I didnt want to steal max88q's thread about gauge pods so ill just start this one.

I am heavily considering getting at least 2 gauges, and i wanted to ask all of you experienced guys your opinions on the most useful, informative gauges. The first things that occured to me were air/fuel and fuel pressure, but ive seen a lot of voltmeter and water temp gauges as well. also, what hardware is necessary for those gauges? i hear you can connect some electronic ones direct, and others need some sort of control module? thanks for the input.

 

oil pressure & voltmeter

 

def get a volt meter, i cant tell u how many times its saved my ***, since ive blown up like 8 alternators. a/f is just a pretty guage, its never exact and its pretty damn annoying when ur driving on the highway. i would say oil press and voltmeter. i mean unless u have some type of FI i would get a nitrous guage or a boost guage, possibly a pyrometer or wideband maybe? it all depends on what u are lookin to do with the guage and what mods u have should determine what kinda guages u get.

 

I would have to agree with these guys on the oil pressure guage. Water Temp is essential of course as well. Depending on your driving type and any trans/engine mods you have I would say that has a lot to do with it as well. I would like to see a more detailed Oil Temp and Water Temp guage as well. Sometimes it's the small differences that can have a lasting effect.
thanks,
lameo

 

Is there a air temperature gauge? It would be nice to know what the temperature of the air going in your intake really is.... but again useless.

I wouldn't really get guages untill I'm boosted but I like how they look.

 

thanks guys this is why i love maxima.org

im hoping with some birthday $ from this saturday i can hook up a new intake and add a new muffler. thats as much as i can go right now in the performance mod category. i was also reading a post about someone putting together an external temp lcd readout in their dud panel space (like the cruise control size space) and i figured i can try that as well as a duplicate for the intake. but i like that air temp idea. thanks for the suggestions im always open for more.

 

i have an oil pressure, air/fuel, and vacuum gauge.

not really useful, but they sure do look cool.

 

I dont know i would say stock is fine for me. I dont drive hard or have many performance mods on my car. It depends on your personal needs and what mods you have on your max.

 

a/f and voltage gauge for n/a
boost and a/f gauage for FI

 

www.obdscan.net
www.autotap.com

 

Must be one big *** guage meter in your car




. . .

 

Voltmeter just simply taps into electrical, Oil pressure ( Mechanical) you need an adaptor such as this ( some say you can get these at home depot much cheaper, but it gives you an idea):
http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...Category_Code=

Air/fuel ratio hooks up to your o2 sensor, I actually tapped mine into the o2 wiring on the back of my ECU. Obivously I went with a triple gauge pod, see my 4th gen domain for pics. Hope this helps

 

I love the look of the tripple guages, but I wouldnt have much functionality for it.

I've had situations where I wished I had a volt meter. I'm going to get oil pressure, A/F, and voltage. . . in the future.

 

Plug in (cig. lighter) digital voltmeters are accurate and cheap $10 bucks at Wallmart, easiest way to add one in seconds,plug and done.

 

Sorry, but I think the most fun meter is the 3-D accelerometer. Needs to have a chart recording function because you want your eyes on the road when it's peaking.
maybe NMexMax's box can handle it

 

I really like the look of mounting the gauges on the A-pillar. I also want to fit some, I find the Max lacks basic info. I want an ammeter rather than a voltmeter and an oil pressure gauge.

 

I would go for oil pressure #1 water temp #2 ammeter or voltmeter #3 for a NA car ( I have voltage displayed on my passport anyway)

Boost #1 EGT #2 forced induction

A/F gauges are useless, unless it's wideband. I would still feel better with EGT over A/F

 

couldnt have said it better...especially uf u track race oil pressure and water temp are very nice to have....if u have an auto i would also suggest Trans Temp

 

It depends greatly on whether your're N/A or have Forced Induction. Obviously you're going to want a boost/vacuum gauge if you're running a turbo or supercharger. Tranny temp is most critical on automatics.

I was planning to put Oil Pressure, Automatic Transmission Temperature, and Voltage gauges on my car before the accident.

 

My vacuum gauge is pretty to looks at, lights up 7 colors, and tells me if I have a leak somewhere. I'm N/A, so no Boost for me..

 

twenty voters? org can do better than that

 

Don't get any of them if you don't need them, and most of what you listed was useless so I would just forget the whole thing

 

if you boost...the three basics are oil pressure, air/fuel (if you dont have an afc), and a boost. EGT would be next in line, but with some basic knowledge of AF control, it's not needed. A secondary temp gauge is good too. And if you are real serious about performance, a wide-band O2 and air/fuel setup.

 

a air/fule gauge is worthless and really tells you nothing. Getting a signal from a narrow band o2 sensor tells you nothing. Having one tells people you don't know what your doing.

 

the one guage I wish I had is oil temp. especially for those in cold climates, oil temp is the most important metric in reducing engine wear -- thick, cold oil does not adequately lubricate/protect. I'd like to know when my oil gets to a reasonably high temp so I know when i can step on it without trashing my main bearings. oil temp does not track coolant temp, and is affected by ambient temp and driving conditions. in fact, I don't believe your oil will ever reach 100c (the temp at which operating oil viscosity is typically specified) unless you are running at highway speeds for a while. many of us would be shocked to know that we are driving around with >90wt oil in our engines most of the time because the oil temp is too low.

