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What gauges do you recommend?

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Old Aug 19, 2009 | 07:21 PM
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Default What gauges do you recommend?

New to this site and doing a meth injected STS 67mm turbo system. What guages do you guys recommend. Plan on air/fuel, boost, and fuel pressure guages. Would like something that would match the dash gauges the best. What have you had the best luck with? Have you guys had good luck w/ electric gauges?
Thanks!
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Old Aug 19, 2009 | 07:44 PM
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You need a scan guage or a laptop. I like the interceptor, but there are several out there.

You can plug boost and af into tehinterceptor also. You really only need af, boost and fp for tuning. You can ussuallyhear the waistgate open so after base tuning and recognizing when it opens you can live without a boost gauge all teh time, but then again its easy to plug into the interceptor scan gauge.

Af does nothing unless you tune all the time. The knock retard function and warning lights are about as good as it gets for saving your engine, especially if your kinda new to fi. I m only guessing since your going sts.

Monitor knock.......if it retards take your foot out of it until you know why.
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Old Aug 19, 2009 | 08:22 PM
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[QUOTE=1320;12097081]

I m only guessing since your going sts.

QUOTE]


I dont understand, whats wrong with sts? I am not building a drag car, its a weekend driven vert WS6 in pristine condition. Just looking for a litttle extra get up and go. Have been talking to Freddy and Matt at STS, customer support is outstanding.
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Old Aug 20, 2009 | 12:43 AM
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I run three interceptors .They are great. Can be shift light,knock warning light, etc.
Can delete and check codes, can do all sorts of cool stuff. And you can feed in two extra sensors per guage so total of like 9 guages. I will be adding in wideband, fuel pressure,nitrous pressure,later likely oil temp, trans temp,egt.

They can match my ta dash pretty close. They are just cool as hell!
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Old Aug 20, 2009 | 12:45 AM
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I used to have the exact same setup you have in my Trans Am I sold. I used Autometer Cobalt gauges. Fuel, A/F, Boost. Nice friggen gauges...
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Old Aug 20, 2009 | 05:04 AM
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get a front mount for get up and go kytp!
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Old Aug 21, 2009 | 09:35 PM
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Default here's my colbalts ON MY STS CAMARO THAT AM VERY HAPPY WITH

What gauges do you recommend?-ta-008.jpg
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Old Aug 21, 2009 | 09:39 PM
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Autometer are the best...
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Old Aug 21, 2009 | 09:40 PM
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those gauges above look bad *** for sure! Is that a a/f and boost?
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Old Aug 22, 2009 | 07:06 AM
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I use the Autometer Ultralite gauges. They have white faces. I use only the electric versions, without any issues at all. I chose to buy (what I consider) the best quality gauges versus those that look flashy, but that's just me.
I chose to get a Pyrometer gauge instead of the ever popular AFR gauge, b/c its sensor does not go out periodically like the O2 sensor of an AFR gauge does. When I want to tune, I pull out my LM-1, do the work, and then put it back in the box.
I actually stopped by a place that works on long distance buses, and he told me that is what they use also. Too cold, too rich. Too hot, too lean.
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Old Aug 23, 2009 | 01:37 PM
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Yes, wideband and boost..
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Old Aug 23, 2009 | 02:09 PM
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On my pillar I have autometer C2 gauges....boost, fuel pressure and a/f
In my center vents I have oil pressure, water temp, tranny temp, fuel level in autometer ultralites. I have an ultralight 5" tach with shiftlight as well at the bottom of my pod.
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Old Aug 23, 2009 | 05:33 PM
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[QUOTE=gtfitter597;12097323]
Originally Posted by 1320

I m only guessing since your going sts.

QUOTE]


I dont understand, whats wrong with sts? I am not building a drag car, its a weekend driven vert WS6 in pristine condition. Just looking for a litttle extra get up and go. Have been talking to Freddy and Matt at STS, customer support is outstanding.
Nothing is wrong with it, they do good job delivering what they sell. The question is, if what you expect is what you are getting. For the more serious they tend to be a stepping stone to more complete or more powerful set ups.

Like you said, perfect for a pristine car for alittle more get up and go. Your question though was about gauges.....and most people dont tune themselves, (I do and so do several of my friends) but for those that dont, gauges in general really do nothing. Unless you know what the af should be in all conditions, and can effectively make changes to it, then why would you need to have a wideband? You NEED to know when conditions change to an asspect that puts your engine (your pocket book) in jeopardy.

