Road Racer gauges

[D's GS-T]

I was just wondering as a road racer what gauges do you find essential to use. I got the basics like boost, e.g.t, oil pressure, and wideband, but what else are you guys running. im def getting a water temp gauge, but im not sure if I should be running anything else

 

[Scott McIntyre]

I run the following:

1. boost
2. oil pressure
3. oil temp
4. water temp
5. A/F ratio

Probably the two I focus on the most are water & oil temps.

 

[xloki77x]

Good quality gauges are a must for any car that visits the track. They are essential to the health of your engine. I run AEM gauges in the following trim:

AEM TruBoost Boost Controller/Gauge
AEM UEGO Wideband o2 Controller/Gauge
Oil Pressure
Oil Temp
Water Temp
Volts

I would recommend the volt meter for a dsm because of all the electrical problems that occur with these cars, especially if you are still running the oem spec alternator. If those volts drop at high rpm you will lean out quickly and hurt your motor.

Pete

 

[D_Eclipse9916]

If you have dsmlink, I have found the water temp gauge warning light for the CEL to be just fine.

However, oil pressure and oil temperature is critical. Honestly once you have boost set, you shuoldnt need the gauge.

For my old setup, oil temp, oil press, wideband (for tuning no need for on track but you could quickly diagnose if the car started running weird). Water temps were monitored by having the CEL at 210 and the stock boost gauge set as HiCoolant.

I try to reduce the amount of gauges in my face, so that each one is more special and I pay more attention to the critical ones.

 

[cioc]

I have SPA dual digital gauges. Keeps real estate to a minimum plus each channel has a programmable warning light so you really don't have to pay attention until something blinks. You can also program an external warning light so you can mount the gauges slightly out of sight and pay attention to the course.

 

[turbosax2]

I have SPA dual digital gauges. Keeps real estate to a minimum plus each channel has a programmable warning light so you really don't have to pay attention until something blinks. You can also program an external warning light so you can mount the gauges slightly out of sight and pay attention to the course.

VEI gauges are also similar to this - dual gauges with programmable warning lights. Two very good ideas in my opinion.

 

[Demon33]

I run Greddy peak hold with adjustable warning for my EGT and boost gauges. I also have Innovates's LC-1 wideband controller and gauge and I monitor knock and water temp through my logger. I use the stock gauge for oil pressure. It looks like your on a good path as far as gauges go.

 

[kahl23]

We run Autometer Nexus gauges which have a nice redline feature where the entire gauge lights up red after a preset value has been reached. Really good for low oil press, high water/oil temp, and boost spikes. That being said we're having some software issues with them, it could be an install problem or a hardware issue, we're not sure yet.

 

[Strm Trpr]

If you have dsmlink, I have found the water temp gauge warning light for the CEL to be just fine.

However, oil pressure and oil temperature is critical. Honestly once you have boost set, you shuoldnt need the gauge.

For my old setup, oil temp, oil press, wideband (for tuning no need for on track but you could quickly diagnose if the car started running weird). Water temps were monitored by having the CEL at 210 and the stock boost gauge set as HiCoolant.

I try to reduce the amount of gauges in my face, so that each one is more special and I pay more attention to the critical ones.

Well said.
It's hard to look at gauges when road racing.
It's best to have a LED grab your attention to a particular gauge like a warning light.
I'm too busy watching the guys in front of me so I can set them up for a pass.
I can honestly say I don't even look at my Speedo when on the track, well maybe on a long straight or something, but that's it.
I did catch my tach at 7,500rpm once just as I shifted into 4th...

I have water temp and oil temp gauges separated by oil pressure in my triple gauge a-pillar.
Both water temp and oil temp are peak hold/warning light gauges, so I can set them to light up at any temp I want to warn.

I also have the CEL set to 219*F coolant, stock boost gauge is knock gauge and the CEL comes on to grab my attention to the stock boost gauge to see just how much knock I'm getting.

I have a Zeitronix ZT-2 display, but it's pretty much useless when on the track.
It practically has to be mounted in the dark in order to see the damn thing.
It displays Boost, WB, EGT and Lambda.

Like D_Eclipse9916 mentioned, set boost and forget it, WB is good for quick A/F ratio diagnosis.

 

[miniturbo23]

Good quality gauges are a must for any car that visits the track. They are essential to the health of your engine. I run AEM gauges in the following trim:

AEM TruBoost Boost Controller/Gauge
AEM UEGO Wideband o2 Controller/Gauge
Oil Pressure
Oil Temp
Water Temp
Volts

Pete

I cannot find a digital EGT/PYRO guage from AEM and all the guages I got are AEM and I dont want anolog.. do you know if they make it?

 

[xloki77x]

I agree that it is hard to look at too many different gauges when you are on track, this is why I like the AEM gauges. They have the digital numbers as well as 24 led's that change from green to yellow to red when you start to get up to dangerous temps/pressures. I also have labels in large lettering above each one for easy readings no the fly.

Miniturbo23, I do not believe AEM has ever made a digital EGT gauge. If you ask me, I would prefer my EGT gauge to be different so I could easily pick it out in the cluster. That's just me though.

