Gauges, Quality vs. Price Options

[Forcus]

Was wanting to completely replace the crappy stock gauges in my car which has 4 perfectly sized holes in the cluster for boost/water temp/oil pressure/fuel level. However I really don't want to buy shitty gauges on the other hand people who pay $300+ for a Greddy gauge are complete chumps.

I want something in a white face, I do like the Auto Meter Phantom gauges but I am a little leary because I have heard good (as in, never had a problem and reasonably priced) to crap (as in, off by 2-4 PSI, H20 temp not close to accurate, etc).

Any ideas?

[TotalEclipse97]

quality...you'll want it in the end. i went cheap with my 30/30 boost gauge from OBX and after i got it in (looked nice) the light broke,the wires fell off the back and the gauge now reads 5psi ...when my car's NOT ON!!! i got an Autometer gauge and when you look at it ...it just looks quality and i havn't had a problem with it yet. that's my input..take it or leave it

[Forcus]

Don't worry I won't go cheap cheap. I got a mechanical Sunpro yesterday just to make sure that I was getting oil pressure.. now that's cheap! But good for a dune buggy, or beater, or something.

[TotalEclipse97]

hey! i've got that oil pressure gauge in my car...don't call my stuff cheap lol

[Forcus]

hey! i've got that oil pressure gauge in my car...don't call my stuff cheap lol

Haha sorry didn't mean to imply that. I think ANY aftermarket gauge is better than the stockers because, at least on my car (and all newer cars) they basically only will tell you something is going wrong when it is too late. On my car if it overheats once, it's toast. SO I need a real gauge.

I figured while I'm upgrading I will get good gauges that match and look very nice. Sunpro might work but they seem a little on the cheaper side, I've heard good and bad about Autometer, but mostly good, and they seem reasonably priced. It would cost me like $2000 to put GrEEdy gauges in my car so... screw that.

[turbohcar]

Autometers, never had any problems in the race car. I've actually never heard of any problems with Autometer gauges.

[MidwestDSM]

I've got a hookup on Defi gauges....but even at near cost, they are still expensive.

[Larz]

I've heard rumor that autometer isn't as accurate, but never heard a no shit story of it being completely off. I'm going with Autometer because they're the only ones that match my stock ones. I'm going for that stock look on everything so it all matches. Having two neon and the others just light up wouldn't look right to me.

[Forcus]

I've heard rumor that autometer isn't as accurate, but never heard a no shit story of it being completely off. I'm going with Autometer because they're the only ones that match my stock ones. I'm going for that stock look on everything so it all matches. Having two neon and the others just light up wouldn't look right to me.

Which line are you going with? I also thought about black face gauges to match but never thought about the backlighting. I don't know what back light the FD has but mine is a very japanese red

[Larz]

I'm going with the black face with chrome trim, the almost exact match for my FD. You have a red backlight? Strange. The FD's make the numbers yellow, from what I recall. I haven't seen my car since December. But so far, autometer offers the closet to stock appearance. The boost gauge has half the numbers in yellow, and half in white, so it's not exact. But the chrome lip makes it look plausibly stock.

[KOU In3]

For quality but affordable, Autometer is pretty much the way to go IMHO. Personally I've never had a problem with an Autometer gauge.

[Forcus]

Cool. Looks like a majority of their gauges are mechanical though (unfortunately). I'll have to check into it further.

Thanks,
Biran

[Forcus]

Just took a look at the Autometer website. Looks like electric Ultralight and Carbon Fiber Ultralight might be for me. The Ultralights have white faces and the Carbon Fiber Ultralights are just the Ultralights with.. uh... CF faces.

Depends on what I do I guess. I don't know if I want to do white face or CF face.. hmm.

[Larz]

So which ones are mechanical, and which ones are electrical? The RX-7 online stores don't differentiate.

[FindMeAMANTroy]

I haven't had a probelm w/ the OBX gauge...then again, I've only drove my car once w/ the gauge in...and it pegged it, and in turn, blew the head gasket.

BTW Mark, I ended up getting a metal Cometic HG for about $95 shipped. It's a damn good head gasket though...and came with some decals.

Anothe BTW---Does anyone need any door panels (grey, I think) off of a 93 Talon?Or the cloth Grey seat, both in perfect condition?

Also have a 1G Mani w/ no cracks.
A Good 91 Tranny, from Eclipse GST.

Make offer on all.
See...you shouldn't have banned me the first time...AAAAAChem.

Have lots of 4 lug wheels, some 5 lug. Lots of good tires. Some meats.
All kinds of shit. Still have the 89 Teg. I'm about ready to give that fucker away. Make offer on that. I hate looking @ it.

[KOU In3]

BTW Mark, I ended up getting a metal Cometic HG for about $95 shipped. It's a damn good head gasket though...and came with some decals.

Anothe BTW---Does anyone need any door panels (grey, I think) off of a 93 Talon?Or the cloth Grey seat, both in perfect condition?

Also have a 1G Mani w/ no cracks.
A Good 91 Tranny, from Eclipse GST.

Make offer on all.
See...you shouldn't have banned me the first time...AAAAAChem.

Have lots of 4 lug wheels, some 5 lug. Lots of good tires. Some meats.
All kinds of shit. Still have the 89 Teg. I'm about ready to give that fucker away. Make offer on that. I hate looking @ it.

I believe this was a lot of the root of the problem the first time. See, the forums aren't like a running conversation with your friend where it works to meander from topic to topic. Different topics are seperated by different threads. This thread is about gauges.

If you have another thread about say, your cometic HG, you could start a thread on that.

Still another thread is your stuff for sale.

We try to differentiate so that people can follow the information. Otherwise it becomes almost impossible to wade through it all.

Your 'For Sale' items will get a lot better viewing in a thread set aside for them as well so everyone wins.

As to the gauges:
You should be able to just pick the application in terms of what you want a read-out for (oil pressure, water temp, etc.), then choose the size, and go from there. I have a buddy with a pretty big account with them. I'll see if I can get a price break through him if you have a particular model you have it narrowed down to.

[FindMeAMANTroy]

MMMKay thanks.
I'll be on the look-out for off-topic posts in threads...