 

why are you buying guages? your car is stock. everything you listed is completely useless and complete rice unless you have mods that require you to monitor those readings.

 

C'mon, not completely useless? The last 2 Nissans I owned lost alternators without the idiot light coming on. They would charge just enough to keep the light off, but not enough overall. With a voltmeter, I can now keep tabs on it more closely.

 

I have a $10 plug in (cig lighter) volt meter digital readout with green,red,yellow warning lights. Never haver to unplug it, cig lighter turns off with ignition. I tested it against multimeter on terminals to check accuracy, same readings. Got it at Wallmart near batteries, easier than wiring one up and doesn't take away from triple gauge pod spots. You can put another gauge where that one would have been but still have volts.

 

a bad alternator is super easy to recognise and you shouldnt need a voltmeter or an idiot light.

 

sorry if my planning or scheduling confused you, though i didnt reference any timeframes, or even mention it at all. of course i wouldnt buy unnecessary monitors. it is my understanding that more information is typically a good thing. im not saying im ricing out my car right now with a bunch of gauges. i noticed that many performance-oriented vehicles have these gauges, likely for a reason. what i said was that i heavily considered getting some of these devices(subtext: at some point in the future) and wanted to hear some educated opinions, not questions answering questions. every component of my car is not currently stock, but thanks anyway for the input.

 

None. Until you boost, then boost and EGT gauges.

 

im not confused.

yet you started a thread asking for opinions on guages.

there is no point in knowing your a/f ratio from a narrow band o2, or your fuel preassure on a stock (performance wise) car.

ya, their reason is that they are either boosted, running nitrous, or have SERIOUS engine work done....whats your reason?


Like I30Mike said; an a/f reading from a narrow band o2 is useless and wont tell you anything. fuel pressure is another one, how is knowing your fuel pressure going to help you? you also mentioned a voltmeter and a water temp guage. voltmeters are useless, the signs of a failing battery or alternator are pretty easy to see and diagnose without the need for a guage, and water temp; do you drive your car hard? do you really need to know exactly what your water temp is? is the stock temp guage really not enough for you?

If you cant answer the question of; "why do you need these guages" then there is NO reason for you to have them.

 

If your boosting,

A/F
EGT
BOOST

 

MAXRB8 where did you get the tan tripple guage pod from?

 

I'm NA and do track events (roadcourse). For NA the only gauges you need (if you run you engine hard at the track) are

Oil Pressure
Water Temp

 

Hey what gauages would be useful to someone running nitrous (wet).

 

vlasic it seems that if someone were to know less that you about a particular subject, you react to them as if they were idiots. i find this very childish, especially since none of us were born knowing everything, least of all everything about auto gauges. i said i considered buying gauges and wanted to know the use of them didnt I? the question is not so much why, but also when. asking the question, the time was clearly in the future. but when in the future? probably when im boosted was what people told me, and thats what i wanted to know. i asked about use, and a lot of people said there is no use unless you have certain parts or do certain things. thats what i wanted to find out. just as youve considered buying some performance parts or different exterior modifications, are you trying to infer that youve bought them all? the word consider does not mean finalization it means the opposite. are people not allowed to weight the pros and cons of things before they get them? that is all i was asking by making the thread. i guess you mean everyone in here who isnt running boost or nitrous or autocrossing and has gauges or commented on gauges are complete morons and dont know what theyre talking about. i didnt know about gauges so i asked. you learn things by researching and asking questions. i figured the people here would be much more specific and to the point than some review inclined to have you purchase the device. i figured thats what the org allows us to do ask other people for input. so thanks people that had some helpful things to say. and vlasic im done with your condescension i dont care how many posts u have or what u have on your car u werent born knowing everything and youre on the f****** internet so grow up and stop trying to be tight

 

I didnt call anyone in here an idiot, nor did I respond to them like htey were idiots[/quote]

Ya, I told you that.

I told you that too.

thats what we have been doing in this whole thread, whats your point?

no, what I did say was that its pointless to have guages without serious performance modifications.


You came on here asking for help and opinions, I gave you mine and I answered everything you asked but now your crying about it. I guess you would have been happier if I told you to just buy one of each then?




I currently have a nitrous pressure and a fuel pressure but will most likely ditch the fuel pressure once I get my wideband o2 with a/f guage

 

3 most important are def. Boost, Egt, Fuel Pressure... and the number one most important is Wideband... thats what i run on mk4, and i never had a problem

 

in my recollection you referred to an idiot light, how easy it is to tell if your battery is dying and such, then asked me a bunch of obviously rhetorical questions about do you really need this and that. do you really need red clears or a fstb? probably not, but people are entitled to buy things they want on their car aesthetic useful or neither. and no i would have prefered a truthful answer. i understand youre passionate about cars (as am i) and i dont need a lot of drama or hard feelings. i actually appreciate your advice, which i shall classify as 'introspectively straightforward.' im not crying about anything i was trying to illustrate an instance that was somewhat 'excessive'. i dont know what anyone elses interpretation is but im not trying to start beef or anything its really not that big of a deal thats what i was saying.