mechanical or eletrical gauges?

[Fenvy]

so far I've concluded that since I'll be getting the car back with sr20det, I ought to get some gauges to monitor the general health of the motor. I've conluded that I might want to the following gauges:

air fuel ratioboost pressureoil pressure

1) should I get mechanical or eletrical gauges?2) with budget in mind, I really don't care about looks but I would prefer to have these gauges to be close to accurate, are THESE GAUGES any good?

3) if I ever get apexi afc, do I still need a air fuel ratio gauge?

[Fenvy]

bump? they look like this

[IveBeenBad]

air fuel ratio gauge is a waste, ive only seen mechanical boost gauges, and anything dealing with pressure or temperature should be electrical for safety reasons.

[Fenvy]

oh... can I ask why is air fuel ratio a waste? I would like to know whether I am running lean or rich

autometer has an eletrical air fuel ratio gauge...

so again.. why is it useless? thanks!

[IvoryJ30t]

because it runs off the stock o2 sensor which is only good for cruising fuel economy.

all the stock o2 sensor knows is if your above or below 14:1

at full throttle, a reading that comes up rich on the meter can be lean for WOT.

those gauges [AFR] are nothing more than amusement.

if you need to know your mixture, you need a wideband.

[Fenvy]

what I use a piggy back like apexi afc? would it be able to tell me anything useful without the use of wideband?

[IvoryJ30t]

its amusement. plain and simple.

theres nothing you can do to make a standard o2 sensor read actual AFR.

[Fenvy]

damn! okay last question...

I am under the impression, because everyone seems to believe this, that wideband o2 sensor can't be used for daily driving and will die off quickly compared to narrow band o2 sensor which ultimately render wideband sensors to strctly for tuning purposes and not daily driving?

[BuudWeizErr]

ELECTRICAL.

do not waste your money buying mechanical gauges.

[Fenvy]

ELECTRICAL.

do not waste your money buying mechanical gauges.

even the boost gauge? all the stand alone gaugesi could find only have mechanical for the boost gauge

[IvoryJ30t]

you dont run the wideband constantly.

you tune the car, and then replace the wideband sensor with the narrow band sensor for daily driving.

if your heart is set on the blinky light gauge, then go for it.just dont pay too much attention to it, because its next to worthless for anything other than watching it bounce back and forth during cruising.

[Phax]

When it comes to things like oil pressure gauges, you want an electrical one. Same with water / oil temperature. Look at it this way. Unless you want whatever you are measuring spraying all over you as you're driving (hot oil / water), make sure that it's electrical.

[BuudWeizErr]

I would never use anything other than electrical, even for boost. Sensors belong in the engine bay, not in the cabin. Plus, it's much easier to run one little cable than a huge vaccum line into the cabin.

[Fenvy]

i know cheap and performance does not belong in the same sentence... but is there a standalone eletrical boost gauge for under 100$?

[BuudWeizErr]

not under 100, but greddys 52mm are usually 100-125

[Fenvy]

hmm I'll look into greddy eletrical boost and oil pressure gauge, thanks for your assistance.

[burnin240sx]

Since this thread is about gauges I gues this isn't to far off topic.

Since electrical is the way to go then what are some good brands

HKS doesn't look like it has good gauges for viewing.

And the Megan racing is like 60 bucks and looks like it is cheap.

So what are some good guages with white back face and a night light?

[Fenvy]

there is a huge selection from autometer but like chuki said, you get what you paid for

[hannibal]

i thought autometer made some decent stuff. No bling bling like, HKS, greddy or Defi look-a-likes up there, but still quality gauges. Isnt this what most domestcs use??

[burnin240sx]

the c2 is alright but i like the look of some greddy gauges and want some of your peeps opion on the jdm after market.

[sirwarrior]

I would recomend going with full sweep gauges over the POS 90deg sweep that most electric ones are.But if you want full sweep, its mostly mechanical gauges or high priced JDM, or $150 Autometer onesI did find the electric ISSPro gauges that are 270deg sweep on egauges.com, they are under 70bux each. so thats what I am going with.