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what type and brand of gauges are you all using? i know that in most cases(n/a) they are useless but for fi they are a necessity. just looking for insight.

I don't know about useless. It's always good to know your oil pressue, air fuel ratio and other parameters. AEM makes good stuff from what i've seen

i have the AEM UEGO and the the other two gauges are Tranny Temp and Oil Pressure from Autometer. Purchased all this stuff for the cam install. They will come in handy when i go turbo or supercharged

Like lavalleemike said thet are very usefull

Defi black face gauges.... outstanding and they match the OEM cluster nicely

if you are completely stock then yes theyre useless.

if you have an engine build or major engine work, they are absolutely not useless even for a naturally aspirated engine.

I'm N/A and i have boost/vacum (obviously just reads the vacum side), oil pressure, oil temp, and fuel pressure (monitor the external FPR installed). the most "useless" gauge there is probably  the boost/vacum, however knowing the amount of vacum is beneficial for some parts of tuning the engine.

theyre all good gauges to have to be able to catch a problem relatively early or just keep better tabs on how everything is running.

Right now I have AEM gauges and a PLX gauge.  The AEM gauges are for a/f ratio, oil pressure, and voltage.  The PLX gauge is connected to my OBDII port (which is connected to my KPro ECU) and a vacuum/boost sensor and displays 4 different parameters at once.  Boost, vacuum, AIT, and coolant temp.  I don't like how the vacuum/boost gauge doesn't display in one line, so I'm ditching the PLX device and replacing my boost gauge with an AEM boost gauge.  I will probably end up running a HKS CAMP2 to replace all the other functions that the PLX device does right now.  Considering my future plans, I'm re-thinking a few things right now.

i know i want to get a/f, oil pressure and boost/vacuum. im unsure on the brands of gauges to go with. ive read that the a/f ratio gauge is one of the more important ones(brand choice=accuracy), but i like the way the autometer gauges compliment my future type-s gauges, ive just heard of poor reviews on their a/f gauges.

The only Autometer A/F guage I know of (which isn't saying much) is one that's a pure light show. Back in my ricer days (LOOOOOOOOOOONG ago) I had one that did nothing but sweep back and forth. That time, it looked cool, but now that I know better, it really wasn't telling me shit. I've heard nothing but good things on the AEM UEGO and would go with that personally. I'm not big in matching my guages. I'd rather have something that works as opposed to looks good especially when it comes to monitoring my engine parameters.

the AEM A/F gauge is great...

you could do what i did... remote wire the 3 number display for the AEM gauge... bury the gauge itself under the dash and just mount the numbers. the green/yellow/red lights are pretty much worthless if you know what you're looking at in terms of AFR numbers

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x40/kairajan/S2000%20cluster/DSC_0606.jpg) (bottom left)

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x40/kairajan/S2000%20cluster/DSC_0618.jpg)

For a simple gauge install, I would recommend AEM.  Their a/f gauge is definitely a good choice.  I got their other gauges so all my aftermarket gauges matched.

tim do you have any pics for us to see. i am also interested in getting some gauges. at first i just wanted a oil pressure gauge but am considering getting a/f and possibly oil temp or battery. is there only one gauge pillar we can get for our cars? (tripod 52mm grey)

This is the only picture I have of my gauges.  I'll try to take some better pics when I have time.

(http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g274/timot_one/Random%20Car%20Pics/gauges.jpg)

thats look good. i dont really like the glossyness of the pillar. but i cant find any other ones. i think i will get the same set up... thanks tim.

Yeah, I'm not that crazy about how it's glossy.  I was going to wrap it in black vinyl, but realized that it would be pretty tough due to the shape.  I'm sure you could scuff it up or repaint it to dull it a little bit.

i cant believe how expensive each gauge is. this set up will cost me over $900 wow. all i really want is an oil pressure gauge.. lol

i guess im goin to go with aem gauges then. im taking a metra upper dash kit and mounting the three gauges in the single din location. i will be some time before this happens because i want them for a build that im no where near able to afford yet. thanks for the info.

Don't waste your money on the metra kit.  That thing is junk and makes your HVAC controls sluggish.

i bought one used on here. could care less if the controls are slow. i have the basic ones anyways, no climate control.

I've had one for a while and it bugs me that there's up to a 5 second delay when you change anything on it.  It will bug you when you're used to things working properly.

maybe so, but im not a fan of the pillar gauge pods so if i have to sacrifice 5 seconds when i turn on the ac, so be it.

I would custom mount them into the center piece of the dash above the radio.

Either there or if you are just going to do an A/F gauge you could custom mount it to the top of the steering column.

like nexon did here for a CL-S
http://www.v6performance.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169108

On top of the steering column is a pretty good spot too.  There are plenty of places you can put gauges if you don't want them in your a-pillar.

I thought Ryanns guages looked ok. Here is a picture from his profile.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f199/Ryann84425/DSC03046-1.jpg)

I think that was also a custom job by Nexon Bill. He has a thread on v6p with a sort of how-to for them.

i remember seeing ryans and thinking. I WANT THAT! lol thats probably the set up i will go with. oil pressure and a/f ratio

you do NOT want to put gauges below your line of sight or off to the side too far because it will be distracting during driving and downright dangerous to look at the gauges while driving. and you'll probably get tired of waiting for the AC to turn on with the metra kit. have nexson fab you a gauge pod like ryanns above, or the single pod he made me that lead up to ryann's double pod
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x40/kairajan/DSC02089.jpg)
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x40/kairajan/DSC01739.jpg)
(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x40/kairajan/DSC01738.jpg)
the steering column pods are nice too... i saw that double pod in person and for me it blocks the view of the gauge cluster too much but it's still a good location overall.

thanks for the input kai.

are there any oil pressure gauge thats just an LCD that tells me the pressure? i dont want a big round thing in the car, want it small so i can put it somewhere inconspicuously

Probably.  You'll just have to look around for one.  What do you have against a round gauge?

eh... just want to keep a low profile.. lots of cops with nth to do in my hood so if i got bright round gauges sticking around, they gonna harass me =T

Mount it in a low key spot then.

you can mount in the lower cubby