Guages Nessassary w/ Haltech+laptop?
 

Just like the title asks: Are a multitude of guages really nessassary if you have a Haltech system installed and a laptop to monitor it. All I really find nessassary is the boost guage. Well, what do you guys think???

Re: Guages Nessassary w/ Haltech+laptop?
 

Are you going to be looking at your laptop constantly to see if the water temp rises over 100 degrees celsius?

...then you better get a gauge...

Are you going to have the laptop with you every time you drive? Are you going to squint to see the numbers? I doubt it. There are very good reasons that we "upgrade" the gauges, water temp and oil pressure among others are VITAL in any engine especially a rotary.

thanks a lot guys...Just got my 7 today!!!!!

The real problem I was initially facing is where I was gonna fit all the gauges, and how it was gonna look when done (Don't really wanna look like a 'Rikki' with his 1337 gauges in the door frame :P)
I was also wondering...which gauges should I put in? The car has a P.O.S. autometer turbo gauge in a center wheel mount that doesn't even light up :\
Since I plan to race my car I would assume I DEFINATELY need A: boost gauge B: water temp C: oil temp - Which I could mount on the center wheel mount and a Border front dash mount (two gauge mount)

I was also thinking about oil/fuel pressure gauges (perhaps that Greddy dual needle pressure gauge?) and air/fuel ratio gauge, what do you guys think? did i leave anything important out? Are the Pressure gauges important enough that I have to be looking at them while track driving? Or are they just for tuning purposes?(in which case I could get away w/ just the laptop)

THanks again for the help!

Jason

come on guys....some input plz?!? :)

gauges are really a matter of personal preference. a boost gauge would be sufficient. if you plan to race, as you say, you might want a temp gauge. I would go with water temp, since coolant seals are really what you need to be concerned about. laptop LCD is bad for several reasons:

1. would require some sort of power source-will kill the batteries very quickly and there have been problems with inverters.

2. where would you mount or position this thing? People have trouble mounting a PFC commander. if you are going to race, this thing is going to be flying around all over the place.

3. viewing-aside from mounting it where you can see it AND drive, have you ever seen a lcd in a hot car? it goes black very quickly.

4. security-are you gonna lug this thing inside with you every time you get in/out of the car? or leave it in the hopes someone will smash your window and take it?

just my limited observations from having the datalogit and a laptop in my car...

oh if it's just for tuning, on a dyno, it should be fine, but I would still get a good boost gauge.

yeah, i just basically need the essential gauges for racing...

I guess the real question is: Are pressure guages and air/fuel gauges really nessassary to observe when racing or driving hard?

Also the EGT gauge...is it at all nessassary? I don't see what purpose it serves with people are running straight through pipes shooting flames out the back with no worries :)

The pressure gauge's and a/f guge are necessary to tune, but after that, they're just for troubleshooting and monitoring.

The EGT can be used to tune your fuel and timing. Basically, the lower the better.