help me with gauge selection!

[bobafett]

i know its ricey, but i LOVE extra gauges to distract me, which is where you guys come in!

what gauges can i get that COULD be helpful in tuning my car? i assume i dont need a boost gauge since i dont have a turbo obviously, but i am sure there must be a couple gauges that i could benefit from.

please list some, and WHY they would be useful. and i DO plan on modding this car a lot more, so its not like i am gonna be practicaly stock! :)

but basically i want to know what could help, and why it could help. help me out on here... i have seen a few peeps with a/f gauges, what about the others??

[87accordlx]

ummm... air/ fuel gage, oil pressure, voltage, if u really want u could get a coolant temp gage, ooooo and a big tach with a shift light lol

[dXsquared]

the easiest guage to install. four wires and a big bright shift light to tell you to shift. water temp would be good cuz the stock one dont tell much. maybe a voltage one too.
Travis
Big Tachs are not :rice:, they're cool!

[bobafett]

i refuse to get another tach, i already have one that works fine thank you! although the shift lite might be helpful sometimes...

what other gauges are out there? and what do they do? i know there is exhaust temp, and intake temp, and vaccum. what do those do for us? are they necessary?

[doug]

a water temp guage that shows actual temp and a oil pressure guage are about the only two I think I need

[CoAsTeR]

maybe you should get an air temp gauge too... so you know when to turn AC and heater on? :out:

[toastyghost]

rofl@coaster

[A20A1]

AUTOMETER GUAGES

AIR / FUEL Ratio
(One of my favorite... this is by far one of the greatest tools in tuning an engine, since proper air fuel ratio is essential for making power.)

BOOST / VACUUM
(This is a nice 2-way guage, on one side you get vacuum and on the other you get boost... yeah yeah it's nice to dream we have a turbo but the vacuum guage is important as well since most engines still need a vaccum signal to run properly... and a carb engine requires it for the carb to operate.)

VOLTAGE
(Most of the car accessories and components like the fuel pump require a certain amount of voltage to maintain performance... if the voltage drops... so does the effectiveness of your cars electronincs.)

COOLANT TEMP
(Gives a read out of coolant tenperature... this may help prevent overheating damage.)

OIL PRESSURE
(Gives a read out of oil pressure in PSI... oil pressure usually drops during hard cornering. This is a good guage to have.)

[bobafett]

is the vaccum gauge at all useful if my engine is fuel injected?

btw thanks for the detailed reply, thats exactly the info i was looking for!

and :flipa: @ coaster... my ac is broken.... lol :)

[My 89 Accord Lxi]

mine is broke too its hot as heck in my car :flame: :(