What additional gauges do you NEED?

[swt99svt]

So I found a 'vert SOS and I'll be plugging my Autometer wideband and boost into those. That leaves the instrument bezel empty. I can either remove it and replace it with the factory or....

Fill it with two of the following:

- Oil pressure
- Oil temp
- Fuel pressure
- Water temp

If boost and wideband are already covered, which gauges would you "need" for your Cobra?

 

[rider4life350]

I would do oil pressure and fuel pressure

 

[KaspFivehundo]

I have oil pressure and eng. temp that came with the car. I recently added an AEM wideband.

 

[Driver500]

Oil pressure and fuel pressure.

 

[cobracide]

An Aeroforce will get you two of those readings out of the box and the rest with external sensors.

 

[swt99svt]

An Aeroforce will get you two of those readings out of the box and the rest with external sensors.

I looked at that... But for gauges and sensor I'd be spending $700 and seeing I already have the wideband and the boost I'd only be spending $300 for the two electric gauges (fuel/oil).

Knowing that I have the bezels for the gauges already and have the available space it's hard to justify the extra spend.

Thanks for the feedback, ya'll. I'm on the same page.

 

[03cobra#694]

I would do...
- Fuel pressure
- Water temp

 

[cobracide]

I looked at that... But for gauges and sensor I'd be spending $700 and seeing I already have the wideband and the boost I'd only be spending $300 for the two electric gauges (fuel/oil).

Knowing that I have the bezels for the gauges already and have the available space it's hard to justify the extra spend.

Thanks for the feedback, ya'll. I'm on the same page.

It's $250 for a single gauge and you have knocked out two of the metrics. You can monitor fuel pressure and water temp at the same time. Look at it this way - $250 for two gauges and then it makes more sense. $65 for oil pressure sensor and $45 for the temperature sensor. That's $360. Not sure how you arrived at a $700 figure. A DUAL gauge setup is more, yes.

 

[Lstruck03]

wideband, fuel pressure, boost are the only gauges needed in my opinion. coolant temp and oil pressure are covered from the factory, of course the "can" be off, i hardly ever see them far enough to cause an issue. if oil pressure drops, or the car overheats, you will know it.

 

[cobracide]

wideband, fuel pressure, boost are the only gauges needed in my opinion. coolant temp and oil pressure are covered from the factory, of course the "can" be off, i hardly ever see them far enough to cause an issue. if oil pressure drops, or the car overheats, you will know it.

I used to think that way until I started seeing IAT2s, actual coolant temps (all down to the degree or two accuracy), three bar map sensor going to an 0-5v analog input..and a lot of others. For instance, I KNOW when my car is heatsoaked. I know what my throttle volts are to adjust the TPS exactly where I need it for Dragon throttle body. Nice idle 850-925 rpms. All with a press of a button. Don't even have to get out the xcal3.

I'll See if I can't get a pic of the Areoforce and stock gauges at the same time, factory barely raised and 170* actual. The gauges are a "show". It's the ECU telling you what someone wants you to see. Not reality in any way, shape or form. The aeroforce is showing you the PID or On-board diagnostics Parameter ID. In this case, these PIDs are composed of raw data from the sensors.

 

[swt99svt]

I used to think that way until I started seeing IAT2s, actual coolant temps (all down to the degree or two accuracy), three bar map sensor going to an 0-5v analog input..and a lot of others. For instance, I KNOW when my car is heatsoaked. I know what my throttle volts are to adjust the TPS exactly where I need it for Dragon throttle body. Nice idle 850-925 rpms. All with a press of a button. Don't even have to get out the xcal3.

I'll See if I can't get a pic of the Areoforce and stock gauges at the same time, factory barely raised and 170* actual. The gauges are a "show". It's the ECU telling you what someone wants you to see. Not reality in any way, shape or form. The aeroforce is showing you the PID or On-board diagnostics Parameter ID. In this case, these PIDs are composed of raw data from the sensors.

