Hi guys, I am getting ready to get the car out of its hybernation and the first point of busniess is getting my guages installed. I have 3, 52mm, Greddy, (EGT,boost, fuel pressure). I was talking with a fellow member and he told me not to worry with the EGT, but to get a wideband instead! I dont understand widebands. I guess its as simple as anything else! What to do! I already have the EGT. Is it hard to install? Also what brands are the best incase I would decide to use a wideband instead. I would need a 52mm. Thanks, Robert

 

if anything, i'd dump the FP gauge for the wideband....much more useful information since the a/f ratio is based upon fuel mixture

 

I don't understand how you can have a TT making that much power and not even know what a wideband is. I take it that everything on your car was done by a shop.

Wideband is easy to install, you will need an aditional O2 bung welded to your exhaust though. It will need power/ground and the rest is PnP.

 

I am new to turbo cars! Whats a good name for wideband? I can only find autometers.

 

Since you have a UTEC, I would definitely try to pick up a used TurboXS Tuner for cheap. There have been some going for $150 in the classifieds, which is a steal as they are ~$300 new. You can either purchase an external gauge to use in a gauge pod, or you can find some place to mount the Tuner as it has a AFR readout on the front.

If you want to go another route, Innovate LC-1 and the Zetronix are both good. The Innovate is very accurate, but my Tuner just seems a little more "stable". Plus, the Tuner allows you to log your AFR along with your UTEC log, which is a plus for anyone that tries to pretend that they know how to tune cars (like myself).

 

personally i run boost egt and wideband(innovate, questionable how accurate it really is). i wold drop the fuel pressure personally but its all personal preferance. egt is very helpful to diagnose issues, and if i didnt have a wideband i would have blown my motor...

in your case i would set up a boost cut in utec and possibly ditch the boost. i say the hesitantly but by the time you see your overboosting(alot) the damage will probably be done. all my boost gauge did was record i hit xlbs of boost while the utec cut fuel/timing. ive had stupid afr-i.e. 16's when i got my car back from a shop underboost. utec did noting(it was friend though and so was my ecu, so who knows)

 

I'm using dual widebands here.
I think if anything goes wrong, a wideband will be the first to display it.

The only problem is that, after the car has warmed up a bit, the margin between left and right widebands is quite big, up to 1-1.5 units.
That's only at half throttle or less though, at WOT both are almost identical.

 

Your not a terps fan are you? My logic of thinking was being I (admit I am really new to turbo cars) am really trying to learn what I am even looking at or trying to read on guages I would try and keep it simple. Ie the most obvious to see a problem! Boost in PSI is easy for me to read. And then there is Fuel pressure, again in PSI and easy for me to read. I figured that with the walbro pump it would be a great idea to keep an eye on it. And I thought I read before about being able to see alot in an EGT guage about problems. I appreciate all your responses! Coming from a musclecar family, I havent been around turbo cars before. But I am loving the ride!

 

Wideband

 

IMO keep the 3 gauges you have and add an Innovate wideband.

 

^+1 AFR will tell you when fuel problem is starting, EGT is 2nd line defense by seeing increased temps. In both cases, uses gauges with audible alarms or lights.

 

Thanks guys.

 

Camp2

 

Camp2 camp here also

I'm going to have to hide my toys from XKR.
He keeps dipping in the same cookie jar that I dip into

 

I have the CAMP2 as well. The only minor issue I have with it is that HKS should have added ON BOARD audio alarm instead of playing the alarm signal thrugh the RCA output. My speakers have better things to do (play) instead of waiting for out of limit alarms.

 

I'm still waiting for them to make the USB operational and see what functions its going to provide

 

realistically the wideband is for tuning only. I dont think I ever look at mine, and if you are watching it that carefully, chances are a crashed car is a more immiment danger. If you are going lean or rich over a good tune, you'd see that in EGTs. If you are lean knocking, your ECU should protect your motor, and that would also show up in your EGTs.

People jump on board real quick to say buy a wideband, but for a tuned car, the gauges you have are more than adequate to tell you if something has changed.

 

what's the difference if you stare at a wideband or stare at an EGT gauge?

I would agree with the above posts, and get yourself a wideband. AEM, Innovate, the Turbo XS tuner - all are excellent units.

 

Zeitronix fan here since it has a cellphone sized display that shows egt, boost, and afr on one gauge. Mine is fiberglassed to the top of the steering column. I have a dual gauge pod for oil pressure and fuel pressure. Just an idea, I'm in a vq30 tho.