a search and contact them.

You can spend all you want on gauges, but I rather put the money into other stuff.

 

Yeah, I know that they changed the Blitz gauges. Luckily I got them b4 they changed. The new ones aren't that far off though. I had Autometer on my car when I bought it and when you compare the Autometer to the Blitz in terms of factory looking there is no comparison. The Autometer has an orange needle, not red plus it is not translucent like the Blitz and the stock ones. Also the Autometer is front lit where the Blitz are backlit like stock. The numbers are more stock looking on the Blitz too. The only thing that was different was the fact that the light was white but I just put a orange cover over the bulb (same on Autometer) and now the numbers light up the exact same as stock. The Blitz are in metric units but I understand metric fine so that wasn't a big deal to me. The Blitz gauge is only about $20 more than Autometer too.

This is definitely just my opinion and more of a rant on Autometer than a rave on Blitz. I am just one of those people that dislike Autometer and considering I have owned it, I think I can say that.

 

I woudl say the 2 most important gauges depend on your ECU. If you haev an aftermarket stand alone which pretty much tells you air temp, wtr temp, boost, fuel temp, a/f, etc. THen without a doubt 2 most important are boost and EGT. if no stand alone, I woudl say boost and a/f

EGT, lets you knwo exhaustr temp so that you can tune your car better, )@ sensors are desigend to be most accurate at a specific exhaust temp. so by knowing the exhasut temp you can better know your air/fuel ratio.

Also, good security for a turboed car.

 

I agree with FD3S Lightning on both brand and what gauges to get. I asked the same question and the response was to get a Boost gauge and an Air/Fuel Ratio gauge. The air/fuel will tell you if you are running lean or rich and the Boost will show you boost and vacuum levels. I have personally looked around for a while now and found that the Autometer gauges look the most stock. The Sport-Comp series in my opinion are the best looking ones. They have the same look as the stock with the orange/red/amber (whatever) color backlight.
Check out their site and have a look.
Http://www.autometer.com
I however do not know about the accuracy of the Autometer products. I have heard a fair amount of people say that they suck, but they make a lot of gauges. Certainly people like them and they must be working ok otherwise they would not produce so many.

 

I find it hard to believe that a EGT or A/F gauge would be more important than temperature. I'm sure most everyone knows, but for those that don't, the stock temperature gauge is not linear. It quickly goes to normal, then continues to read normal for a wide range of temperatures, and then suddenly goes up abruptly when temps are high. So essentially it doesn't read high until it's already too late. I would think for a car that is so prone to coolant problems and overheating this gauge would be important enough to put on a column where it will get attention versus just looking at a PFC to get the reading.

But hey, I'm a hypocrite because I only have a boost gauge and a digital A/F gauge....
(but that will change soon!)

As far as brands, if you have the money I like the Apexi and Greddy boost gauges since they have peak hold and/or memory playback. But I haven't seen the Blitz, so I don't know how they compare.

 

I went with boost an egt because I have to buy a PFC so that will tell water temp anyway, so why not save money on the guages.

 

Water Temp and Boost are most important. But, since you already have Water Temp, then i suggest you get a Boost guage and EGT guage. EGT is much more accurate and better than a a/f gauge.

As for which gauge to get... It depends what you want. The MOST stock looking would be the defi, blitz or the Autometer. Autometer is very cheap and not accurate. Defi gauges are very very accurate and look just like stock. Get Defi guages.

1FAST7

 

This is what I found from the stock temp gauge. It reads half way from 65C to ~99C, the nit starts to move. at 108C( the point where thermoswitch is activated) it is at 3/4 mark on gauge.

 

TailHappy, I agree about the temp gauge. You should definitly replace the temperature guage. From what I have heard, you should change the temperature and the oil pressure gauges as they can both read inaccuratly. I was thinking those would go in place of the existing temp and oil gauges and the boost and A/F would go in the pods.

Thanks!

UPDATE: I found the gauges. The Defi definitly look better. So you folks are saying the ETG is better than the A/F Gauge?

 

RIGHT ON!! Autometer makes nice gauges. It seems that people think they suck because they are cheap. This is not true.

 

http://www.rx7store.net/ignition1.htm

It might not match perfect but mine will be on the right side.

* Nice to see a lady on the forum

Oh, btw...since you can afford it then you should get the electronic gauges.

I vote for Boost, water & oil temp guages.

 

boost and egt

 

Im sorry.... but i would never spend close to $200 on an autometer boost gauge. Thats just throwing money away.

 

I just read alot of the other replies and generally agree with them. I have an autometer boost gauge (about 2 yrs old) and it consistently reads 2 psi too high. You get what you pay for, and autometers are cheap gauges.

I just purchased a pair of gauges which I recommend you get: 60mm electrical Greddy Boost and Air/Fuel, both with peak/hold and warning. The 60mm gauges will fit in a typical pillar mount; you just have to sand the inner portion of the circular mount. They're both electrical, which is more accurate than mechanical.

Talking with Dave at KD Rotary (who knows a thing or two about FDs ), in his experience the Greddy air/fuel gauge is about the most accurate you can get, with the exception of a $1300 wide band o2 sensor, of course. The Greddy a/f gauge comes with it's own 4 wire 02 sensor, which mounts in the stock position. I also like it b/c you don't have to do any conversions as you would in an EGT gauge; 12.0:1 a/f is 12.0:1, and that's it. You can also set it to warn (via a red LED) you if you run too lean, which is a great feature. I purchased the silver faced gauges b/c at night the red backlight should closely match stock.

I purchased them both through gothamracing.com for right around $500. I'm pretty sure Jason at the Rx7store also sells them.

Hope this helps--