Race Car Tech Discuss anything related to road racing and auto X.

Accurate Gauges?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 03-16-06, 05:51 PM
  #1  
Panda Bear

Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
Turbo23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Lititz, PA
Posts: 1,732
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
Accurate Gauges?

Well Im tire of using gauges that are unreliable, and give many different readings. Im builiding my car for future time trials, hopefully future road racing. And I want something I can depend on. Boost, water temp, oil temp, and oil pressure will be the gauges
Old 03-16-06, 07:32 PM
  #2  
Learned alot | Alot to go

iTrader: (2)
 
CrackHeadMel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Rotaryland, New Hampshire
Posts: 4,232
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/
Old 03-16-06, 09:48 PM
  #3  
Panda Bear

Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
Turbo23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Lititz, PA
Posts: 1,732
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
lol yes i know about them, but Im looking for a brand. Ive found autometer to be off, and not very accurate. Can you be more specific as to what brand they sell that are half decent
Old 03-17-06, 04:39 AM
  #4  
Learned alot | Alot to go

iTrader: (2)
 
CrackHeadMel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Rotaryland, New Hampshire
Posts: 4,232
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
myself ive never hurd anything bad about racetech, and there prices are decent in the grand scheme of things. vdo seems to work fine for friends. also ive never had any problems with autometer myself, however have hurd of other people having problems. which autometer line didyou use?
Old 03-17-06, 05:06 AM
  #5  
Jesus is the Messiah

 
Tofuball's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Silver Spring, MD
Posts: 4,848
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I've heard of Autometer having issues, but never experienced it myself.

My VDO stuff has been very accurate.
Old 03-18-06, 01:51 PM
  #6  
Moderator

iTrader: (3)
 
j9fd3s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
Posts: 30,805
Received 2,578 Likes on 1,831 Posts
water and oil temp are easy, you can put the sensor in boiling water, and calibrate from there
Old 03-18-06, 08:42 PM
  #7  
Panda Bear

Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
Turbo23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Lititz, PA
Posts: 1,732
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
how about the SPA dual digital gauges? Anyone have experience? or know about them?
http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/gro...roupID=SPADUAL
Old 03-19-06, 09:04 AM
  #8  
Old Rotary Dog

 
wrankin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 1,461
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
For race applications, personally I prefer analog gauges - a big red needle is much easier to check at a glance than having to read digits off of a display (IIRC there has been some pretty good research by the military in this area). Esp if you turn the gauges so that the "normal" reading is vertical. Anything that is not pointed "up" is potentially bad.

What sort of accuracy do you want/need? FWIW, my VDO "vision" gauges seem to be pretty good - my boost gauge is off by about 1 psi at full reading (10 psi) which is fairly reasonable. The temp gauge is fairly accurate - but this is dependant on keeping the sensor connections very clean.

Are you looking at electric or mechanical gauges?
Old 03-19-06, 09:20 AM
  #9  
Panda Bear

Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
Turbo23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Lititz, PA
Posts: 1,732
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
I would prefer everything to be electircal, besides the boost gauge. Looking into things, Ive heard good things of the greddy gauges. My last autometer depending on being in the sun would show vacuum when sitting still! and in the heat, show 1-2psi of boost. And water temp gauges was about 5 to even 10 degrees off.
Old 01-21-07, 12:08 PM
  #10  
Right near Malloy

iTrader: (28)
 
Pele's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Behind a workbench, repairing FC Electronics.
Posts: 7,837
Received 504 Likes on 341 Posts
Why does every thread on gauges end abruptly without a good answer?

I'll bump this one rather than starting a new one.

Looking for good, economical (NOT CHEAP), accurate gauges.

The temp range affecting the reading of the autometers is enough to turn me off.

I'm also still debating mechanical or electrical... On one hand, I'd rather not plumb an oil line into the passenger compartment. On the other hand, if I have an electrical failure, the gague will drop. It will also be affected by the stability of the voltage going into it, as well as the previously mentioned cleanliness of the contacts.
Old 01-21-07, 04:13 PM
  #11  
Moderator

iTrader: (3)
 
j9fd3s's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
Posts: 30,805
Received 2,578 Likes on 1,831 Posts
here my .02...

ive noticed that in competition the drivers really pay no attention to the guages anyways, in my experience you can have the most accurate guages in the world on the car, and they will tell you it overheated cause they spit on the front pulley and it boiled.... build the car so you dont need 10,000 guages, and you'll be much better off, and since you dont have guages, prolly much more relaxed too. watching a temp guage move around, can get kinda nerve wracking.

greddy: i find them easy to read, and the temp (water and oil) seem to be pretty accurate, they are electronic so plumbing is simple. they are basically my favorites, mostly for the easy to read, and rice factors

autometer: the boost guages suck. ive got one too, even without the car its boosting like 5 psi somedays. i also have some temp guages and they seem pretty good. they are also easy to read, but dont always come in the ranges/color/styles you want. price is right too. they look out of place in a japanese car a lot, so like greddy.

hks: fugly...

defi: their boost guage was futher off than autometers.... $$$ too

vdo: they are prolly really good, they look nice, but they have a confusing guage/sensor list, and greddy is easier. if i had a turbo 1st gen with the posche "turbo" badge on it, id get vdo.

Last edited by j9fd3s; 01-21-07 at 04:18 PM.
Old 01-21-07, 09:22 PM
  #12  
Panda Bear

Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
 
Turbo23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Lititz, PA
Posts: 1,732
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 3 Posts
lol I forgot I even posted this, I ended up going with VDO, pretty cheap, but dependable, however as you said the sensors are weird
Old 01-22-07, 08:49 AM
  #13  
Lives on the Forum

 
DamonB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Dallas
Posts: 9,617
Likes: 0
Received 8 Likes on 7 Posts
Why I prefer analog gauges
Old 01-22-07, 09:04 AM
  #14  
Right near Malloy

iTrader: (28)
 
Pele's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Behind a workbench, repairing FC Electronics.
Posts: 7,837
Received 504 Likes on 341 Posts
Originally Posted by DamonB
I've seen this before. I'm looking for a brand...

I'ma check out VDO.
Old 01-22-07, 01:02 PM
  #15  
Senior Member

iTrader: (1)
 
bean13's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: wisconsin
Posts: 519
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
ill go with the analog guages, didgital is not only a bit lame for me but very hard to read especially if the sun is directly behind you. Anywho, I use autometer, not autoguage, use ones meant for racing, I have pro-comp liqui filled and havent had any problems personally. Good luck!!!
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
The1Sun
1st Generation Specific (1979-1985)
7
09-18-15 07:13 PM
kryan9
1st Generation Specific (1979-1985)
2
09-15-15 10:11 PM
The1Sun
New Member RX-7 Technical
5
09-15-15 04:45 PM
The1Sun
1st Generation Specific (1979-1985)
0
09-07-15 10:21 PM



Quick Reply: Accurate Gauges?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:02 PM.