I'd like to see the images. Not many out there. Yes, the $700 was for the dual. To me, it would look the best to keep the gauges the same and if I have two in the pillar it would look pointless to have one on the column...

I went with two Aeros and then all the adapters to pull the data...

 

[cobracide]

I'd like to see the images. Not many out there. Yes, the $700 was for the dual. To me, it would look the best to keep the gauges the same and if I have two in the pillar it would look pointless to have one on the column...

I went with two Aeros and then all the adapters to pull the data...

So dual is too much and one does not look right. Understandable. Just don't shortchange yourself.

 

[fbody83]

Oil pressure is a must since the stock gauge is useless. Fuel pressure is also important. I just added fuel and oil pressure in addition to my AF wideband.

 

[swt99svt]

So oil and fuel. Is that the final call? lol

 

[MalcolmV8]

Temp and wideband are the two important "must haves" that I watch all the time. Everything else is just in the background for reference.

 

[joseph.devenney]

I have wideband and fuel pressure, since I am adding a killer chiller (in work) I am wanting to keep an eye on my IAT's, but thats not completely necessary.

 

[itSSlow98]

Wideband, boost, oil pressure and fuel pressure if you want that many gauges. Boost really isnt that important since the factory gauge is mechanical already and accurate plus for 20 bucks you can get the overlay if your running more boost.

 

[nxs450]

An Aeroforce will get you two of those readings out of the box and the rest with external sensors.

+2, read all parameters plus with analog inputs read A/F, fuel pressure, oil pressure, nitrous. Nice gauges!

 

[mu22stang]

The gauges are a "show". It's the ECU telling you what someone wants you to see. Not reality in any way, shape or form.

I'm not so sure about this statement.

I'm with you on using a gauge that shows values. I use an Aeroforce myself to monitor ECT's. However, knowing what the factory gauge is telling you is key. It gives you general idea of running temperature. If it's fake, why does it read normal when the ECT is safe? Why does it approach the red or read red when it's beginning overheat? Why does it read low when the engine is cold? You'll have to bring the tech on the claim that it's for "show" for me to buy into the idea that a manufacturer would give a fake gauge just to appease owners.

The factory oil pressure gauge is an example. It's a pressure switch that only responds to being above or below a specific oil pressure (I'm not sure what psi). If pressure is above this set psi, the gauge reads normal, below and it drops to the red. Yes, it is pretty much a dummy gauge, but when you understand the functionality, you realize it's not a fake.

Here's an excellent experiment performed by an SVTP member, albeit for the SN-95. Post #25

If there's one thing I've learned about Ford, they typically are doing more than you realize to keep the car safe and running correctly. They also rarely reduce the functionality of something for later year models. With that in mind, I can't imagine they decided to make the factory ECT gauge FAKE on the newer, hotter, supercharged Cobras. They may have tweaked the range of the gauge, made the scale non-linear, or something similar. But, I am extremely doubtful that it's fake. So, if you got the tech on your claim, bring it.

Interesting note, some have claimed the gauge is simply a timer, set to go to normal after X number of minutes. Once again, I'm extremely doubtful. Monitoring ECT's with my Aeroforce, my coolant temp reaches and levels off at 176*F with the ambient temps at 80*F or below (Reische 170 tstat). However, the factory gauge takes some additional time to reach the normal (vertical) position, despite the ECT reading not changing. I don't know what causes this, but I have a few guesses. Perhaps someone has some insight on the subject...

 

[swt99svt]

Thanks for all the feedback and having different perspectives is awesome. In lieu of the above, I've opted to purchase the oil pressure and fuel pressure in addition to the boost and wideband I already had.

One not, my Cobra itself is a '99 so the boost gauge was necessary. While I am completing a full forged rebuild and had already completed an Eaton swap, the additional gauges are what I felt as "necessary".

I am upgrading to a return style fuel system and will be running E85. This is a Sunday funday ride and in light of all the additional investments I've made I couldn't really bring myself to purchasing a TSS oil pump in place of the FRPP. Again, this isn't a strip car and while I may "goose" it from time to time, the regular driving will be rather mild.