So now that I have a decent job, I plan on taking care of some of the things I have been neglecting since the car is basically bone stock. First off I was hoping to put in a new set of gauges, boost, Fuel pres, and one more. The problem is, I'm not sure whether I should go with a mechanical option, or use electric gauges. I'm trying to keep the car as close to stock looking as I can since cops in this area tend to have a superiority complex and drive 500 HP mustangs. That being said, which gauges would look/work best? I've looked at some of the offerings on rx7store.net, but the closest matches to stock I've seen were the Defi options, but those are kinda pricey, are there any other options out there that are close to stock, and preferably mechanical? What should my 3rd gauge be, I know a narrow band AFR gauge is kinda useless, but I'm having a tough time deciding what I should use.

Opinions? Thoughts?

I dont know if this will make any difference, but the car as it is now is running Simplified Seq, DP, Bonez HFC, and everything else is stock.

Thanks for the help.

 

Use electrical gauges (boost is ok for mechanical).

I would recommend getting gauges with peak/hold (or replay) functionality.

 

^^ bingo. Ideally you would want to recall information should bad things happen. This is so that you may be able to research why/how they went bad. This is helpful with the peak/hold Mahjik is talking about.

Buying quality gauges is also a good idea to help with accuracy of the information you are also receiving from the gauge. "Do things only once, and do them right."

 

Ive had these for 3 years work well electrical with a mechanical boost gauge

 

I am running AEM's new Analog series of gauges. They are very accurate, look good IMO (black face with white number matches stock VERY closely), and you can change the backlight color so it matches stock exactly, as well.

But really, everyone is going to have a different opinion on gauges- it's like asking "Synthetic or non-syn?" Everything is going to give you a different answer.

I just like the AEM Analog gauges because they are inexpensive, high quality, easy to use, accurate, and match the interior very well.

My .02 cents

 

Thanks all for the opinions, and I'm certainly not trying to start some kind of debate, I'm just looking for options so I can get this car respectable as quick as possible. I do kind of like those AEM ones, just out of curiosity though, regarding the peak/hold/replay functionality, what is the best way to go with that? I don't have a PFC at the moment, and honestly that is probably something at least a year or two down the line along with a single or BNR conversion, so what would be useful for data logging w/ the stock ECU until then, or should I just get standard gauges and use a PFC Commander when I get it, for the peak/hold/replay functionality.

 

i would get the pfc first, you can monitor water temp,idle,injector duty,air temp, timing, battery voltage,etc from the commander. you can get 1 plx multi gauge that can display many parameters via different modules.

http://www.plxdevices.com/imfd.html

 

PLX is ****. I'm having them installed on my car. Customer service thus far has been excellent.

 

I also really like the integrated PLX gauges. They are more complicated to install than normal gauges and (in my case) they are putting noise into my radio (known problem and I'm working through that) but they are a one display solution...

Display temperature and pressure modules installed

AFR module and Datalogit installed with PFC

Display - can also display up to four measurements simul. and display as many as you want independently. There is a button switch to operate the display. The display also has other modes like graphing/charting, digital, and you can even design your own gauge displays.

 

well I definitely like the PLX option, but the only problem I've had with it is that I have no real idea where to put the sensor modules, and how to power them so they will be out of the way of when I'll need to do eventual repairs to anything that can break in the cabin. ttmott I do like how yours are setup though, and I could probably put the modules in the same spots since I'm planning to run the gauges up through the center speaker if I get the PLX ones. Any other places I could put them and still have them out of the way? It's 3AM here so its too dark to check for myself, and I dont have the dimensions for the modules anyway, so if someone can chime in on other places they may fit it would be great. I am trying to keep things out of the rear bins, so I'm sure that limits available options.

 

+1 for the PFC first. Really just pick up a mechanical boost gauge and then the pfc. It will allow to you monitor the above listed items. No need to waste money on gauges that you can monitor on the pfc.

I am also going to be going with the PLX for my few remaining sensors (egt x2 and oil temp). A good spot for the modules is right behind the ecu. Plenty of room to stack the modules up on each other and great location to easily run wires to and from engine bay as well as to anywhere on the dash area.

 

I think if you search David Hayes posts he put his PLX modules under the foot rest and along the sill - all hidden.

Regarding keeping the factory ECM the only gauges really needed are coolant temperature and manifold pressure. The moment you step away from the factory controller or you start freeing up the engine's breathing Wide Band AFR must be added. You could use EGT in place of AFR or in conjunction with AFR but most tuning talent and information is centered around AFR. If you plan on doing your own tuning need to add a data logger.

The PFC is a great (probably the best) aftermarket ECM but the hand held display (commander) is hard to read as a gauge, marginal / difficult to tune with, does not access all of the tuning functions of the PFC, and has no logging function. The only rational solution to this is the Datalogit controller and logger with the FC Edit software.

Lastly, if you plan to step up to a PFC and Datalogit the PLX AFR module really needs to be close to the Datalogit and PFC (like I did it) as the WB and NB outputs are sensitive to interference and wire length. Same would apply to the stock ECM if you were going to feed the NB output from the PLX module to it.

 

Here is a useful thread that has some images
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...&highlight=vdo

I ended up going with the VDO gauges for boost and water temp. There is at least one picture in the thread below where I have them mounted in a dual center pod. They are inexpensive, high quality and match the originals better than any other. In my opinion an electronic boost gauge is not necessary. Mech works very well.

https://www.rx7club.com/auxiliary-injection-173/aem-water-injection-install-write-up-883642/

 

http://www.speedhut.com/
I've got 4 SPEEDHUT custom gauges that are as close as you are going to get to matching the stock gauges. They are reasonably priced and their customer service is great. Which is a hundred times better than I can say after dropping some serious money into the PLX OLED setup.

 

Ill say this, freakin' WOW. You guys never cease to amaze me with what you can pull out of your hats. At the moment those speedhut gauges look the closest, and the only question I have is how does the backlighting look against stock? And I saw those VDO gauges, and I liked them, but I've got the same questions there on the backlighting.

In any case, I was planning on holding out on the PFC for a year or two until I went single or got some BNRs, and made a whole build project out of it since my car needs some serious TLC. Thanks for the ideas, and keep 'em coming if anyone has anymore ideas.

 

Been using VDO for years, matches numbering/style of oem gauges perfectly. Amber lighting also matches very close to stock.

 

I just went PLX myself. Three of em in a flyrx7 center pod and life is good. What I really like about them is you don't have to keep tearing out your console to add more gauges, you just run a sensor and daisy chain the boxes together. Keeps down the christmas tree look and you have great customization and logability, even without a PFC.

 

The VDOs backlight matches very well. I can't tell the difference