My take on gauges...(opinions wanted)
 

What do you think are the most important gauges to have in your 93+ rx7? After doing some research I have found the following seem to be the most important (in order):

1.) Boost Gauge
2.) Water Temp Gauge
3.) EGT Gauge
4.) Oil Temp Gauge
5.) Oik Pressure Gauge
6.) A/F Ratio Meter

Tell me what you think. The boost gauge is obvious, and the water temp gauge is too, but beyond this is just my opinion. I doubt you actually need a water temp gauge if you linearize the stocker, although you won't know exact temps, I believe it is good enough. Opinions on this?

The EGT gauge seemed like a good third choice because it tells the condition of the engine itself, rich or lean at any given time.

Oil temp I didn't think was too important because I would think it would closely relate to water temp to oil temp, especially with dual oil coolers. Oil pressure is just thrown in there as another status check of the oil.

And the A/F ratio gauge (non-wideband) is last because it won't tell you much beyond a general idea of whether you are running rich or lean at WOT only. It is inaccurate and the EGT gauge functions much better for the same purpose.

So for my first gauges I would go with Boost, EGT and linearizing the stock water temp gauge. How does this sound? Agree or disagree?

i say... none.. get a PFC... and there u go all in one :D
or. if you wanna go with the Guage route...


get a HKS Hcon computer.. ... buy a motorized TV.. and use the TV to use all the guages the Hcon can use..

i know the Hcon Unit from HKS runs about 300 for base unit.. then u need to buy the senors. wich are about 200 bucks each... get ETG, Water temp, Boost and oil Temp. and oil pressure ( i say this because the stock guage breaks over time ) and for the A/f when you do get a wideband.. use the PFC or computer you are using.. I.E. Haltec, Motec, or AEM systems all use labtops. so look at that.



sleeper that is the look that counts :P

the EGT Gauge and A/F Ratio Meter are damn near useless, get on a true wideband for this. You could go with the PowerFC way but its kinda hard to read those small ass numbers when your going at 120+mph! :D

I chose these for my gauges:
- SPI boost gauge in RE column mount
- SPA fuel pressure / water temp dual digital in place of stock OP gauge
- SPA oil pressure / oil temp dual digital in place of the stock WT gauge
- TechEdge wideband O2 sensor
- J&S knock (useful) / narrowband A/F (almost useless) display

-Max

hey max, got any pics of your setup?

wow, I believe this is the first time I have ever heard someone say that an EGT is useless. I would have to disagree with that, even though I don't believe that it can be used to tune with, I do believe that monitoring it can help give you valuable info on what your car is doing. 97GST, I think you are on the right track with your gauge selection.

First of all, your gonna have to know how to read the temp and your also gonna have to know the temp for what ever distance you put it at as well, go with the wideband, its much less confusing.

BTW: If you are running too lean, its gonna be too late to do anything with the egt sensor, you will know how hot you ran when your engine popped but thats just about it.

as for the widebands, if you go with the diy widebands, you might be headed for a do it yourself engine rebuild! Personnaly, I trust motec only.

good luck

ditto! I wanna see how it turned out...replacing the stock gauges is the best idea I've ever heard!

Here's a little write-up I am working on, with my usual assortment of out-of-focus pics:
http://www.maxcooper.com/rx7/how-to/...ges/index.html

I still don't have the gauge pod installed in the car (hard to find time to work on it), and I'll be running without the oil temp sender for a bit. I'll post more pics once everything is installed.

I am not the first to do this. I know of at least two other people who used SPA dual digital gauges, and a bunch of people who have replaced the stock gauges with other analog gauges. I didn't want to do too much custom fab work or be forced to switch all the gauges, so my modified SPA gauges worked well. SPA has recently released new versions of these gauges with switchable red/green illumination and displays that remain readable in higher heats than the versions I have. Those should work even better. It was hard to find installation info before I started the project, so I decided to share my experiences.

-Max

I chose these gauges for mine
Defi-Link System
- Boost
- Water Temp
- Oil Temp
- EGT

Will be getting Oil Pressure, AFR, & Fuel Pressure some time...

Boost (duh)
I would like these two under my headunit (when I upgrade from stock)
-Fuel Pressure
-Oil Temp
and the stock (linerized) water temp
and oil pressure seem to be just fine.

apneablue - you sure do want a lot of gauges ;)

Gauges are cool, man! I want to be surrounded by gauges!...the next one I want is a real time tire pressure gauge in the cockpit :D...then right after that an ambient temperature gauge, belt tension gauge, a boost gauge voltage gauge, carbon monoxide gauge, windshield washer fluid gauge, dust mite gauge, fat composition gauge for the passenger seat (for the chiks). You get the idea :D...I have some others in mind that I have been working with the engineers at Defi to produce like a radio signal strength gauge. Take care y'all, it's too early for this :D

You're one crazy fool, but I I like it.

Hey Max, can you tell me where you purchased your SPA gauges?

SPA Design dual fuel pressure / water temp gauge from M2 Performance

:D

I got one from M2 (http://www.m2performance.com/) and the other from Pegasus (http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/). I think you can buy them directly (and be sure you get the new ones, if that is what you want): http://www.spatechnique.com/store.as...stID=391438113

What luck, it looks like they have a dust mite and fat composition dual meter!

-Max

I disagree with you that an EGT is a useless gauge, far from it when you are adjusting your timing/split on a dyno. A cheap A/F meter is useless on the other hand..

I use my PFC commander to monitor a lot of things while driving, if you use the 4-channel display with peak/hold activated it is very useful and not hard to read IMO. The 8-channel is too small however.. I usually have water temp, injector duty, intake air temp, and knock turned on. That along with Defi boost, EGT, and fuel pressure in the center pod.. if I tracked the car I would most certainly add oil pressure/temp as well.

Something like this?

http://www.hksusa.com/categories/?id=1082

Thanks guys. I've definitly got to get these SPA gauges. First time I've heard of'em. 2 in 1, lol this is the coolest thing I've ever seen :D .

I would take a water temp guage over linearizing the stock one. I would like to know numbers. If things get hot I'd like to know how hot. Or if I changed my radiator or cooling setup, I'd like to see if it changed a few degrees, instead of guessing on the position of the needle. In general, guages are useless if you don't know how to read them.

if you dyno-tune your car with a wideband. . . and its tuned correctly. . . you can use the egt for when you dont have a wideband meter in your car. who in the hell drives around with wideband o2 sensors in their car all the time. . . thats a little expensive if you ask me. when you get it tuned you can pay attention to your egt's and know where the safe point is for your system. everybody knows that each car is different. . . period, and an egt gauge is a very good option for everyday driving. its info that you will need for your cars well-being. wideband is only readable every-so-often. . . egt is readable all the time.

paul

Lot of people drive around with a wideband hooked up all the time. I will soon be one of them. The sensor for the TechEdge/DIY kits (and some of the commercial ones) is the stock sensor from a 95 Honda Civic, so it should last a long time. Some of the other wideband sensors have a very short life and, I agree, are not appropriate for permanent installation.

With durable widebands under $500 complete now, I think you will see more and more people running them all the time.

-Max