General Cheap AFR Gauge

[BLACK'98DSM]

I don't really care what it looks like. It just needs to work.

Suggestions?

 

[silvreclips]

Whatever brand you choose it needs to be a wideband. I have an AEM gauge and have been very happy with it.

 

[dsmcrzy]

If you are going for cheap look for something name brand that’s on eBay or in the classified section. Most of the sub $100 AFG gauges (for a new one) is not going to be accurate or reliable. You also want a wide band not a narrow band. I have used prosport gauges in the past. I liked them but they were hard to read in the daylight.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I liked them but they were hard to read in the daylight.

Might try to find one with a needle

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

https://rixracing.com/collections/latest-additions-to-inventory/tuning

 

[Mello]

It depends on what you want this gauge for. I believe the prior response are alludiing to why do you want this guage? If it's because you want to know what your actual AFR's are you should go with a wideband gauge that measures too & not one of the cheapo AFR gauges that splice into the narrowband sensor wires & only interrupts the ECU signal.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Yes I'm going with a wideband

 

[Evolving_sti]

What's your end goal. Are you gona boost this thing? Take it from me and do not cheap out on a wideband. What I've learned being a member here and even actual performance websites refer to dsm people as "cheap" . The wideband gauge is something I would pay extra for the "name". Aem is the only one I would get. When I had my turbo civic I had a small tear in one of my fuel lines near my fuel pump. The wideband gauge possibly saved my motor as I noticed lean conditions under boost. I run nothing but aem digital gauges on everything. My evo has a boost and wideband , my eclipse has boost, wideband, water temp. Never cheap out on gauges to save a few bucks.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

No, I don't plan on boosting it. But I am continuing with this build almost everyday, and the more I upgrade, the less room I have for error. It will just be something very helpful to monitor.

 

[Evolving_sti]

No, I don't plan on boosting it. But I am continuing with this build almost everyday, and the more I upgrade, the less room I have for error. It will just be something very helpful to monitor.

Are you planning on doing anything above basic boltons? Nitros ? Cams? I ran a 50 shot in my RS back in the day. Was blowing valve cover gaskets monthly . But it was untuned and i was running one of those cheap widebands. But again this was back in 98-99. You wont really need a wideband unless your pushing that extra power that's altering your fuel tables. If your just getting one for looks. Then yea maybe a cheapo is ok. I have a 2 gauge pod from autometer if you need one.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Are you planning on doing anything above basic boltons? Nitros ? Cams? I ran a 50 shot in my RS back in the day. Was blowing valve cover gaskets monthly . But it was untuned and i was running one of those cheap widebands. But again this was back in 98-99. You wont really need a wideband unless your pushing that extra power that's altering your fuel tables. If your just getting one for looks. Then yea maybe a cheapo is ok. I have a 2 gauge pod from autometer if you need one.

I'm not doing it just for looks . I'm already a bit past the bolt-on stage. Won't be but a year or so until I tear the engine down again, using high compression pistons this time. I'm sure you've seen my build thread, and maybe my DSM profile by now.

Regardless of what happens, I do need an afr gauge.

 

[Dusty Landrum]

I have the auto meter cobalt+ pro and I really like it. BUT with any good wideband it’s not too cheap.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Yea, doing some pricing and comparisons, it looks like the off brand gauges are only slightly cheaper than the name brand ones. A cheap one from Ebay costs $100 while an AEM one costs $130. I think I will just have to get a name brand one so I can rely on it.

 

[Mello]

FYI - A popular name brand does not mean it can be relied on. I suggest you go to the brand manufacturer's site & look to see if the make a "quality statement" of accuracy. Knowing the accuracy will then aallow you to know how far it can be off "true value" & claim that the gauge is measuring correctly. For example: AEM Bosch LSU 4.2 sensors state Accurate to 0.1 AFR.

 

[Evolving_sti]

Yea, doing some pricing and comparisons, it looks like the off brand gauges are only slightly cheaper than the name brand ones. A cheap one from Ebay costs $100 while an AEM one costs $130. I think I will just have to get a name brand one so I can rely on it.

Aem is always a good choice. No need to do research on that. Always a quality gauge that's accurate.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

So I never did update this thread. But I ended up going with a GlowShift gauge. It's a wideband setup, not tapped into the stock wiring in any way, besides the switched hot I needed to tap in for it to work. Ran me a grand total of $195. ($170-ish for the kit and $20 on additional parts needed for installation). I'm glad I went with a digital gage, looks much better and really stands out among my mechanical gauges. I know GlowShift isn't a huge name among DSM'ers. But I'm glad I went with it. All parts seem of high quality. And the kit came with nearly everything I needed.

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[NOSLO2PT0]

I’m currently looking at Glowshift stuff for my oil/fuel pressure gauges. I was looking at the Prosport gauges as well. I’m leaning towards the GlowShift because they have a dual pressure gauge built into one chassis

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I like my Wideband to be digital also. I mix and match but the wideband on all 3 DSMs are all Innovate with the digital readout.

 

[dustyboner]

i don't know if they've gotten any better but the glowshift widebands from about 5 years back, have shitty controllers. With the ones i have messed with, they work for a while and then the reading will stop changing. Recalibrating, resetting, new sensor, not even a rewire will fix it.
Hopefully thats not an issue anymore

 

[chrisman287]

I usually go AEM for majority of my gauges. Price seems fair and quality seems good enough.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

You cant log a GS WB so I use Innovate and have had good results with sensors and the unit itself, an LC2.

 

[dustyboner]

You cant log a GS WB so I use Innovate and have had good results with sensors and the unit itself, an LC2.

You should be able to. I guess it depends on your setup. The controller has a datalogging output.
The last glowshift WB i installed and setup was on a 95 mustang with a moates quarterhorse for the hardware and binary editor and eec analyzer for the software.
It datalogged no problem.

 

[jed344]

Personally i have ran so many different brand of gauges. I always go back to the same old trusted i have used for 10+ years. Auto meter Pro Comp for everything accept AEM X line for wideband now days.

 

[dsmjaime]

Genuine Prosport gauges are great. But even the AEM gauge in my old srt was frozen haha. Just get something with warranty.

 

[NOSLO2PT0]

Personally i have ran so many different brand of gauges. I always go back to the same old trusted i have used for 10+ years. Auto meter Pro Comp for everything accept AEM X line for wideband now days.

Do you run oil/fuel pressure gauges in the car? I’m wanting to do this, but prefer digital gauges, as the boost/wideband gauges are also digital.

Glowshift makes a dual duel/pressure gauge that would save me a gauge to look at. I just don’t know how the GlowShift quality is. It’s $200 for the dual gauge from GlowShift vs $108 for each gauge from Prosport.

Is there a big difference in quality between the two? Having a single pod vs dual pod is no big deal. I’d rather have the quality.