Peak/warn gauges... A good idea or a waste of money?

[hsk8te2006]

Hi Everyone,

I like the look/color of prosport amber/white 2 1/16" gauges. I recently purcahsed a 3-gauge a-pillar pod for my '96 GS-T Spyder, and I have decided on Electric Boost, EGT, and Oil temp as my gauges of choice (wideband o2 to follow, but not as a gauge... just a sensor for my obdgauge logger).

You can see these gauges at www.prosportgauges.com

The advice I can use, if it is can be worthwhile to have peak/warn types of these gauges, and what purpose would that function practically serve on the street(or none?).

This car is my daily driver, with only a cone-filter mod thus far (soon to be 1g BOV and BCS Restrictor removal).

Thank you very much for the input!

-Jonathan Hayward
Hsk8te2006

 

[AndrewD5418]

I think it would be a waste unless you are going to be tuning/upgrading more than just the intake filter.

 

[EnticivEclipse]

I have the Greddy ones and I love it for the following:

-you can't always keep your eyes on the gauges and the road at the same so checking your last peak boost is always a good feature if your tuning your setup
-red warning flashing light letting you know your hitting your set threshold
-electrical because you dont have to run hoses into the cockpit if you went with mechnical

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

I have the Greddy ones and I love it for the following:

-you can't always keep your eyes on the gauges and the road at the same so checking your last peak boost is always a good feature if your tuning your setup
-red warning flashing light letting you know your hitting your set threshold
-electrical because you dont have to run hoses into the cockpit if you went with mechnical

Exactly. I don't see how anyone can live without peak / warning functions on at least the boost gauge. I use mine alll the time. You can even wire up a brighter light or even a buzzer alarm to the gauge (at least the Greddy ones) in case the red LED on the gauge isn't bright enough to be seen in the day time.

 

[hsk8te2006]

Future mods will include BCS restrictor removal, a Manual Boost Controller (to turn up to ~15 or 15.5 psi), upper IC pipe (already purchased), and probably a high-flow cat.
Ok, so there seems to be a concensus about getting a peak/warn boost gauge... what about EGT and oil temp?

Thanks!

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

The reasons to get a peak/warning gauge over a standard one apply for any type of measurement really. I have the Greddy 60mm peak warning for both boost and EGT and both are very useful. The EGT peak/warning one is especially good to have since once you get your car set up and tuned, EGT should stay pretty consistent every pull you do, and large changes in EGT indicate a problem. With a peak/warning gauge you never have to look at the EGT gauge, and your eyes are only drawn to it when the warning light comes on to whatever you set it to, indicating a problem. Also, after doing a pull you can just hit a button and see the highest the EGTs reached during the pull.

Same applies to oil temps or any other gauge. What if you're out on a road course for 30 minute sessions at a time, are you gonna be able (or even remember) to look at your oil temps or oil pressure throughout the session? What if your oil temps are hovering around 220F through most of a run session, and during a particularly heated battle with a Porsche GT2 your oil temps hit over 260F but you were too busy driving to even notice, you would never know. By the time you thought to look the temps have already cooled down as you pull back into the pits.

I guess I could get used to not having the peak/warning features but I think it's pretty important.