Input on gauges?
 

So first I'm not sure if this is in the right section or not. So if not feel free to move it.

So I'm going to be ordering gauges in a few hours when I get home, but I'm still a little unsure of which ones to get. I'm looking between the Prosport and Stri X-line.
I've heard that the stri ones are better, but I'm not really sure if I trust where I heard it.

I also will be going with Boost, and Oil pressure, and maybe one more, but im again, not sure of what else I would get. I was thinking MAYBE egt. But do I really need that one? I wanted to do a clock pod, so maybe do the prosport digital clock gauge, as one of them, and put it in the center hole.

Any personal experience with any of them? I would go with the stri dsd or defi, if I had the money. I just cant do it, being a student. And of course, looks have to be good, as well as function. Or maybe I was also thinking of just getting a boost gauge and using the other money for something else for the car. Any input or help will be appreciated.

Thanks for the help.
Gus Gus

If you are planning on taking your car to the track I would vote for EGT. If you have room for 4 gauges I would also add oil temp.

My top 4 would be boost, EGT, oil temp,oil pressure in that order. I don't know anything about the brands you listed though- I only have first hand experience with Omoris and Defis.

The only time my car would see any kind of track would be the occasional night at the drag strip. And that doesn't even count as a track. But later when I get another car I'm thinking of making this a track car, but I'll have a differnt set up then probably.

My personal preference for gauge importance on a WRX/STi depends on the level of work done to the car:

Stock, or relatively stock, street driven: boost > oil temp > water temp > EGT > oil pressure > AFR > fuel pressure
Modded, or track driven: boost > oil pressure > EGT > oil temp = water temp > AFR > fuel pressure

If you're short on cash and really like the Defi gauges, I'd spend the money on just the Defi boost gauge and controller now. Then add the other gauges later on. I would expect the Defi boost gauge/link controller to cost around the same as a full setup of other gauges and a pod. Just slap the boost gauge on the steering column, then you don't have to worry about losing your clock until later when you add the other gauges.

lol....

Yes, informed intelligent discussion. Hilarious.

Unless you actually plan to use the fancy features of the Defi controller/gauges, I don't think they are worth the price. Good old Autometer and similar gauges are significantly cheaper, meet most folks needs and are available at Summit.

I can't really add anything to Scott's list other than to say once you get past oil/water temp/pressure, Boost, EGT and A/F all go together. Boost by itself is just a cosmetic/show off gauge. Once you need one, you need the other two IMHO. If you want a boost gauge to make sure you aren't over boosting, you better be worried about EGTs and AFR.

FP is really a troubleshooting gauge more than an operation one unless you are racing without a fuel gauge. :)

Gus, paw through this thread for an hour and you will have your answer. Start from the last page and work back so you have less dead pictures.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...setup&page=109

Note that the Defi gauges are far more accurate than the mechanical and 90deg sweep AutoMeter gauges. The fancy features like peak and playback are nice, but what makes the Defi's worth the price are their accuracy, large sweep, large range, then it's their nice looks and playback/peak features.

There's a reason I sold my AutoMeter gauges and replaced them w/ the Defi's, and it wasn't just because the Defi's are cooler gizmos... though I find the peak gizmo to be extremely useful.

Note, this opinion doesn't necessarily apply to all AutoMeter gauges. I guess they've got a new stepper-motor line that supposed to be pretty nice, but I don't have any personal knowledge of them.

Not disparaging the Defi's or touting the AMs at all. They both have their place/uses. It would be nice to have the larger sweep/range, but digital isn't necessarily more accurate though or really required for some of these. Most often when I glance at a gauge, it is to see if it is where it belongs, not for a specific number.

Boost gauge is probably the most annoying slow/steppy gauge of the Autometers, but this is only really an issue when tuning, not driving.

The Defi's are nice and have some great features I would use, but are quite pricey. You have to decide what you bang/buck factor is.

It would be really nice if some of the logging SW would tie in the Defi controller, so you could log them in the same place and at the same rate/times as the ECU data. I know that sounds redundant, but it can be quite useful assuming they have different senders.

A simple serial output on the defi's would be awesome, as it would allow PC logging, as well as integration w/ most standalone ECUs' loggers. My guess is the Defi-Link protocol is already serial, and a conversion wouldn't be terribly hard for anyone w/ some basic EE & signal processing background.

My favourite defi feature is the audible alarm that can be set for when the value falls outside a certain range. I have I have had both oil temp and boost alarms on the track before.

I've been playing with this issue myself, as I have what probably qualifies as a very non-stock setup, but I did not build it to race either.

First: Buy the best gauges you can afford, the Defi setup sounds awesome, I wish I had started there (I should have applied my rifle optics philosophy to that lol). Some quick research on the Prosports shows a LOT of bad experiences.

Which ones: For my application (commuting/street driving with a non-stock unique setup), I find the single most useful gauge so far to be Wideband AFR. I would say get Vac/Boost, Wideband, and EGT all at the same time. Then add Oil Pressure and Oil Temp later.

I think you're a bit of a special case due to the crazy turbo/ECU reprogramming you've got going on that makes watching the AFR useful. For most people, the AFR is relatively unimportant, and the EGT acts plenty good as a warning gauge if the car goes too lean at the track or under heavy load.

