Well, other than the stock gauges, and the boost gauge, what gauges would be good to have on a car with a BT?
D.Passat00
I can see how those gauges aren't that helpful for performance, but what about for monitoring potential sludge problems? In other words, would you expect to see a gradual decline in oil pressure that would be noticable by watching a gauge or would it more likely be a situation where everything looks fine, then BAM! no pressure. If the latter, then I installed my oil pressure gauge for nothing.JamesBondage said:
Patrick.
Alive or dead gauges??? Oil pressure and temp don't just show 'ON/OFF', if you have low oil pressure it might give some indication of problems (ie regulator, filter...if it was the pressure switch would either be 0 or maxed out)...and pretty much the same for temp.JamesBondage said:
I would think those are actually more important for the well being of your car than intake temp and exhaust temp....really those 2 are nice to have but we arent talking about an airplane where both of those are for safety of flight.
I run manifold pressure (boost/vacuum), voltage, and oil pressure. When I make more room, I will add air/fuel, EGT, and oil temperature.
Scoff all you want at oil pressure, but it is a life saver. You can watch your pressure while driving and it is easy to see if you are getting to the danger zone. Laugh at you want at voltage, too, but at least I know my alternator is dying a slow death.
Manifold pressure is self-explanitory. And for those who complain about the noisy VDO gauges, I love it. It's audible feedback of high boost situations, and it's really neat that I don't even have to look to see when I'm over 12psi.
Scoff all you want at oil pressure, but it is a life saver. You can watch your pressure while driving and it is easy to see if you are getting to the danger zone. Laugh at you want at voltage, too, but at least I know my alternator is dying a slow death.
Manifold pressure is self-explanitory. And for those who complain about the noisy VDO gauges, I love it. It's audible feedback of high boost situations, and it's really neat that I don't even have to look to see when I'm over 12psi.
OIL PRESSURE !!!!!!!!! Oil is the lifeblood of your engine. All modern cars should have oil pressure gauges, yet VERY few do.
Oil temperature is not a bad idea, either.
Tuning for performance is OK, if that is your interest, but the engine's fundamental health is arguably much more important.
Oil temperature is not a bad idea, either.
Tuning for performance is OK, if that is your interest, but the engine's fundamental health is arguably much more important.
Thats because oil is one of those things where you either have it, or you dont...modern cars have oil warning lights in the dash. You can go ahead and put an oil pressure gauge in your car, but how often do you look at it. If you get a big hole in your oilpan and your car is bleeding down the road...I'm sure most people would see the oil light on their dash faster than the oil pressure gauge needle going down.John_E said:
IMO:
Do racecars have "tuning" gauges? No. You tune using datalogging tools (e.g. VAG-COM). Gauges are to monitor the health of the engine. Because our cars come with with a pseudo-water-temp gauge, and oil pressure warning light, the priority list for engine health is:
1) boost
2) oil temp
3) oil pressure
4) volts
5) fuel pressure
Water temp would be awesome, but the factory gauge plus an oil temp gauge makes it low on the priority list.
Otherwise, with no gauges at all, the list would be:
1) water temp
2) oil pressure
3) boost
4) oil temp
5) volts
6) fuel pressure
EGT: would be nice - except you have to drill a hole in your exhaust manifold and weld a bung to it. This is a PITA and creates the possibility of exhaust manifold cracking - not good. Besides, EGT is also primarily a tuning parameter, as is A/F. If you monitor some "dyno" runs with VAG-COM, and your knock retard (020) and A/F (O2 voltage)(031) are OK, then your EGT's are going to be OK - especially with a big turbo. The efficiency of the BT will help keep EGT's down. And, since turbo activity is a major contributor to increased oil temp - if you have an oil temp gauge you can tell when things are getting too hot and you need to give the throttle some rest.
IAT: VAG-COM.
A/F - the narrowband gauges are useless for tuning. If you've done the "dyno" runs with VAG-COM and block 031 values are acceptable, you've done exactly all that you can do with a narrowband A/F, so why buy one, unless you just like blinky lights? If you want to do serious tuning, you have to get a wideband O2. Period. End of Sentence. And if you argue with me, I'll find Macabre and have him wail on your punk *ss. And note that a wideband O2 has it's own share of installation hassles and quirks.
Do racecars have "tuning" gauges? No. You tune using datalogging tools (e.g. VAG-COM). Gauges are to monitor the health of the engine. Because our cars come with with a pseudo-water-temp gauge, and oil pressure warning light, the priority list for engine health is:
1) boost
2) oil temp
3) oil pressure
4) volts
5) fuel pressure
Water temp would be awesome, but the factory gauge plus an oil temp gauge makes it low on the priority list.
Otherwise, with no gauges at all, the list would be:
1) water temp
2) oil pressure
3) boost
4) oil temp
5) volts
6) fuel pressure
EGT: would be nice - except you have to drill a hole in your exhaust manifold and weld a bung to it. This is a PITA and creates the possibility of exhaust manifold cracking - not good. Besides, EGT is also primarily a tuning parameter, as is A/F. If you monitor some "dyno" runs with VAG-COM, and your knock retard (020) and A/F (O2 voltage)(031) are OK, then your EGT's are going to be OK - especially with a big turbo. The efficiency of the BT will help keep EGT's down. And, since turbo activity is a major contributor to increased oil temp - if you have an oil temp gauge you can tell when things are getting too hot and you need to give the throttle some rest.
IAT: VAG-COM.
A/F - the narrowband gauges are useless for tuning. If you've done the "dyno" runs with VAG-COM and block 031 values are acceptable, you've done exactly all that you can do with a narrowband A/F, so why buy one, unless you just like blinky lights? If you want to do serious tuning, you have to get a wideband O2. Period. End of Sentence. And if you argue with me, I'll find Macabre and have him wail on your punk *ss.
And note that a wideband O2 has it's own share of installation hassles and quirks.Voltmeter tells you the status of your battery + your alternator.
If you a fuel pressure gauge under your hood, you probably won't need one inside the cabin. In most cases, its illegal (and dangerous) to have a fuel line going through the firewall, so if you are going to install one inside your cabin, dont forget to hook up that sender.
If you a fuel pressure gauge under your hood, you probably won't need one inside the cabin. In most cases, its illegal (and dangerous) to have a fuel line going through the firewall, so if you are going to install one inside your cabin, dont forget to hook up that sender.
The idiot light does not track gradual deterioration, be it blockage of the oil filter (inceasing pressure), blockage of the pickup screen (decreasing oil pressure), or shearing of the oil (decreasing oil pressure at high temperature). A light plus audible alarm is a very good idea for traumatic failure, but it should supplement a proper gauge, rather than replacing it.pacent said:
Educate me further, Rusty. Are you saying our temperature gauges don't have a linear sending unit, but perhaps a switch? Mine does hold suspiciously tightly to center 190F position as soon as the engine warms up. Has anyone tried substituting a better sending unit?Rusty said:
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