What Gauge To Buy?

[eXc]

I searched and can't find much. Link me if it's been done before please.

I have decided to up the boost in the near future, but on a budget, so I was going to get a boost gauge, and I just bought a boost controller for $35 in this thread http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/sh...155#post1427155

I want a boost gauge so I can watch it doesnt spike. I was going to go electronic but I thought I'd get a gauge for $150 so this puts this all under $200. Much better than $600 for a EBC.

However it seems I may have been mislead. There is much debate about the different gauges.

What is your opinion and why (provide links if you have read reviews) on the following gauges.

Autometer (Was under impression they had a good rep, but seems I was wrong)

Splitfire (Hear they are crap)

Sepco (A few have said they are good, most said crap)

Greddy/Trust (As expected, all good reports)

HKS (havn't found anything)

VDO (found 1 post saying they are good)

Apexi (some say they are good, some say not.

Any others?

I am trying to work out what to buy, but if I am paying $300 for a gauge, I'll pay $600 for an EBC with the gauge and bonus features.

Cheers

Chris

[someonestolecc]

Omori.

Pivot.

Obviously they'd be expensive too if not second hand

[scottman]

True i want a Gauge too but don't know what to Buy i wanta spead about $200 I am thinking of getting a EBC maybe later i don't wanta boost yet

Just want a gauge so i know what boost i am hitting on stock cause stock one is to hard to see when ya boosting

[paulr33]

check for sale section, one of the traders has coloured guages for $35

[predator]

Seriously, i think boost gauges going for $300 are the biggest waste of money and wank possible, unless you have a race car.. and probably then you're at the level where somebody else is monitoring the engine status using proper equipment, rather than a simple incabin gauge.

If you are getting your car tuned by an expert, they're going to be monitoring all of your knock, boost and the rest to ensure that is not dangerous using their tools. Its nice to see where your boost is at whilst driving, and what is happening re: spiking and dips, and of course the "open boost" situation is vital to keep an eye on. But a boost gauge afterall is a monitoring tool, rather than a vital engine function.

But I am a tightass, so take this with a grain of salt..

I've had $40 specco boost gauges in my last two cars, and have not had any problems over the years. They may not be the most accurate thing, but who knows whether they are not. A 1-2psi variance between actual and displayed should not a make a difference between engine failure and not (esp. with the stock turbo). They're definitely better than the stock gauge, and even many are happy enough just sticking with that as long as the car is tuned by an expert.

[scathing]

What Predator said.

If your car is running perfectly, then you've got no need for boost, EGT, etc gauges. You only need to watch them if you're having issues with the car, or you're a ricer.

You might get an inlet temp gauge since that's variable and outside a tuner's control, so you could manually set boost depending on the temperature. You'd have to be pretty hardcore to do so, though. Everything else should be a non-issue.

But if you're serious about driving and monitoring your car's readings, get something like the Defi gauges. You shouldn't be watching gauges when you drive, and with Defi you can set a "warning" level to let you know when something exceeds your limits, and use the "replay" function to see what everything was doing at the time of the alarm.

[eXc]

Well the reason I need a boost gauge are;

1) I am going to put in a mechanical boost controller. Without a guage, I might be running 30 psi (ok so slight exageration, but point is I wont know without one since the stock isnt overly accurate)

2) Once it is installed, and I have it set to the right level, it wont matter if it reads wrong as such, so long as i can see a spike. So I guess I can get a cheapy, get it set on a dyno, then just know when it spikes.

[GtstCoupe]

you can get the trust/gready quite cheap $118.63 at nengun and they dont need controllers or little digital boxs to run either and come in white ,black and silver and at the end of the day you know you can rely on it being accurate.

this is the white one:

[Baz]

I just bought myself an Apexi EL gauge for $160 and am impressed with it. Its all a matter of looking around to find one at a good price. Check out the for sale section

[paulr33]

agreed, couldn't have said it better preadator. if you must have a guage get like a $30 one, theres a trader in the for sale section doing swoosh guages for $40 ish each, oil, water, boost, fuel etc in colours that u can choose. serioulsy the best guage or "measure device" is the powefc hand controller, it shows all the values, holds max values and does graphs. handy as. if only there's a cheap easy way to get the powerfc to read boost without controlling it

[daler32]

io bought a drift one from auto barn for 50 bucks as i installed the same boost controller in my car. i ended up takin the controller out because the nut kept coming loose i dont know if its because i wasnt tightening it enough or what but i was gettin the shits with the boost changin all the time and i like my exhaust wheel right where it supposed to be not wedged in the cat or somthing

[eXc]

Hmmm. Maybe I should just get a cheap one, check it's accuracy/set the boost right on the dyno, then just watch it for spikes.

[CerealKiller]

I think it was meggala who blew his turbo because his autometer or some other cheap gauge wasn't reading properly.

Personally I've got a Blitz AC Racing gauge. It's teh hotness.

[oRiCLe]

Apexi EL series II, black face mechanical boost...looks awesome @ night

[eXc]

http://www.silviaspares.com.au/pics/hks/hks52boost.jpg

how bout this one for $55. Sounds good to me? it's even a HKS.