I am looking to get one of those gauge pods that go on the side left pillar. the ones ive found are 2 or 3 gauge housings. (i think you know what im talking about, the little like 2 inch gauges, lots of people have them for turbo gauges) however i do not have a turbo and I'd say there is a 20% chance that i will turbo my car.

MY QUESTION: What 2 or 3 gauges should I get? Boost/vacuum, oil temp, oil pressure, water temp, air-fuel, vacuum, or volt?

i was thinking air-fuel, volt, and one other one.

 

if i was u i wouldnt do any of it. i mean honestly are those gauges really gunna help u? im my opionon its really ricy. if u have a turbo and u have it then its cool. but y do u need to no the oil temp or the vacumm. when i see people that have pod in there civics i think poser

 

yea i see your point. but every car ive been in that has gauges ive just totally loved how they looked.

 

oh and also, knowing the air/fuel ratio and volt measures can be helpful

 

Oil pressure, A/F and voltage can all be helpful in diagnosisif you ever have any problems with your car

 

thank you

 

shortband A/F ratio that i imagine you are tlaking about will be totally inaccurate and be basically a light show. Looks good IMO, but dont trust it. If you wanna spend like $200 or more on a wideband, that'll be accurate as hell, but a shortband that you just wire into one of the wires of your oxygen sensor isnt trustworthy.

Volt on the other hand is pretty accurate. If you dont have an EX/Si cluster, i say get tach, volt and maybe oil pressure. Boost/Vac is pretty useless unless your boosted, so thatd be ultimate rice IMO.


and as for the gauge pod itself, i got mine off ebay for like $35 and it fits and looks great

 

I say that the two best gauges for non-turbo cars are oil temperature and voltage. Here's why:

1. Oil Temp: This info is very helpful considering you should never zing your tach until the engine oil is hot enough. I believe BMW has temperature marks on the M3 tach to let you know how high you can rev at increasing temperatures of the oil. My other car has an oil temp readout that I keep displayed all the time. When the oil temp reaches 160F, I know that winding out the tach isn't going to hurt the engine.

2. Voltage: When voltage is low, you know that either the alternator is going or your battery is dying. That gauge should be standard in every car dash, IMO.

Check out my sig for a procedure on how to install a pillar pod.