Best Gauges?

TheTeacher

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(I did a search first and didn't see one)

I am slowly acquiring all the parts for my final build, and want to get ahead on the gauges.

Which gauges are the best bang for the buck?
Which ones should be avoided?

I want a wideband A/F, Boost, and temp gauges for sure. Might get others just because I love the look.

Thanks in advance.
 

SilentScope

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I have glowshift blue digital gauges.
Boost, A/F, and oil pressure

I love them.

Best looking gauges out there IMHO
 

bigray327

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Autometer Nexus, hands down. All electric, different colors, datalogging, warning colors, the whole nine yards.

I have five, and they match the MyColor blue perfectly.

Cockpit04272009.jpg
 

Hawgman

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Prosport makes a pretty descent gauge for the price. About half the price of other gauges. They have a Peak/Warning line, do light shows when they start up, 270 degree sweep, change colors, bla bla bla. I will say that the reset needle on the Peak/Warning line has a tenancy to rattle. It's fixed pretty easily. But it does happen.

You can't go wrong with Autometer or AEM. Provided you have the credit app approval to buy them.
 

TheTeacher

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First off :
What interior setup do you have... Mycolor or regular green gauges...

Autometer IMO makes some amazing gauges... check this thread out for some gauge ideas
http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48812&highlight=SOS+pods

I have Mycolor, running all red right now. Tried to upgrade to all red leds in the middle dash, but sale fell through.

I love the autometer gauges, but those prices scare me.
I kind of figured I would be stuck getting them, but was hoping people would know about cheaper - but just as good - gauges.
 

HellsBells

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Autometer is definitely quality for a bargain.

Best quality gauges I've ever used (but also paid a lot for): DEFI

ProSport Gauges are similar looking to DEFI but are a much lower quality and they do have their issues. But they are a fraction of the cost. It just depends how picky you are about how they look vs how they function.

Whatever you do, go with remote mounted sensors if your budget permits it. That means, for example, my DEFI boost gauge has a boost sensor with a wire that attaches to the actual gauge. This means I just route a wire to the gauge from the engine bay instead of having to route a vacuum line. same applies to fuel pressure, oil pressure, anything with a fluid running through it is best kept in the engine bay in my opinion. It also makes installs much easier.

When running boost line, I recommend you use copper tubing, which is much stiffer and will not kink like nylon tubing. The cheapest way to get this is to go to a hardware store like Home Depot and get the 1/8" copper refrigerator tubing, it is much much cheaper than buying the tubing at autozone or a auto parts store. Tape electrical tape over it or heatshrink it if you are worried about it hitting a hot wire or anything like that, just so it doesnt offer itself as a ground to surrounding wires.


As for Wideband A/F, I would go with the innovate motorsports kit, like the LC-1, and add on their DB gauge. I liked it a lot more than the AEM kit and it is similarly priced.
 
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JoshK

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going with autometer gauges in my car, had them in my last one and had no complaints at all
 

808muscle

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Autometer AF and boost gauge here. Got them from amazon.com, had the best price I could find.
 

Aandf1978

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I went with Autometer GS series Wideband A/F and Electronic Boost. The GS line matches really well with the Ford Green Interior Dash Lights.
DSC01408.jpg
 

Charlie Sheen

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I have glowshift blue digital gauges.
Boost, A/F, and oil pressure

I love them.

Best looking gauges out there IMHO

Another vote for GlowShift. I have the Elite FP, AF, water temp, trans temp and vac/boost. Best bang for the buck out there IMO.

I had AutoMeters prior but two of them failed.
 

one.wicked.stang

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Another vote for GlowShift. I have the Elite FP, AF, water temp, trans temp and vac/boost. Best bang for the buck out there IMO.

I had AutoMeters prior but two of them failed.


Charlie Sheen, where did you tap into for the trans temp??? water temp??? Still like them? Trying to decide between the Glowshift blue digitals and the Autometer Cobalt Digital series (blue). With the Glowshifts I can also afford to get an AFR from Innovate, either the LC-1 or MTX-L.
 

retfr8flyr

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I also recommend the Autometer Nexus gauges. They are expensive but are well worth the money. I have an 8 gauge Nexus setup with the same gauges as whyask but an additional 2 EGT gauges.


5-1.jpg




Earl
 

Towelly

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Holy balls Earl. That is a beautiful setup. I wish I had the coin to copy it!

If I had the money, I would run Autometer Nexus gauges. But, since I do not, I'll be piecing together a set of Autometer Ford Racing gauges and switching the backlight to blue to match my favrotie MYCOLOR color. Boost, Fuel Pressure and Oil Pressure. Starting with boost, since I want the electronic sender to datalog it anyway. Everything else I want to data log either has a 5 volt output (WBO2) or is available for logging via SCT's live link.

I had DEFI Gauges in my old WRX. They were great, but for the same coin you can get Nexus gauges. In my opinion the Nexus gauges can't be beat in looks or precision.
 

retfr8flyr

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One of the things I like about the Nexus gauges is you can record and playback all the readings, so it's just like data logging with my SCT. They also allow a min and max warning indication to be set.


Earl
 

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