Autometer boost gauge... good?

[Jsquared]

did a search, couldn't find much, except one thread where the general consensus was that autometer gauge stunk except the boost gauge... just wondering everyone's thoughts on this. i was going to get a GReddy boost gauge (quality company, love the way they look) but wanted boost measured in psi instead of bar... also i can't stand the NASCAR-esque look of autometers... does GReddy sell theirs in English units? (psi?)

oh yeah, while we're on the subject of gauges, who makes good elec. oil press. gauges and are they difficult to install? all the cars our family has had since i got my license have had accurate stock oil press. gauges...

[transient]

I've never actually used an Autometer gauge, but they look a bit chinsey to me. Not to mention the fact that their prices are a lot lower than those of Blitz, Greddy, HKS and A'PEXi. I could be completely wrong about the quality, but until someone tells me differently, i'm going to stay away from Autometer. From what i've seen though, it looks to be pretty hard to find other gauges that read in PSI vs Bar for boost.

[Jsquared]

yeah, i'd just rather have a PSI gauge instead of a bar gauge so i can see "ok, i'm running at 12 psi" instead of going "is that 0.8 bar or 0.9... let's see 0.8 time 14.5 equals... (gets calculator out of glove box) 11.6 psi, OK i'm good."

[transient]

Either that or you could just get used to thinking in bar and not worry about doing the conversion at all... Bar is actually a more standard measurement than PSI, so it's good to know how to read it that way. At any rate though, good luck with the search

[AKADriver]

Autometer stinks? hahaha... Whoever told you that must either be a Blitz/Greddy/Apexi/etc. dealer, or just swinging on JDM nuts.

Autometer is the choice of thousands of race teams in the USA. I'd avoid their Autogage "budget" line, but even their high-end stuff is cheaper than the "JDM" gauge brands, and just as good from a functional standpoint.

If the looks matter, by all means buy something else, but Autometer = functional and good for the money.

[lbcklik1486]

Defi guages are pretty damn nice looking IMO . They have a 35 psi guage, 52mm, you can get at phase2motortrend...

http://www.phase2motortrend.com/def52boosgau.html

115$ ain't bad....

[Jeff240sx]

Autometer gauges are the industry standard for accuracy. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give them an 8. Mabey not the best, but better than cheaper gauges, like Sunoco and others. I really don't see how you can screw up a gauge, or improve on a gauge in a way that justifies an average user to spend eight times the cost for the same gauges of a different brand. Greddy.. $800 for boost, oil pressure and EGT. Defi - $115 for the boost, $$$ for other gauges, and then $200-ish for the thinggy that links them all.
Of course, there are exceptions. The most obvious is the autometer A/F gauge, which blows.
I like my autometers, and untill I get to a point where the fractions of a pound per square inch or a degree will make or break my car. But, I, and nobody else I know is "tuned to the limit" and have the need for it.
As for Autometer looks.. they DO have dozens of models.
-Jeff

[ca18guy]

I will only buy autometer. Price, availibilty in different designs, and yes quality. I had a boost and A/F gauge and they worked fine. Like was said before, they are the indutry standard.

[Infamous]

autometer > Sun Gauges x35735897373875

my bro has oil pres and water temp gauges for his SBC S10, and if you put your finger on the gauges and apply some pressure, the needles will follow your finger, and be all messed up until you turned off the ignition for a few mins. so with that being said, autometer is better than sun gauges, is it better than "JDM" companies? i dunno

[uiuc240]

Autometer is just fine. I agree with the statement above about them being an "8" on the accuracy scale. Good enough for 99% of people out there. If you don't believe it, check out this ride. This is a Ford Escort Mexico rally car, with 14:1 compression and about a 10,000 rpm redline. He seems to think that Autometer is just fine, if you look at the 3rd pic. He has EVERY Autometer Ultra-Lite gauge you can buy







Eric

p.s. for those of you that care, yes, this was at Blackhawk Farms last year.

[Jsquared]

now that i reread that thread it seems like they were talking more specifically about the A/F gauge than autometer in general... i'm gonna check out the different faces they have. the Defi ones look really nice too. i just liked the Greddy b/c it was a nice simple design that didn't get all flashy/blingy like some others (*cough*Blitz blacklight*cough*)

[Jeff240sx]

We're not talking about the A/F gauge mostly. The A/F gauge sucks. The rest of the autometer gauges are great.
For you, you asked a question that you wanted a biased "they suck" answer so that you wouldn't feel bad buying more expensive "bling bling" gauges. You didn't get that answer, so now you're trying to think of another reason to justify spending 4x more than you have to on gauges. We've already established that they are accurate for 99.9% of the people out there...
Have fun guy. For the extra $400 you're spending on gauges, I bought a JWT ecu programmed for 50# injectors and Cobra MAF. I also bought injectors and a custom fuel rail. You.. you'll just have gauges.
-Jeff

[Jsquared]

well excuse me but it appears my syntax is lousy. what i meant was the following: in the OTHER THREAD (the one i saw people talking about autometer gauges being less than good), i thought they were talking about ALL autometer gauges, but i was mistaken, as most people were talking specifically about the A/F gauge. this thread was supposed to clarify that for me, and it has done so. no need to be a jerk to me about it. i am not a riceboy who is going to spend all my money on show-car crap.

[Jsquared]

i'm lovin the black-face Sport-Comp series (boost, EGT, and oil press are the ones i'd need, especially like vac on the boost gauge being a different color ). anyone know their prices? didn't see any prices on their website... and maybe if i've got some left-over cash i might go for CF gauge cups instead of normal ones too ricey?

