hey guys, still working on getting my interior all figured out before I put everything into motion. I was wondering if anyone has this 3pod pillar from surpastore...

I cant tell but it doesnt look like the pods stick out like others and is more flush but it could be the way the picture is taken. Any input let me know. I really dislike the dual pods from suprastore...
Titanmotorsports dual pod look alot better to me and they offer a triple but dont have a picture for it.

suprastore and titan are the same place...

I know this alraedy but I saw one on titan that I didnt find on suprastore. It might be there but I couldnt find it. I think it was an autometer dual/triple pod. I also know that titan offers the first gauge pod as well but they dont have any in car pictures nor any explanation, not even a buy button. Soooo I would like anyone who has that pod to let me know.

Im just wondering which pod is the nicest. I wanted something that replaces the whole pillar and fits 52mm gauges and I dont feel like buying one trying it, then having to buy another. Im trying to do everything right the first time.

I got the 3 pod gauge from suprastore it was for an mk3 though, however it easily fit my boost and air fuel gauges i bought from a local shop actually a lil big for them had to use rubber seals to get them flush, looks good though now

the 3 pod can get in the way but it is helpful if you have a bunch of gauges. the more and more i come up with ideas for my interior the more i want to get either a defi link or the gauge pod that mounts to the end of the dash (where it sweeps around the driver). the only thing is i dont want to drill hole in my dash. right now i just have the single pod. what you need to ask yourself is how many gauges do you REALLY need?

Yea I defenitly feel you. I dont want to mess up my dash either but I will be getting as many gauges as possible. I'm getting the new autometer nexus gauges. I know everyone hates autometer and praises defi but defi only has white and red gauges and honestly Im not ready to say what color I want my interior. Plus I hear good things about the nexus line and that they fixed alot of problems with accuracy and such that was common in the other lines they produced. Plus they do offer alot and about the same price as if I bought defi. You guys can chime in on this if you want.

But anyways Im pretty sure Im going to be mounting gauges in the clock position, 2 or 3 in the pillar, and 3 in the passanger airbag top (from the guy who makes them on supraforums). So that gives me 6 or 7 gauges. After that Im not sure. I've seen people do some heavy stuff like moving stuff off the dash and relocating it to place gauges but I think thats to much for me. I actually agree about the pod that mounts to the sweeping part of the dash near the passenger seat. I dont know how they attach or anything but Im sure it could be done without damaging anything and opens up a lot of spots. But for know Im planning on the 6 to 7 gauge spots. I know the 3 pods everyone says gets in the way but that one I listed first with the small picture seems so wierd, like its almost flush to the pillar. I never understood why they have to be out so far anyways, seems like they could be alot closer to the pillar. Im still curious if anyone has a picture of it in a car or jsut a better picture so I can get a better idea of it cause that one seems very deceptive.

this is what I would like to get.

there is no way you can safely read gauges in the pass airbag thats a big no no for me. if you dont mind hacking up the dash a little you can fit 2 gauges in the a/c vents, 1 in the clock and 2 or 3 in the pillar, thats really more than you need there but you wont have much of an a/c system. heres a pic of the 3 pod. you wont be able to use your sun visor with the 3 pod

Nah I dont think its that bad having them on the airbag. Their slanted towards you and its not even that far away. Plus how much are you really look at them? If something goes wrong with the autometer gauges the whole thing will light up red so its not like I would be staring over there constantly. And Im defenitly not taking out the AC vents. Thats the biggest no for me. I am in no way going to take out air. It gets far to hot and far to cold here. I'd rather destroy my dash then do that.

I like the pillar pods but personally I would rather have the gauges tucked away neatly to reduce the clutter look. Different strokes for different folks tho. If I were to go with a pillar pod, however, it would have to be the dual pod. Like supra_owns_u said, with the 3 pod the visor is obsolete. Just my .02.

Yea thats fine and dandy to say you would like them "TUCKED AWAY", but where exactly do you plan on tucking them? Not to seem like a smart ass but I'm jsut curious of where you would be tucking them away, I cant think of anywhere good to do that.

really you dont need that many gauges. boost and oil pressure are the ones that you really need for a stock car. when you build your motor an oil temp might be useful. when you upgrade the fuel system a fuel pres is useful. a/f is only useful if you have a wbo2. lets face it, egt gauges are not accurate for monitoring lean/rich conditions unless you have 1 in each manifold runner. so whats they point, get just the bare essentials, getting more than you need makes the interior too busy and cluttered and no fun to look at.

I agree thats why you take it a step at a time. But all of us I think would hope to eventually have a car that would need all those gauges. I disagree though about a/f not being important. I know for a fact that my car is running rich right now and I dont have a wbo2. You just need something to agjust it and something ot monitor it. Can anyone explain why egt gauges arent accurate. I've heard many things about this. A few serious racers tell me they are better others say they arent. I dont really understand it, someone have a detailed explanation of this?

quote:

Originally posted by JayG30:
Yea thats fine and dandy to say you would like them "TUCKED AWAY", but where exactly do you plan on tucking them? Not to seem like a smart ass but I'm jsut curious of where you would be tucking them away, I cant think of anywhere good to do that.

Well like supras_own_u said you really don't need too many gauges. You can fit pretty much what you need in the a/c vents and where the clock goes. All I have is a boost gauge and an a/f gauge. I'll be getting an oil temp gauge soon and it will be going in place of the a/c vent on the far driver side. I only need one anyways, plus I don't run my a/c much as it is. I guess if your going to go overkill on your gauges you really don't have an option. I just know some people like the way the pillar pods look and thats cool. Like I said different strokes for different folks.