A boost gauge does nothing, other then tell you what the number is....but other then tuning, whats the need? After tuning, you can remove a boost gauge.....and still be able to tell if its making boost. If you cant tell if its making boost without a boost gauge, then you have a very very very very BAD turbo system. If you have a open waistgate, like sts's and most, then its easy to hear the waistgate open. If you cant, you need more then a boost gauge to save you.

If a waistgate fails, the default is lower boost.....you can feel that, and dont need a needle to tell you unless again your tuning....making tune changes and boost changes to effectively change the way the car runs and responds.

Some people put gauges in the ac/heater vents, I agree it looks cool and is effective, but in your case, unless your going for a "look" then whats the point? Hurt your ac function?

Gauges are to tell you if something is wrong. A boost gauge and wideband tells you how to fix something that is wrong, a knock alert tells you something is wrong......

Three most important gauges....

1. oil pressure
2. water temp
3. knock

if your overlooking those in the slightest, then any others just distract you even more with imformation you may not be able to even do anything with.
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Old Aug 23, 2009 | 05:41 PM
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i went with Autometer Sport Comp gauges, they match the interior lighting well, i didnt want a light show inside my car at night so i went with the basic looking ones, BUT if you decide you wana get a little crazy they include red and green light bulb covers to change the backlighting color

BTW i also have the STS 67mm i went with vac/boost,Wideband A/F, and a fuel pressure gauge on my A-pillar
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Old Aug 23, 2009 | 08:13 PM
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Originally Posted by SS Ryan
i went with Autometer Sport Comp gauges, they match the interior lighting well, i didnt want a light show inside my car at night so i went with the basic looking ones, BUT if you decide you wana get a little crazy they include red and green light bulb covers to change the backlighting color

BTW i also have the STS 67mm i went with vac/boost,Wideband A/F, and a fuel pressure gauge on my A-pillar
I'm pretty sure thats what I'm going to end up doing. Love the simple look of the sport comps. I will be posting a build thread very soon, building a black 02 WS6 vert 6pt wolfe cage, sts kit, monster clutch, tick mc. Hoping to have a nice long winters project!
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Old Aug 23, 2009 | 08:20 PM
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[QUOTE=1320;12115205]
Originally Posted by gtfitter597

Nothing is wrong with it, they do good job delivering what they sell. The question is, if what you expect is what you are getting. For the more serious they tend to be a stepping stone to more complete or more powerful set ups.

Like you said, perfect for a pristine car for alittle more get up and go. Your question though was about gauges.....and most people dont tune themselves, (I do and so do several of my friends) but for those that dont, gauges in general really do nothing. Unless you know what the af should be in all conditions, and can effectively make changes to it, then why would you need to have a wideband? You NEED to know when conditions change to an asspect that puts your engine (your pocket book) in jeopardy.

A boost gauge does nothing, other then tell you what the number is....but other then tuning, whats the need? After tuning, you can remove a boost gauge.....and still be able to tell if its making boost. If you cant tell if its making boost without a boost gauge, then you have a very very very very BAD turbo system. If you have a open waistgate, like sts's and most, then its easy to hear the waistgate open. If you cant, you need more then a boost gauge to save you.

If a waistgate fails, the default is lower boost.....you can feel that, and dont need a needle to tell you unless again your tuning....making tune changes and boost changes to effectively change the way the car runs and responds.

Some people put gauges in the ac/heater vents, I agree it looks cool and is effective, but in your case, unless your going for a "look" then whats the point? Hurt your ac function?

Gauges are to tell you if something is wrong. A boost gauge and wideband tells you how to fix something that is wrong, a knock alert tells you something is wrong......

Three most important gauges....

1. oil pressure
2. water temp
3. knock

if your overlooking those in the slightest, then any others just distract you even more with imformation you may not be able to even do anything with.
I did not notice any knock gauges on autometers sight, would that be something like an interceptor would be a good choice for? Please help.
Thanks again.
And I am not some average Joe out there, I am a 597 HVAC service technicain and really am mechanically inclined. I love working on the laptop and setting up control strategies and figuring things out. This is my first ever f/i build so may be asking dumb questions here and there!
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Old Aug 23, 2009 | 08:25 PM
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How accurate are the factory 02 oil pressure, water temp gauges, are they just simply dummies? I guess thats why I did not even think about them.
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