Pete
Pete

 

[Ludachris]

I have a bunch of Defi gauges with a few Autometer gauges - Water temp, Oil temp, Oil pressure, Fuel pressure, Wideband Air/Fuel, Boost, and EGT (currently not hooked up).

I'd love to get one of these bad boys at some point:

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But those cost about $1400 each... the Stack ST700 (tach gauge) is only $650, but you need to buy all the sensors which adds up very quick. The SPA gauges look like a nice alternative to cut down on gauges, but again, they add up quick too.

I'm hoping that when I'm ready, I'll be able to sell 6 of my 7 gauges and put it towards a new set (I'll keep my Wideband A/F gauge. I'm leaning towards the SPA option due to the lower cost and to have separate warning lights for each meter. But damn, would I love a Stack dash.

 

[snowborder714]

It looks like the VEI gauges are cheaper than the SPA Chris. For oil press/temp, the SPA was over $300 and the VEI (with sensors) is a bit over $150.

Or is there something I'm missing that the SPA's have over the VEI's?

I plan on running 3 VEI gauges in the center vent bezel as Drew did. I should be able to fit all items I'd like to monitor in those 3 gauges. And hopefully at some point in the nearish future, Tom will come out with the option to log more values in link so I can log even more values that are super critical.

 

[Ludachris]

Yeah, the VEI meters look pretty cost effective. I'm wondering how readable the digital gauges are in the day time. I see they have non-glare displays, but I'd still like to know if it's as easy to read as needle gauges.

 

[snowborder714]

Hopefully I can tell you at some point over the winter when I get one of mine installed.

 

[Savage Talon]

For those using aem ems there is a nice plug-n-play aim system. AiM Sports - The World Leader in Data Acquisition
If not they have other systems that you can configure to work. I ran the MyCron3 on my race bike for years and loved it.

 

[-TunedDSM-]

Chris I really like what you did with your dash, simple and clean.

 

[Ludachris]

Problem is, it's a little too much - as others have said, it's difficult to monitor so many gauges, especially when they're off to the side like mine are. And my gauges don't have warning lights, so I have to try and monitor them - and there is usually only one straight-away long on each course to do that. Ideally, I'd like to redesign my factory gauge cluster so that the tach and speedo are all in one like SPA's combo gauge. Then I can add in 4 smaller gauges right next to it. The non-critical gauges like fuel level and voltage (and even boost, really) can go on the side where all my gauges currently are. I can have temp (dual gauge for water and oil) and and pressure gauges (dual with fuel and oil) right next to the speedo, along with A/F and EGT.

Just need some money to get it done...

 

[D's GS-T]

all good info, exactly what i was looking for thanks alot! So what kind of gauges ideally do people run to stay accurate. is autometer is good choice. I know like defi, aem, and what not are great gauges, but those get pricey quick . type are people running, and where the hell do people mount these, just in normal spots like most dsms. it seems like you could run a bunch of gauges in road racing , just getting a feel for what people are doing.

 

[snowborder714]

Right now I have 2 Autometer gauges (boost and water temp) and an Innovate XD-16 wideband. The wideband and boost are in a triple A-pillar and the water temp is in the gauge cluster bezel. I'm not a big fan of this setup, so I'm tearing it out this winter and basically copying gixxerdrew's setup of 3 VEI dual gauges in the center vent bezel. I think it's a much cleaner look and the gauges are much more useful, especially with the warning system.

I initially planned on getting a separate gauge for everything, but then seeing some "cockpit" setups, I thought it looked horrible and would have my eyes going way too may different directions. The vent bezel gauges should be pretty easy to glance at, especially being digital.

 

[snowborder714]

Chris, if you check out Drew's video you can see the VEI gauges in action during the day. They look to be very easy to read.

 

[MIdsm]

In general, it would be nice to have information regarding transmission, transfer case and rear end oil temperatures.

The Auber Instruments has a range of fairly inexpensive temperature and pressure sensors and gauges. The gauges also have a built in alarm light and can also trigger a relay, a buzzer or an LED in sight of the driver. One of their gauges also has an analog output so the info can be recorded via a logger. I have no affiliation with the company.

Automotive gauges, EGT Boost : auberins.com, Temperature control solutions for home and industry

Good luck.

 

[Wrecklezz1]

i run the glow shift elite guages in this order
1-water (warning light+ audi)
2-oil pres-(warning ligt+ audi)
3-vac and volt

aem-(widban+truboost)

 

[kainam00]

I am too interested in a couple gauges for the rally car. I definitely need something that has a very visible warning light and preferably a loud audible alarm.

How visible are the warning lights on these gauges? How loud are the alarms?

 

[ACM]

I am too interested in a couple gauges for the rally car. I definitely need something that has a very visible warning light and preferably a loud audible alarm.

How visible are the warning lights on these gauges? How loud are the alarms?

In a forest rally car I wouldn't be triggering lights, but loud buzzers through your intercom. Oil pressure and water temp would be the most important in that environment. Maybe boost, perhaps, if you have a history of failing control ?

Battery can go on a bright light as it's not immediately catastrophic...

Charles