What guages do you guys think are necessary for track days?

Oil Temp.
Oil Press.
Water Temp.
Boost
EGT
AFR

??....

tia,
nils

 

I would go with

1. Boost
2. EGT
3. Oil Pressure

I think the EGT or AFR guage would tell you if you're running lean or rich so go with either one, but i've heard that the AFR gauges are not that accurate at least the AEM UEGO. But either way if you run too lean at the track you won't have time to react before the engine goes kaboom (could be wrong, but that's what i've been told).

Water Temp guage is important but i'd spend money on another guage as the car already comes with a water temp guage.

I have Oil Temp, Boost and EGT. My oil temp readings went up to 120C while regular higway driving it's around 90C

Boost usually is between 1.4bars-1.2bars but was spiking to 1.5 during the 20 min sessions

EGT was around 875-890C. Normal driving is around 800C

I have Defi BF guages.

Hope this helps

 

actually, an AFR (or wideband 02) will be way more precise than an EGT guage. If you have a peak warning it could prevent engine failure.

How do you like your DEFI guages?

I am torn between the Defi's and the good ol' Greddy 60mm's.... More than likely I'll go with the Greddy's since they have always treated me good on my other vehicles.

if anyone has any thoughts, I would appreciate it.

n

 

honestly i haven't seen the Greddy gauges but i think it comes with peak warning lights so go with whatever one you like.

I personally like the Defi's BF white as they're super easy to read and look really nice (keep in mind i've never seen the Greddys). As for accuracy the boost gauge seems pretty accurate for stock car boost levels. I see it spiking now with a turbo back exhaust. They do have the peak warning lights and i had the Oil temp set to 120C. Believe it or not i could hear it beeping when it was at 120C with a helmet on and a loud a$$ exhaust. I was able to read the gauges to easily at the track as well. I have them mounted on the A-pillar.

I thought they'd obstruct my view on sharp left handed turns but it was ok.

Oh the one thing that BF's have is the ability to record up to 3 mins of driving. I wanted to do that at the track but kept forgetting.

 

My preferences are oil pressure with warning light you can see. Oil temp with warning light that you can see. I mount the oil temp and pressure warnings exterally so that when they light up they are in plain view. VDO gauges offer external warning outputs. Boost gauge. Boost controller with overboost protection so you dont get any 9000psi boost spikes. This means no manuals. Sorry I guess I'm the safety police. AFR/Knock monitor combo with warning like the HKS Knock amp. This thing is expensive but then again so is a new engine.

Yes this is overkill but you definitely know when something goes wrong and it may save you thousands in the end.

jeff

 

Is the audible warning built into the actual guage or some other device?

Does anyone else have any feedback on Defi guages?


thx,
nils

 

I am starting to lean towards moving my Zeitronix zt2 on to my steering column then putting three 60mm guages (with peak/hold/warning) into a Gruppe-S guage panel.

Since the Zeitronix displays Boost, egt & AFR I was thinking of getting Oil pressure, Oil Temp. and water temp as the guages.

I like the fact that the Defi's have audible warning.. I hate having to worry about guages when I want to drive, audible warning would be nice. But I know nothing else about them.

n

 

i am not quite sure if the audible warning (sound only) is built into the gauge or coming from the Defi controller unit. also i think quite a few people have posted pictures of the DEFIs in other forums so check there. Also you might get more responses on your choice of gauges in some other forum. i'm surprised that 75 people have viewed this thread and only 2 have replied.

 

The defi's ended up being to expensive for my budget so I went with the greddy's...

I wanna thank Cal at Gruppe-S for giving me a really great guage/panel package deal, thx

n

 

so which ones (not the brand but the type) did you end up getting? post pics once installed.

Are you going to install them yourself? If you're getting an EGT gauge have the shop or yourself please take off the exhaust manifold and then drill. I just don't believe when they say that keeping the engine running and then drilling will prevent metal shavings from getting into the turbine.

enjoy

 

he knows better

 

thx for the tips but I already have installed 3 egt guages in the past

Got the Craig Hardy panel with Black Greddy 60mm w/peak/hold Oil press, oil temp. & water temp. My Zt2 already has egt, 3.5 bar map and AFR.

I think I am covered now on the guage department

I'll make sure to post new pics when installed.. I got some new s2000 side winglets for my wing & BR fmic too.

n

 

i think the most important guage you can have in your car is the water temp gauge... aparently water is faster than oil. and although you have one in the car... it's not accurate for anything and definitely has no warning features.

acutally i think the whole purpose of gauges in racing is so you can be warned... and not have to check them all all the time.

i'd say boost, water temp, oil pressure on the craig hardy

a zeitronix to monitor other stuff and in case you need emergency tuning, cuz yer afrs shouldn't be messing up at all if you have a strong conservative safe tune. but in the case that you needa change boost... mabye limp around cuz something failed like a wastegate... then you need that on hand pronto.

but i mean to keep things from exploding... i water temp and oil pressure is crucial...

 

I have EGT, AFR and Boost.

 

I went with boost, oil pressure, and oil temp. I just had my Buschur downpipe modified so I can mount a wide-band O2 sensor. This will be the 4th and final gauge for me.

I should have taken this advice. I had a Hallman MBC installed by the guys at TurboTrix in NJ and it's been a total PITA. It requires constant adjustment and is easy to overboost. I end up turning the boost WAY down (like 16 psi) just to be safe on the track.

Emre