I too run nitrous, wet, 125 shot.... well did until yesterday, anyhow, I have a triple gauge pod, and a fuel pressure gauge in my engine bay.

I agree with mikeD, having a narrow band air/fuel is telling people your a poser, and it really just drives people crazy who does have them and they wish they didn't. I have one, because before I knew anybetter I bought it, it's just taking up space until I get my turbo boost gauge, again not really useful since there are more accurate ways of reading boost, keeping my nitrous pressure gauge, and then adding a EGT gauge and my J&S safegaurd. THOSE ARE USEFUL. I do have a voltmeter but it will most likely go as well. Thats my .03

 

unless ur getting turbo, I think any gauge would be useless... and will do nothing more but to decorate ur cockpit

 

wrong, nitrous gauges and FP are still very helpful although that is still some form of boost...

 

Many car magazines have tested and found that many factory gauges are not as accurate as we think them to be. Therefore, to my way of thinking, whether one is stock or has performance mods, a set of gauges would NOT hurt. A good set of aftermarket gauges can make the difference between saving your engine or having it blow up in your face (relying on the oil light, for example).
There will be an Oil Pressure Gauge (mechanical-not electrical) and maybe a volt or ammeter in my near future. I'm completely stock.

 

I have a boost gauge and a dual channel intake temperature gauge. One thermocouple at the blower outlet and one after my water-to-air aftercooler (AWAC). The boost/vacuum gauge's use is obvious, you want to make sure you are hitting the proper boost and have no problems or boost/vacuum leaks. The temperature gauge is really just for my information and allows me to verify that I didn't waste my money on my AWAC. It also let's me learn how intake temerature is affected by ambient temps, adding ice to my AWAC, stop and go traffic, driving habits, etc. Other than a boost gauge, I don't really see the 'need' for any other gauges. Some gauges might be nice to have but they aren't needed. I'd actually rather have my '99s outside/ambient temperature display than any other gauge.

 

Boost. boost and boost

 

ptatohed made a good point.... Read his post...

even tho your stock, think of it this way, even if you did spend the money on gauges that you think will protect your motor, like oil pressure, first, you can't have a mechanical oil pressure in cabin so how is that going to help you. if you do then your crazy IMO. its not smart. Also say your pump does fail, by then its to late so your gauge is useless. You will spend about 2-300 on guages where as a used vq30 is now around that same price... just something to think about. I haven't heard of stock vq's being saved due to having gauges.

 

he wasn't talking nitro, he was just talking aout some regular gauges... so thats why I said if ur not boosting ur car, gauges are worthless

 

It comes down to response time. I've seen both cases on the track at driving events. For one person by the time the idiot light came on, he was already hearing bad noises, losing power and smoking.
In another car with a guage, he SAW the pressure going down, shut it off and was able to save the engine.
So the GUAGE buys you some extra time , PLUS REAL TIME monitoring. It doesn't matter if it's a VQ or or not.
Why can there NOT be a mechanical gauge in the cabin? It's how race cars are built. The key is using the PROPER gear-braided lines, proper sealing and torquing of the hardware. My old race car had one and it was still street legal. I never had an issue and I checked it regularly.

 

Autometer a/f gauges do not work on nissans, period! That is direct from autometer at SEMA. If you want a useful tool, then by a SCAN TOOL 2 for $169.00. It plugs into the OBD 2 port and reads the sensors direct from the ECU and is very accurate. It displays like 10 gauges along with having a trip computer and logs top speed, RPM's, and many other functions. The best part is it clears cels!

 

Actually, I agree.. I'll a few of those guages in my 240 cause it will have a damn RB running 20lbs. I wouldn't get them for my Max unless I was like auto-X'ing or drag racing, both of which I do not.

If I was gonna get them, it'd be oil press, volts and water temp.

 

I have , independent from the stock gauges.

All with live readout (10 hertz)
Coolant temp, MAF % usage, throttle position, air/fuel, speed, RPM.

 

My triple pod is equipped with A/F, volts, and Performance Meter (G-Meter). I didnt get them cuz I NEEDED them or because someone said I should.. I like to know the constant voltage reading of the system reliably, as I have LOTS of electronics in the car (audio/video). The A/F is pretty (hahahaha) and the G-Meter is a fun toy to mess around with. Whenever I may wander to forced induction, I will replace the voltmeter cuz my farad capacitor has a digital readout within eyesight via the rearview mirror, and probably the A/F guage as well.. to be replaced with Boost and EGT. But thats what *I* have.. and *I* like them just fine..
DJ

 

Ha, nobody needs no 'steeking gauges', not while things are working well! Then when things fail, you don't know whats going on! If you have no gauges and the car fails, you are SOL! Enjoy your stay on the side of the road!

Theres no oil pressure gauge in there stock, I GUESS you don't NEED one then, huh? Ok, whatever...

 

blinker fluid level and muffler bearing temperature

 

Rota crappy rim meter FTL.

 

Do you have forced induction? (turbo, supercharger, etc.) If so get a boost gauge and wideband o2 sensor. Otherwise get water temp and oil pressure. That vq block is aluminum and subject to warping if it overheats. A motor without oil pressure is dead. I have defi boost and oil pressure gauges and a blitz i-color boost controller with water temp and wideband in my car

 

 

Congrats, you just bumped a really crappy 3 1/2 month old thread.

 

Don't forget he's pwing to get to 15!

 

lololololol.......

 

I know

 

yea fo shizzle LOL

 

If your n/a and most maximas have a system I think the best would be voltmeter and oil pressure. Everything else is pretty much useless unless you're boosted but that's just my opinion. Trans temp too if you are auto. I just look over function vs. eye candy. Some of the gauges listed are already on the car except it is not in numerical form like water temp. I would get digital gauges like the ones cyberdyne make which are fairly inexpensive at jcwhiteney.com. I wouldn't give a plug nickel for a analog volt gauge.

 

I see this is a thread from the dead

 

I just picked up 3 the other day for myself

Wideband: (I have 00VI)
Voltmeter: (for my system)
Water Temp: (my needle on my actual cluster sticks sometimes so half the time I never know when my car is warmed up or not)

All 3 all have a functional purpose for me and aren't eye candy.

 

What are you using to get signal for your water temp? What wideband did you get?

 

Im probably just gonna get a volt just cause im running a crazy system probably mount it in my ash tray seen a few people do that nice and clean

 

I got autometers (all 3 of them are autometers, the C2 model) the other day.. It hasn't been shipped to me yet :P

when I get them installed I'll let you know lol

 

Clinometer is a complete nessicity for a maxima

 

Three + years later?

What is a clinometer?

Intake temperature should have been on the original survey.

 

I think the gauge choice is different for 'boosted' vs 'non-boosted'...

I'm not boosted - so for me Voltmeter, Water Temp (true temp), and Oil Pressure are the top three I'd choose, however, I'd also like to have Transmission Temp, and Fuel Pressure too.

I'd think a three gauge A pillar for the first three, and under radio pod for the other two.

 

oile presure wide band if u have mods air fuel is useless