This is my plan. I was really looking into the STRI's but they have reliability issues. Search NASIOC for examples.

I think I've decided on the defi red racers. My research is showing that the others are just too iffy and you get what you pay for. I saw my friends red racer today, and I fell in love. haha. Looks like I'll be going full Defi set up this year..

Thank you for all the help guys!

What is your budget? There have been a few sets of defi's coming up on i-club that are reasonable (for defis).

I have the blue racers so I know the red racers should look awesome.

For some reason, I thought there already was from the controller???

So much I know.

Maybe we should move this to tech as it was a good discussion.

I don't believe that line of Defi's works with the Defi-Link control unit. So you won't get the daisy-chainable gauges w/ the peak/warn/recording features.

But they do seem to be top-notch standalone gauges.

My budget is less than the defi's cost.. But I end up spending more than I want to every time I put something on my car.. Can you please link me to the ones you saw on i-club? I dont go on there so I wouldnt know where to look.

Some have sold already, and I am not sure if these have or not but here is one...

http://www.i-club.com/forums/showthr...highlight=defi

Aaagh! I can't bring myself to spend $200 for a boost gauge. haha. I just gotta man up and do it..

Oh and is there any difference between the 52mm and 60mm besides size?

$189 at JSCspeed.com

Just size... and awesomeness.

Not sure I would spend the $s on Defi without the controller and other features. Plenty of other "normal" gauges for less.

This just about made me shit my pants.

And would you guys suggest the same heirarchy of gauges for an NA application? Should I quit asking questions as soon as they pop into my head and search first?

Yep, make sure you get a boost gauge.

















Yes, I'd go in the same order. For an NA street car with cams and no ECU tuning, oil temp, oil pressure, and water temp (maaaaaaybe AFR) are all you're really going to need; you're looking for big issues while beating on the motor, not really tuning with gauges which what we're talking about with AFR, EGT, etc. You're not going to be making significant enough changes to flow in the motor that you're going to pop it running it lean, etc, for the most part - atmospheric is atmospheric. The only thing you can really tune with on an NA car is going to be a wideband.

And yes, the answer is almost always going to be "do a search", but there's not a whole lot of NA RS buildups because you're talking minimal gains compared to forced induction, especially at altitude.

If you have a cavity in the front of your mouth you can save money by getting silver fillings or you can spend a little extra for porcelain. If I am going to be looking at something everyday it might as well look good and defi's look good.:cool:

WTF does that have to do with anything? Use that analogy on your wife when you bring home the hookers. :rolleyes:

If you are buying gauges for looks, get some blingin' ones at P-Diddy's Phat crib o' gauges. If you want them for what gauges are supposed to do, provide data, either get what you can afford that does what you need, or save up for what you really want and do it right, or just finance the schnizzle ones, since that is the American way.

Dean, it's easy to see that gus is basing his decision on looks instead of the best function. He doesn't need the bells and whistles of the control unit but he wants the p-diddy bling that defi provides even without the control unit.

and why would you bring a hooker to your house?
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62...g_it_wrong.jpg

I take it that the 60mm is the most awesomess of them? :lol:

Get the red racers and spend the rest of your days happy.

Ordered the defi red racer boost gauge for now! =)

Oh damn. I hope mine looks as good as that!

Don't get me wrong. I want it to function well, and do what it should.. But I wanted it to look good as you said.. That's why I just ordered the Defi.

So now all I have to get is the pod for it, right?

PLEASE tell me you made that just for the sake of posting it in this thread...

And sybir, would AFR and EGT become more important if I decide I wanna tune my car? I keep going back and forth between paying for a tune, or spending a month researching it and slowly getting into tuning myself

EGT is an excellent tool for tuning whether you have boost or not, but it's not real useful the rest of the time. Same for AFR. Oil temp and oil pressure are the best diagnostic "oh shit I better shut it down now" gauges.

now i have another problem... Buy the defi clock gauge pod.. Or buy a HID kit, and just get a steering column mount, if I can find one cheap.

How much is the hid kit pure looking at? I accidentally stumbled onto one that is really easy to install, it's pretty cheap, and it works and looks great IMO

Thanks Kevin. So I can spend the money on a protune, or gauges to tune myself?

My Omori gauges are super responsive and I like them a lot. They even have threshold lights you can set for any value. However, the EGT sending units have had short lifespans and now I'm told that they don't even make the sending unit for my 3 year old gauge anymore. :unamused:

http://www.j-spectuning.com/images/a...el_pod_adj.JPG

It's $160 at importimageracing.com

The BF series Defi's come with simple mounting cups, no pod needed if you just want to slap it on the steering column. But I'm not sure if that's the same for the gauge you ordered.

http://www.kaixenkits.com/

I got my kit from someone on nasioc, but that's their website. I'm really happy with it, but it seems like they raised their prices. I remember the $250 neighborhood. In any case, I'm sure that just about any plug n play kit is probably just as good as the next one.

Here's a pic of my 6000K Kaixen kit (and angel eyes, and recently added foglights)

http://emob307.photobucket.com/album...t/228a7349.jpg

I think the racer series also come with the little cups with sticky backing. At least mine did.

I think these prosport gauges look pretty cool.

Check these out: http://www.crucialracing.com/products/hid.php