N/A guages
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 149
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well, if you've got something to adjust your fuel then get an A/F guage. Otherwise it won't do you much good. I would get oil pressure and maybe even a BETTER more descriptive engine temp. guage. I prefer to know a little more then my engine temp. is just below medium smile.gif I can't wait until the day that the interior of my car is lined with guages all practically creating a spotlight on my face! smile.gif
Senior Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,436
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An air/fuel ratio gauge tapped into your stock O2 sensor is about as useless as a fuel temperature gauge. The stock O2 sensors are NOT calibrated to give any accurate reading except for 14.7:1 A/FR at 0.638vdc. Every other reading that comes from the O2 sensor is an "indicator" and is not a true measure of anything.
For a normally aspirated car, the only ones you might need that would actually benefit you are oil pressure and MAYBE exhaust gas temperature.
Oil pressure is a very important part of your engine's life; the 4-cylinder BETA engine usually runs oil pressure into the 80psi range at full RPM and idles around 30psi. If your pressure drops (or is just low because of old oil or cold weather) then you need to take it easy. On a car that's not HUGELY modified, oil pressure is pretty questionable anyway.
Exhaust gas temperature is also a fairly important part of your cylinder head's life as well as an indicator of performance issues at high RPM under load. But with a car that isn't hugely modified, again EGT is a questionable requirement.
Fuel pressure will never be needed on your car in an N/A format, unless you're going to make severe changes. You have no reason to add fuel pressure (these cars come pig-rich from the factory anyway) and the ONLY reason your pressure would drop is due to fuel pump failure or a crack in your stock pressure regulator -- both of which are VERY unlikely.
A/FR we've already covered. Cylinder head temp will never really become an issue until you turbocharge it. Manifold pressure doesn't become an issue until you turbocharge it. There's a ton of things that really aren't necessary until you actually do some serious upgrades to the car and/or start force-feeding it with something.
For a normally aspirated car, the only ones you might need that would actually benefit you are oil pressure and MAYBE exhaust gas temperature.
Oil pressure is a very important part of your engine's life; the 4-cylinder BETA engine usually runs oil pressure into the 80psi range at full RPM and idles around 30psi. If your pressure drops (or is just low because of old oil or cold weather) then you need to take it easy. On a car that's not HUGELY modified, oil pressure is pretty questionable anyway.
Exhaust gas temperature is also a fairly important part of your cylinder head's life as well as an indicator of performance issues at high RPM under load. But with a car that isn't hugely modified, again EGT is a questionable requirement.
Fuel pressure will never be needed on your car in an N/A format, unless you're going to make severe changes. You have no reason to add fuel pressure (these cars come pig-rich from the factory anyway) and the ONLY reason your pressure would drop is due to fuel pump failure or a crack in your stock pressure regulator -- both of which are VERY unlikely.
A/FR we've already covered. Cylinder head temp will never really become an issue until you turbocharge it. Manifold pressure doesn't become an issue until you turbocharge it. There's a ton of things that really aren't necessary until you actually do some serious upgrades to the car and/or start force-feeding it with something.