Electric Or Mechanical Gauges?

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N

NoJokE

Senior Member
I know that mechanical gauges are more accurate but heard they are messier for a street car than electric guages. What are you experiences with both or comments? I am gonna get 8 gauges as of now and want to know the better way to go
 
Originally posted by TypeRcivic@Jun 11 2003, 10:00 PM
I know that mechanical gauges are more accurate but heard they are messier for a street car than electric guages. What are you experiences with both or comments? I am gonna get 8 gauges as of now and want to know the better way to go
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8 gauges? For what???

Seems like overkill to me....
 
EGT, Oil Pressure, Oil Temperature, Water Temperature, 2 Channel Intake Temperature, Voltmeter, Fuel Pressure and my favorite Boost Gauge :D
 
you dont need a voltmeter unless you run lots of electricity; like amps and all that.

i prefer mechanical gauges because you dont have to concentrate on a certain number and figure out where you are; rpm numbers moving so quick all you can see is the 1 in fron of all the numbers. but some electric gauges are pretty good but they usually only incorporate a few things; like rpm, speed, g-forces, etc
 
If you're going to run gauges, might I suggest the KISS strategy..

Keep
It
Simple
Stupid


I'm assuming you are boosting somehow, turbo, s/c, whatever...

All you really need is

1- Boost gauge
1- Oil temp gauge

Keep your fuel pressure gauge in the engine compartment, and don't bother getting a EGT, they're useless.

The only thing you need to concentrate on is driving, not distractions.

Instead of an EGT, might I suggest a Hondata S200 with boost and datalogging. Then buy a FTO(?) wideband O2 unit for the Hondata system. Do all your tuning before you ever hit the streets, and enjoy the benefits of properly boosted power. If you lose oil pressure, well, it's too late to do anything about it, so a oil pressure gauge is useless too. A volt meter is also a waste, unless there is some reason your engine might not have 12 volts while running. And if this is strictly a drag car, and you have no alternator, then a voltmeter gauge is a waste of valuable power, just check it before and after races with a DMM. Water temp, there's one on your dash, use it. 2 channel intake temp, well if your S/C, this is great for tuning, but if you are turbo, there's little chance it will move very much.

But hey, this is just my opinion....
 
I concur with the overkill of 8,
But, I disagree with the EGT being useless....

IMO, EGT, Boost, and oil pressure are all you NEED.
fuel pressure under the hood while setting up a fuel system might come in handy... but not really necessary
 
worhtless piece of shit.

unless you have a wideband o2, all it does is bounce are like a fucktard and give you false readings.
 
I would day an air/fuel gage not on a wideband O2 sensor is not 100% useless more like 80% useless. the only time it's of any use is under acceleration.
and idle and it's not an exact number like oh I'm running at 14.7:1 right now. it's just an idication of about how rich or lean the motor is.
 
an o2 sensor goes off voltage, like most sensors.

here's 1 leading widebands vs a 3 narrow band o2's

other than at practically stoich, its reading is useless. the widebands translate a voltage into a number like 12:1 and make a gauge worthwhile.

Even under WOT, unless your car is running 14.7:1 at that given moment, its giving you a false reading. and if you car has to run at X ratio to get a right reading, well, then you already know what it is without a gauge.

techfjowbo2.gif
 
Originally posted by K2e2vin@Jun 11 2003, 10:37 PM

i prefer mechanical gauges because you dont have to concentrate on a certain number and figure out where you are; rpm numbers moving so quick all you can see is the 1 in fron of all the numbers. but some electric gauges are pretty good but they usually only incorporate a few things; like rpm, speed, g-forces, etc
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I didnt mean a digital screen, there are electric gauges that have senders and send the info to the gauge and mechanical which attach to whatever they are gauging directly. NOT a digital screen
 
Originally posted by AllMotorMonster@Jun 11 2003, 11:46 PM
I'm assuming you are boosting somehow, turbo, s/c, whatever...
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Tubo? Supachaga? Deyz jus fo decurazzionz :lol:
 
Electrical gages are easier to install in the sense of getting wire to were you want them.
Mechanical gauges like an oil pressure gague gets a little messy to install you have to bleed the line up to the gague.

I think that's the only major differnce
 
Originally posted by karnash@Jun 12 2003, 03:33 PM
boost guage should be mechanical and NOT digital right?
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its either mechanical or electric gauges. I mentioned digital earlier because someone thought i was referring to a digital screen for some reason. and there are electric AND mechanical boost gauges, choose whichever you prefer.
 
It generally isnt recomened to run mechanical guages into the car(i.e. your mechanical oil guage decides to start spraying oil everywhere.) thats why sometimes you see cars with a guage on the hood. yes mechanicals ones are more accurate, but only by like .00000000000000000001 of a difference. you arent going to be tuning that dramtically probably. if you are, Hondata, or AEM Standalone would be the route. IMO electric is fine, and only get a couple guages, dont go with all 8, that does seem overkill. fuel pressure under the hood is good too, its not like ur gonna be adjusting it from the cab are you??? :D
 
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