Alright, so I'd like some gauges so I can see what's going on with my engine. It's n/a, as you guys probably know. I definitely want an A/F gauge...what else would be good?
oil pressure is a good one to have. egt is nice. a/f guage isn't really very accurate unless you get a wideband. but they look really cool.
yeah, apparently widebands are like 2783642908374 million dollars. I don't need to know that badly, I just think my car is running obnoxiously lean on the low end and retarded rich on top.
the way the throttle is responding and the fluctuating gas mileage. It could just be me, though - probably is. I'd just like to know regardless
yeah i know i would love to have one but not really in by budget. o and also 27836429083.74 zillion this makes it easier to read
for N/A i'd probably go with: - oil temp...always good to have. keeps you from damaging things if it gets too hot or from romping on it before the car's warmed up. - oil press....a must, but not really soemthing you constantly monitor. more of an early warning if things start to go south so you can avoid total destruction. - voltage....another good "warning" gauge, will alert you to problems before they strand you, like a bad alternator or dying battery. i would not bother with A/F...if you are concerned about your A/F you need to get the car tuned, being able to simply monitor it will accomplish nothing and just be a distraction. if you can afford a wideband that is a different story but again, are you going to be tuning the car where you need to monitor it? another option, if you just want a way to see a ton of instant car parameters is to get a ScanGauge. they are awesome and fit anywhere.
EGT is a cheap substitute for A/F. Not nearly as good, but effective. Colder exhaust means too much rich and visa versa.
EGT=Everyone translates it differently. aka my experience: Hotter EGT means too rich, meaning the mixture is still burning on the exhaust stroke. Colder EGT means lean(er). 14.7:1 runs cooler than 9:1. etc etc... I hear 11ty billion different EGT stories from all ends of the galaxy. I have these in my outback: Oil Pressure Oil Temp Coolant temp In the future, aka within a few months, I'll have more installed: Fuel Pressure EGT AEM UEGO wideband. The 5 gauges are DEFI and will display on the VSD. The UEGO will be for tuning the SAFC II thats currently installed. The only reason I have EGT is simply because...well, why not? I got it as part of the DEFI package I purchased, so I'm going to use it.
Oh, same reasoning with the fuel pressure, however, it IS the original fuel pump at 245k miles...so, it will provide me with the info i need for when it starts to flake out.
Xan are you drive by wire or cable? if you're cable you can probably just get away with an I-speed flash i think. i'm with you though....i need a tune bad. i'm sick of the ultra lean/rich stock tune especially now that the weather is heating up. on the drive by cable cars, not as much but on the drive by wire cars, its completely different. the factory subaru tune is garbage.
If its pre-1999 there is no reflash. They are working on a 99 flash....but its only for 2.5 RS. Best bet is a SAFC II...thats what I am doing. While the gains are not as much as a turbo car, if you have an exhaust (biggest mod with best gains) and get a proper tune from the stock 87 octane OE tune to 93 octane it will be a world of difference. I tend to agree...the gains on the DBW cars is bigger than the cable cars...but still, gains are gains and they can be had.
Cable, I think. I thought all pre-05 cars were DBC. And I'm getting an exhaust put on soon, but have no plans to switch to 93 octane with prices how they are.
You better be DBC...DBW didnt come along until 2004 for all 2.5 turbo cars and 2005 for EVERYTHING except the 2005 WRX.
Ha! I was finally right about something! So what, do I just go to Siegel or someone and be like "tune dis muhfugga"?
Get a SAFC and install it correctly first...then have SS/Doug tune it. Unsure of the gains...but...better than stock.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1500137 This might be a better option at the same price point.