SCOSaltire

Hi all

I have the tacky subaru centre instrument thingy... tells u what direction u are going, outside temperature, and air pressure.

Car is getting middle aged (45k miles), so was thinking it was time to monitor thing properly.

Was thinking of the Defi Link centre pod and Boost / oil pressure and oil temperature guages. But thats like 500 quid!

So, what would anyone recommend?

Is it worth monitoring these bits of the car?

I do want a boost guage - gotta a few mods coming up.

Did think, maybe get the SPA dual boost / temp guage and mount it on the A-piller...? (dont know what temperature it monitors tho.

Perhaps Delta Dash is a better bet?

Opinions?

SCOSaltire

anyone?

worth getting guages to monitor:
oil pressure
oil temperature

as well as boost?

SCOSaltire

BTTT

WREXY

I'd go for the Delta Dash and I did but it won't tell you your oil temps or your oil pressure. It will tell you of your coolant temperature though, plus your boost, timing, knock correction, mixtures, whether you have faulty sensors and more. Cheap and handy at only 209 GBP.

Cheers,

Wrexy.

ozzy

Yep, compared to a £700 Defi setup, Deltadash is excellent VFM

mattski2

Dude,

Speak to Dingy or CraigH re: Defi's - I had four from them and cost nowhere near £700. Defi's are truly lovely and you won't regret getting em

ta,
Matt

ozzy

Matt,

They were advertised @ £590, so that's still almost £400 more expensive than the DD software. Or are you tellimg me they were even a lot cheaper than that??

OK, you won't get Oil Temp/Pressure, but you get a whole lot more if you want to monitor the car properly.

Of course, having a laptop in the car isn't the most convienient thing in the world.

Stefan

mutant_matt

Well IIRC, the recent NA Motorsport mailing said any three Defi gauges plus pod were £475. Defi's are IMHO, the best gauges out there, I had some on my last Scoob and I will be getting some on my new Scoob.

I wouldn't buy anything else and would recommend, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure and Boost.

Matt

ozzy

Matt, yeah I saw that too. It's still a lot of money, just to get 3 outputs.

Would Oil Temp, Pressure and Boost really do justice to monitoring your car??

I must admit, as far as gauges go, the Defi's look fantastic, but I'm still trying to convince myself that they're not just for posing with

I've spoken to a few guys with gauges fitted to their cars, but when I asked what it would tell them, they didn't give me a very scientific or convincing answer.

Stefan

[Edited by ozzy - 5/13/2002 9:08:40 AM]

mattski2

right...

I've been somewhat enlightened regarding what to look for from the guages so here are my thoughts on that and the Defi's in general.

1. I don't think they are just for posing at all, the fact that they are electronic, have replay and peak things is largely irrelevant imho, they are top-notch stuff and you can tell that by looking at them as well as build-quality.

2. The daisy-chaining idea is simply superb IMHO as it makes wiring it all up that much more simple, it also makes it easier to add extra guages - water temp is the next on my list as is an air temperature sensor (after the intercooler).

3. The EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) guage is, AFAIK, a good indicator for when the car is running lean as the temperature significantly increases. Simply set the peak for the guage to something that you feel is higher than the norm and hey presto, you can set your own threshold. My car runs at around 600-700 degrees C normally so if it gets higher than, say, 800-900 then it could be time to ease off

4. Oil pressure speaks for itself ! I've been informed that the oil light on an Impreza comes on at 0.8 bar, what use is that when the car ticks over @ 2.2 when it's hot?

5. Oil temp - apparently on track day the oil temp can go up as high as 130-140 degrees (normally 80-100), apparently an oil cooler is worth considering if it hits above 120, I want to know when it gets higher so I've set a 110 threshold. The other side of the coin is that you know when your oil is hot enough to be able to 'unleash the beast'

6. Boost - self explanatory again. My car generally peaks at around 1.2/1.3 bar so I've set it to 1.3. The boost guage is also the one that has the external indicator light fitted so it will momentarily flash if I hit the threshold, I don't really want it getting much higher.

7. The Defi dash pod is superb, it looks like a factory item and makes it all look yummy.

Basically, I'm no engine expert but having the guages makes you aware of whats going on and yes, they are nice, but I also like to think that they could be the difference between you blowing your engine up and knowing when to ease up a bit.


ta,
Matt.

mutant_matt

Absolutely, what Matt said

Matt

P.S. Whilst Delta Dash is great (I've got it), it's not something that you always have, whereas gauges, are always there to tell you what's going on....

ozzy

It's like listening to the double-take brothers with you pair

Never did trust anyone called Matt anyway

Stefan

mattski2

heh, just trying to convince you to buy a mighty-fine product

ozzy

Don't need too much convincing as they are the dog's danglies, but being a tight-@rsed scotsman ..........

Stefan

SCOSaltire

cheers guys

anyone got pics of the hood(s) u get for a my99 car and the defi guages?

i am gonna get the delta dash.. once i get a lap top... later in the year

think ill go for the defis in the meantime... i do like the idea of knowing when i can give the car t1ts

ozzy

You can see some of the carbon hood pics on Nitos site.

Also speak to Scoobyworld for prices. I think them and NAM (CraigH/Dingy) are the cheapest by far.

Stefan

mutant_matt

Here you go......




Matt

mattski2

SNAP !

SCOSaltire

that looks great!!

matt, where did u get the pod and guages from?

ive seen a few pods, but either in carbon fibre, or unstyled...

i wanna make sure i get the right one...

mutant_matt

I got the gauges and pod from the now defunct New Age Motorsport (CraigH) but you can still get them at a similar from NA Motorsport (Steve/Dingy).

I've got the 52mm gauges in the "standard" finish pod (I think the shiny Carbon one looks cack!).

Matt

mutant_matt

BTW - the Defi's don't help the CORNERING