[s13silady]

well from what ive been reading just here and there... i heard Autometer was the shiznit except for the A/F guage... from what other people told me that use them (and had the chance to use other companies) that they would not go back to the other brands after autometer...
but everyone has there own experiences and opinions..

*ryan

[Tokyo_connection]

Here's what the Japanese think about Autometer:
Tachometer----awesome and expensive...very expensive in Japan..try nearly $500 for a 3911 model

As for the other meters such as the EGT, water/oil temp, oil pressure...they are getting pretty popular. As for accuracy based on my personal experience, the new model JDM meters are pretty damn good, especially with the high tech put into the sensors for the EGT and A/F meter.

JDM doesn't have anything better than Autometer from a tachometer standpoint.....the DEFI tach needle flutters too much but I must admit they look way cool when you have a row of DEFIs light up in the night, with the APEXi meter's indiglo blue coming a close 2nd.

Personally I think for the "avg joe" AUTOMETER line up is the way to go...like another guy mentioned....use the money you save on other important stuff....besides, Autometer has some pretty cool looking meters, especially the Lunar series.
I just ordered 12 Lunar series monster Tachs for my Japanese friends....they love American made Autometer, women and Budweiser!

[gregsr20]

yes, my works fine

[some guy]

If the Autometer A/F gauge suck, what brand would be more accurate? Greedy? HKS?

[the head]

the only good A/F gauge IMO is a wide band O2 setup other than that they are all worthless
they have no point in tuning if you have the money just buy an EGT and use it to help you with your mixture

[Jeff240sx]

Originally posted by the head
the only good A/F gauge IMO is a wide band O2 setup other than that they are all worthless
they have no point in tuning if you have the money just buy an EGT and use it to help you with your mixture

Greedy uses a 0-3V scale to determine A/F ratio, whereas the Autometer uses a 0-1V scale. So yea, GReddy would be more accurate. A wideband uses 0-5V, and is the most accurate, but be prepared to pay $250 for a new O2 sensor every 8-12 months.
Also, the EGT is kinda ackward, because many things can cause a rich/lean mixture... not just A/F.
-Jeff

[BlitzSilvia]

Just a quick question, does it make you ricey if you buy something that has a less expensive alternative because you personally like the more expensive one? I feel it would be ricey to buy something that is more expensive than its alternatives to impress other people and stuff, but I was planning on purchasing some Blitz gauges because I really enjoy the way they look. I want to love the way my car runs and preforms, but that doesn't mean I don't care how it looks to ME, I want to love that too.

[s13silady]

Originally posted by BlitzSilvia
Just a quick question, does it make you ricey if you buy something that has a less expensive alternative because you personally like the more expensive one? I feel it would be ricey to buy something that is more expensive than its alternatives to impress other people and stuff, but I was planning on purchasing some Blitz gauges because I really enjoy the way they look. I want to love the way my car runs and preforms, but that doesn't mean I don't care how it looks to ME, I want to love that too.

its all personal preference buddy.... if i was in your case, i wouldnt want my car to look bad neither...but its all up to you though...

[dorifto240]

BAH! FOOK AUTOMETER! I had a Pro-Comp UltraLite aluminum face boost gauge in my car, and after less than a year it started under-registering by 3 psi....if I had been running near the limits of my turbo/motor that 3psi coulda really fuct $hit up.

Exact same thing happened to a buddy of mine w/ his SR.

to replace it I went w/ a GReddy electrical unit, uses a sensor mounted in the engine bay tapped into the vacuume line running to the FPR. Much more responsive and accurate, looks alot better to, IMHO

[adey]

In terms of what I've heard I'd have to say it's more along the lines of dorifto240 than the rest of you... i've read (heard) horror stories of people blowing turbos/motors because their boost gauges were reading something like 5psi below what they were actually running, and a few stories of people figuring this out before it was too late.

Mainly it's the Boost that I've heard people having problems with.

FWIW, all these failure/faulty gauge stories I've heard (about 2 or 3 in total, all related to autometer boost gauges) were on volkswagen (MkIV) forums on the 1.8T engine.

[Jsquared]

were those the mechanical or the full-sweep electrical gauges that have messed up?

[dorifto240]

yeah, besides the two times ive had personal experience (me and my friend) I have heard other stories of autometer gauges fu(king up.... mine was a mechanical one, but I've heard even more stories about the electrical ones

[goldonamo]

If you look to the pros its almost always autometer. They are the industry standard. Mechanical is incomparably better than electrical, with the exception that they are more difficult to install. If you flip to a nascar race, not that they are any fun to watch, but if you watch one of the cockpit views, they are all autometer. obviously thre arent any boost gauges there, but it speaks a hell of a lot for the company. i have had no problem with any gauge i have ever owned from them. Furthermore, on the topic of a/f guages, they are bull**** approximations. they use a bunch of technical mathematics to give you a rough approximation on how rich or how lean your car is running. if you want an accurate portrayal, get yourself an egt gauge and learn how to understand the significance of exhaust temp. i guarantee that you wont see a/f gauges in any serious race car, always egt. also, as far as looks go, i agree that autometer is by far the most plain of the bunch. but also the most readable. i had a few phantom gauges in my last car and got red bulbs for them and absolutely loved their simple, easy to read look. in my opinion autometer is the way to go unless you are going for a show car.

[AJT]

I had an Autometer boost gauge on my and really didn't like it. When the car wasn't running the needle sat below the 0PSI mark, which wouldn't have concerned me but when comparing boost numbers between the autometer gauge and my Power FC controller the Autometer read a solid 3 psi below what I was getting with the PFC...

I don't have any experience with any of the other gauges.

-Andy