What is a good brand of gauge to use on an 04 WRX? I just have the boost gauge that came with it mounted on the left side of the steering column. What are the most important gauges needed (turbo boost, exhaust temp, oil temp, water temp, etc)??? Are most people replacing their clock pods with the triple gauge pod, using the steering column pods or using the triple pillar pods? Thanks for any input.
it's personal preference on where you put it... some places are definitely easier than others. There are plenty of good brands out there: Defi, Apexi, HKS, etc.. but their on the expensive side. Autometer will work, but probably not as well as some higher quality units. Personally, i'm leaning towards the MadDad Clarity Series... supposedly a good mechanism, and you can get a set of 3 for like, $300. You have boost, so i would say Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, and EGT. One final word, get ELECTRICAL gauges.. about the only exception to this is a boost gauge. mechanical gauges actually plumb into the cabin whatever it is your trying to measure. Things like hot oil under pressure insnt usually a good thing to have under your dashboard. an electrical gauge will also be easier to hook up.
the mad dad gauges are nice. i have the EGT one. (although it isnt hooked up). depending on wat you wanna do with the car you should buy gauges accordingly. if you want to do some tuning on your own i would highly recomend a air fuel gauge. these are expensive cause you need a wideband 02 to make it work right.
I have a flex up pipe, an Invidia tb exhaust, delete elbow, k&n air filter and I am thinking about getting some kind of utec/accessport for the ecu. So I would like to be prepared with the proper gauges. I really didn't want to get rid of the clock, but I have also heard that gauges on the pillar are easy targets if you ever leave your car out at night for whatever reason.
If your really worried about high visibility, i would just get one of these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-u...33586QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW#ebayphotohosting Put the main gauges in that, then mount the others down low along the side of the dashboard center colum in some individual pods or on the steering colum. All those should be nicely out of sight when looking at the car from a distance. but no matter what, gauges are going to be visible, because they have to be visible to you.
I guess it really depends on what you want out of the car. if you have a daily driver, boost and egt is all you REALLY NEED. If you want to do some track days, then you would probably want to monitor oil temp, if you have a automatic tranny, you will want a tranny temp. So it really depends on what you are going to use your car for. Russ
It is my daily driver, but I do want to have fun with my car as well. I want it to look like a sleeper, but not drive like one. What is a good utec/accessport for the ecu since that will probably be my next mod along with the proper gauges? I am not sure how far I want to go with my car at this point since it is my daily driver. Maybe suspension mod (springs). After that?????? I would have to see what might be the next appropraite mod(s) might be. Any suggestions?
definitely consider an accessport... I got mine for about $300 used... best $300 I have spent on my car... instantly you can run stage 2... the difference is phenominal for a daily driver... then consider a pro-tune or get Russ to tidy up the fuel levels.. (I need that) as stock Cobb maps are run real rich....
I would just make sure you have a egt. Since you are not making a track/drag car and you want to keep things stealth, a egt is all you really need. You could also run a differnt boost gauge if you don't like the stocker. Once you start getting a little more serious, you can add the temp/pressure gauges. If it was me, I would go with the dash surround pod, and a boost and egt gauge and call it good for the time being. As for em, if you don't want to tinker, go with the cobb ap. The stg maps are pretty good, and you can get it custom tuned from there. i do have the protuner software, so I can do a custom tune for ya. Russ
To bad the clock isn't in the stereo like most vehicles. The clock is nice to have instead of trying to shift and look at your watch, phone, pager, etc. If I decide to replace the clock pod, do they make a decent looking guage pod for that area? How accurate is the stock boost gauge that comes with it? What size gauges do most people go with? I don't mind tinkering. I want to learn more about the car. What else would you suggest besides Cobb Accessport? TXS? Are there any new products coming out yet this year that maybe I should wait around for? Thanks.
there are several nice pods that go where the clock is. pete has blitz gauges which are nice and many poeple run defi /sti genome gauges there too. also mad dad has a deal fro 3 gauges and pod.' IIRC most gauges come in 52mm. kinda big imo, i like the small oem boost gauge size (48mm?) the deal with the tinkering is that the cobb maps are preset (can be altered w. protune) but it basicaly plug and play. where as with a utec you would have the option or perhaps the need to plug it in and change stuff. imo cobb ap is easier, and more common.
I have autometer gauges and they're no worse than any high buck japanese gauges in terms of accuracy. There are a hell of a lot more real race cars running on autometer stuff than every other gauge comapany combined, they just dont have the good looks of a lot of other gauges. Also keep in mind that they make about 300 difernt kinds of gauges in about 8 different lines so there is a big variance in quality and accuracy across their various product lines
The MadDad Clarity gauges look nice. Nice price for the package of three gauges. I am not sure on the picture I saw of the actual pod the gauages can come with. Does anyone make a smaller gauge pod that replaces the clock pod? What about heads up display or a monitor display of some sort? Pretty expensive? It is very accurate? Hard to install? Are there any new engine management products coming soon out that maybe I should wait around for? Thanks.
You can get a nice 52mm digital clock in red, green, or blue on Summit Racing's website. Actually, they are 2 1/16" diameter, which is pretty much the same...I had one in my gauge pod until I sold them. EGT, Boost and a clock is more than enough for most people.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=NRD%2DM8009%2DGW&N=1004+115&autoview=sku Nordskog makes them....might be able to find them cheaper elsewhere. Dakota Digital makes clocks too, but they are pricey and I think they only come in blue.
