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Accuracy of Gauges

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Old 12-09-04, 06:16 PM
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Accuracy of Gauges

I was wondering how accurate VDO gages are??? Autometer Gauges seem to be pretty inaccurate. I found a PIVOT boost gauge for $50. I have found alot of vdo gauges for a decent price and matching ones are available...

What are the most accurate gauges on the market?
Old 12-09-04, 08:20 PM
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defi, HK$, blitz, greedy are all pretty accurate. I have never dealt with vdo gauges but ive never hear anything bad about them. arent they stock on porsches and stuff?
Old 12-10-04, 09:00 AM
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I have VDO gauges in several cars and am happy with them. They are definitely accurate, especially after I sent them out to be overhauled and calibrated.

Any of those mentioned above should be accurate also. Even the Autometer are accurate if you stay away from the cheap models. From what I hear, Autometer got a bad reputation from one of their low-end boost gauges, but their higher end products are ok.

Last edited by cosmicbang; 12-10-04 at 09:04 AM.
Old 12-10-04, 09:13 AM
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I have VDO Vision boost and water temp gauges and they are perfectly accurate. I verified the boost guage by hooking it to a pressurized source and comparing many different readings between it and a very expensive racing tire pressure gauge. The water temp gauge agrees exactly with the fan speeds so it at least matches with the stock sensors and ecu.
Old 12-10-04, 09:43 AM
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My VDO boost gauge reads at 1" vac when the engine is off. Came like this from egauges.com. It wasn't in its original package like the temp gauge was. So I just need to find someone that can recalibrate it.
Old 12-10-04, 10:41 AM
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VDO repair

For repair/restoration of VDO gauges, there are two places I can recommend:

Palo Alto Speedometer
North Hollywood Speedometer

Last edited by cosmicbang; 12-10-04 at 10:43 AM.
Old 12-10-04, 02:35 PM
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does the VDO temp gauge come with an electrical sensor in the engine bay or is it mechanical style like the boost gauge?

What's the price/quelity comparison with Defi D gauges? You can hook them up as well without the use of acontrol unit

Thx
Old 12-10-04, 09:34 PM
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Well, I dont know about the stateside Defi gauges. I have the Japanese units. They read in metric and require a controller. However, all the new HK$, Greedy and blitz all use controllers. the controllers allow you to set limits, playback, record, change brightness, etc
Old 12-11-04, 02:42 AM
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If you really want accuracy or a good calibration standard get a Dwyer Magnehelic. This is an industrial product and excellent for the lab or Dyno use.

Also, mechanical gauges in general tend to exhibit best accuracy around 2/3 scale. This is done to give the best overall tolerance for gauge. If possible, pick a gauge that puts your desired operating point around 2/3 scale if accuracy is most important.
Old 12-11-04, 07:25 PM
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i have autometer sport come (check out sig \/) they seam to be resonably accurate.

the water temp coincides with the electric fan, and boost seams to match up with what the haltech is reading.oil pressure tops out at 85 psi if I remember, and thats what the bypass is at.
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