Hey All,

What gauges should I get for my Vortech?
I want to put the gauges in a pillar gauge pod. I have the wheat interior?
So basically:

1) What gauges to get
2) Where to get gauges
3) Where to get gauge pod in wheat

Thanks!

 

wideband, boost, oil pressure

u'll have to shop around. huge price differences between brands and gauge tyes (full sweep electronic, full sweep mechanical or the short sweep version)

 

What's the difference between Electronic and Mechanical?
The electronic ones are super expensive. The mechanicals...not so much. I'd like gauges that match my interior as close as possible.

 

wheat pod from intensepower

defi guages with amber lights (boost, oil pressure) and AEM wideband o2

 

+1, You could always do the pod setup that I did on my 05. I think it looks great!

 

I have damn near every gauge you can have and the gauge I find myself looking at the most is my oil temp gauge and my 2nd most looked at gauge is my aftermarket coolant gauge. I feel like these two gauges tell me how the car is actually doing temp-wise and when it's warmed up enough to start going WOT and when it's running slightly hot.

the boost gauge is only worth looking at if you think there's a boost leak problem.

I have two A/F gauges, one for each bank and I keep an eye on them on occasion, but with my standalone, I really don't worry much about the A/F ratio because it's always just about perfect. So I only look at them really if I think there's an actual problem. Having one on each bank has helped me with troubleshooting certain things like when a coil pack was starting to go bad and the banks were reading a full 2 points different from each other

the other two readings I look at just for fun are the outside temp gauge that comes with the car (G35's have it right?) It tells you how hot it is in the bumper area since that's where the sensor is. My intake is there in the bumper too so I can see how hot the air that's getting sucked in at the filter. Then I also have an air intake gauge from my Fcon in the intake manifold that I take a look at sometimes too. This is amusing to watch with using water/meth injection because it really does drop 30-40 degrees with full out WOT runs.I know these aren't big deal readings to be looking at, but I feel like I get a better picture of how fast I can expect the car to cool down

here's all the gauges and readings I can see in my car:
boost
EGT
fuel pressure
coolant temp - aftermarket, stock is crap
oil temp
oil pressure (stock with Z's)
A/F right bank
A/F left bank
air intake temp
outside (bumper) air temp (stock with Z's, I assume G's have this too)
then all the other redundant sensors the Fcon shows like EGT, coolant, etc etc

 

Where did you get the center pod mount?
Thanks!

 

Im taking it that you live in the north east , by the [MA] in your sig . So keeping track of oil and water temps isnt that importent . And if you are running the stock Vortech fuel system and want a 3 gauge pod . I would go with a boost , fuel Preasure , and A/F gauges .
Good luck ...Have fun !

 

Dude I love your custom gauge pod but your builder wants 500 dollars for it. That's a little overboard dont u think?

 

So its pretty unanimous that I should be getting Boost and Oil Pressure...

What's A/F versus Wideband? I really don't drive my car too hard and never take it auto crossing. Might have some fun with it here and there but rarely.....

What's the difference in getting an electronic gauge versus a mechanical gauge? HUGE price difference.

 

Hey Andy, can you post a picture of your setup? Where did you get all the parts? Mind if I ask how much it all ran you?

 

A wideband afr is probably the most important. Boost is good to have because it can warn you of possible problems like a boost leak, belt needs tightening, dirty filter, etc. In other words, if you usually hit 8psi and now you are only hitting 6psi, you know something is up. And just because VQ's have so many issues with oil consumption, it's my personal opinion that an oil pressure gauge is very important too. The other gauges are not as important but useful in their own right if you decide to get them.

Here are my gauges. Innovate wideband afr, Defi boost, oil pressure and egt.

 

If I were to choose only three, I would have to go with Wideband A/F, Oil Pressure, and Boost. These monitor the things that are going to blow your engine if they aren't right, such as:
- Running lean while under boost
- Getting happy with the fun pedal before the oil is warmed up
- Running with no oil pressure at all
- Over-boosting

Other gauges are nice to have to see what's going on, but they won't really save your a$$. If you are A/T, trans temp is also handy (but that exceeds your three gauge quota).

 

U interested in buying an used triple wheat gauge pod? PM me if u are, hehe.

 

I know DEFI makes the oil pressure and the boost, but does anyone 1 company make the Oil Pressure, Boost, and A/F gauge? I like the look of the Amber BF DEFI gauges.

I want to keep it as clean looking as possible...preferably all three gauges by the same company...