Yep. I think I'll probably go clock first, 2pod pillar to save my vents and then if I need more I'll think of something then but it will probably be airbag gauges or the one we stated earlier with the gauges along the sweeping part near the passanger.

Still curious if someone can explain the EGT thing...Im doing some more research on it but maybe someone can make it easy on me

quote:

I disagree though about a/f not being important. I know for a fact that my car is running rich right now and I dont have a wbo2.

yes but you dont know exactly how rich you are running, narrow band o2s only read accuratly at stoich (14.7:1) and adjust rich or lean from there. narrow bands also dont take readings as often as wide bands.

egt gauges are for monitoring rich/lean condition in the given cyl that it is monitoring. you cant monitor all 6 cyl egts with just one gauge. example, egt probe is in #6 runner. the gauge reads 950F however #1 cyl has a clogged injector and is in the 1500F range but you would never know that because the probe is next to #6. besides a wbo2 will monitor a/f accuratly so using a single EGT gauge for tuning isnt very effictive.

OK so let me understand this better. First off by narrow band you mean something like the Apexi AFC? Im guessing thats what that means since I never heard it called a narrow band, correct?

What Im thinking from my reading...First a Wideband O2 sensor to be able to really tune things. Then a EGT to just monitor. Now from my reading EGT seems to be very popular. They say you should just tap cylinder #6 as its the hottest and some people say tap #1. Others say you can monitor both with one which I dont fully understand. Some even talk about tapping the collector before the turbo giving you an average reading instead of just one. But no one has said they arent useful. I think Im going to stick with an EGT and if I cant find a better way to do it tap just #6 since its supposedly the hottest and would be most likely for something to go wrong in. Sure tapping every runner would be the best but thats just to much. I dont see how you can say there is no point to it. I would think at least having one monitoring gauge in the most likely disaster spot would be better then having nothing ad I dont see any better alternative to monitoring this. Having the wideband is great but if something goes wrong I would want to know. I defenitly will be investing in a Wideband 02.

Questions:
Now I havent used one of these Widebands so what do you need to get it up and running, do I need anything other then the wideband? Every car I know with one is running EMS or maybe its just thats all I've seen. Secondly, what do you consider to be a better way to monitor, if any, then an EGT gauge? Also where do you all think would be the best place to tap an EGT into? I myself am rather curious about taping into the collector before the turbo for an average reading.



PS: I know that was alot and I might be just completely missing something or completely confused but I'm tired and frustrated right now so clarification would be a wonderful thing for me right now. Thanks a ton everyone.

Narrow band o2s are like the stock o2 sensors. The EGT gauge in a manifold runner will give you a general reading and you have to use some guess work, thus using the egt for tuning isnt effective. As far as using it to monitor, the wbo2 will do as much monitoring if not more than a single egt gauge. The debat about which cyl is the hottest has gone on forever and unless you have 1 gauge for every runner you will not know which is the hottest. #6 and #1 are popular because they are easy to get to. You can buy wideband kits from AEM, FJO, and Innovate, these are the most popular kits. Each is a little different but they all have the same purpose so read up on each one and decide which one is right for you. If I were to install a single egt gauge it would probably go in #6 runner just like everyone else. Putting it in the collector is another idea but you are still only getting a 'general' reading like you would be by placing it in a runner.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: supras_own_u,

Thanks yea I think while you were answering me I answered my own question...An EGT gauge is actaully pointless since the Air/Fuel ratio is monitored by the wideband O2 as well as letting you adjust it. Now this gets to me becuase why do they even sell these damn EGT things. I think the reason I was trying to find justification to an EGT is since the gauges I want only offer that and not a Air/Fuel gauges. But if by buying a wideband you can monitor and adjust A/F then whats the purpose of selling Air/Fuel gauges as well?


Also Im taking it you dont need an EMS to run a wideband O2 but at some point if you go with an EMS or datalogger of some sort you can tie it into it correct? I ask because eventually I do plan on going AEM stand alone but want to make sure whatever I get will tie in to it. Thanks for the continuous help. Your making it alot easier for me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JayG30,

Seems like innovate has a really good product. Im looking more into it now.

OK after reading and reading Im more lost then ever. My plan of attack seems confused and I almost think its pointless to do anything anymore unless your going to go all out and buy everything from the start. I know that soon I want to run AEM stand alone. Then I know to tune correctly I need a Wideband. Now people like M V P are saying you dont need to get your car dyno'd anymore when you get a wideband (I believe they are specifically referring to the innovate wideband set up). I like all the features the innovate has but its so damn bulky and I dont know if it really will replace having to get the car dyno tuned. Also it seems like these products make some of the features of the autometer nexus gauges useless, such as its ability to record 11min of data and analyse it on a computer. Cant all that already be done by the EMS and Wideband? If so what is the point of that feature if any? Although I like the look of the gauges and them seem cool I dont want to be recording the same thing 2 different times, that just seems pointless.

Basically what Im trying to figure out is an AEM EMS, Innovate Motorsports LM-1 KitType 3, and autometer nexus gauges a good set up or are things overlapping one another. And will I need to get the car dyno tuned anyway even though I have the wideband(since M V P seems to say otherwise).