Easiest to read A/F Gauge especially night driving?

[03SonicVert]

I'm looking on some input on which A/F gauge is easiest to see, if there is an issue with leaning, out of the corner of your eye. One of my biggest concerns is night driving. I'm concerned with a gauge that is too bright, or fluctuating rapidly, etc. I'm not looking for feedback on the actual WB sensor set-ups, just the gauge itself. I know i can add a dimmer rheostat if need be. I plan on installing it on the A-pillar in an SOS pod. The contenders so far are:
Speedhut for NGK, AEM and Innovate.

The Speedhut, was my first choice, seems like it would be the most subtle and customizable to fit with the factory cluster but I am concerned it is too subtle. I thought about the warning light model but can you set it up for WOT only and not just around town normal RPM? Eg: it can read 14:1 around town but not at WOT so is it possible to set the warning light to function only at WOT?

I like the red, yellow, green graduated scaling on the AEM and Innovate models but it may be too busy while driving, especially at night.

Any thoughts or what works best for you? This is not a daily driver and not a race car that I need loud bells as whistle on. I want the piece of mind the WB brings but I don't want the car to look like a Christmas tree at night.

Thanks for any positive input!

 

[badcobra]

I have an old school Dynojet wideband commander with the white face gauge. It's quite dim at night and I have it configured to shine the built-in LED in my face if the car goes lean. It can all be set up very easily with the software to do that so you don't have to sit and stare at your gauge when trying to drive. It uses the same Bosch sensor that many of the other ones like the LM-1 use.

 

[03cobra#694]

I have an old school Dynojet wideband commander with the white face gauge. It's quite dim at night and I have it configured to shine the built-in LED in my face if the car goes lean. It can all be set up very easily with the software to do that so you don't have to sit and stare at your gauge when trying to drive. It uses the same Bosch sensor that many of the other ones like the LM-1 use.

Same controller and set up I have except I'm running a SpeedHut gauge with it. You can configure the warning light via a WOT wire to flash the LED warning light built in the gauge to go off if the car goes lean.

 

[Torrance]

I use the SpeedHut and it has a tap for the TPS signal. I didn't use it, but I'm almost positive it'll let you configure your warning LED for WOT.

The only gauges I use when I'm in it are the wideband and tach, which are a glance apart.

 

[03SonicVert]

I appreciate the feedback and photo. With a WOT input I would feel much more comfortable with the warning light. I'm glad Speedhut offers this.

I think my gut on the Speedhut is the right decision especially after reading your input.

Torrance, Do you know if there is a separate power wire to the needle pointer that can be dimmed or disconnected to match the factory style? Your setup looks great!

Thank you!

 

[gabe1530]

i have the Innovate and i really like it. its in red and isnt too bright but looks great at night. unfortunately, i dont have any pics

 

[03cobra#694]

I appreciate the feedback and photo. With a WOT input I would feel much more comfortable with the warning light. I'm glad Speedhut offers this.

I think my gut on the Speedhut is the right decision especially after reading your input.

Torrance, Do you know if there is a separate power wire to the needle pointer that can be dimmed or disconnected to match the factory style? Your setup looks great!

Thank you!

I'll answer for him. Yes there's a separate wire for the needle. My junk.

 

[03SonicVert]

Thanks for the help guys. Everything worked out.

 

[MalcolmV8]

Speedhut gauges are very easy to read and look great at night. My wideband is on the bottom right.

Up close of gauges at night

Also speed hut gauges for a GT500 build I did

Turbo Honda I did

One thing I noticed with all the different color backgrounds is the brightness are different. Some gauges like those Honda ones were way to bright. So I get those tiny little mini potentiometers from radio shack and wire them up under the dash in line of the wiring. You can then take a small screw driver and tweak the brightness to how you like. Some cars like the 03 Cobra you can also tap into the light dimming circuit and have them increase and decrease brightness with the factory gauges after you tweak them with the potentiometer to be close. IMO they are great gauges and hard to beat the custom looks and designs they'll do for you.

 

[c6zhombre]

damn! badass malcolm :rockon:

the only thing I'll add about the speedhuts...is if you order the "SVT" logo cutout instead of painted red...it will backlight at night. Just another option to consider. Looks great either way :rockon:

 

[01Jes]

Might have gone differ route but long ago I bought cuz the name brand...autometer.

 

[c6zhombre]

Might have gone differ route but long ago I bought cuz the name brand...autometer.

I didn't even realize autometer made a wideband, thought only a "spectrum" narrowband. Cool.

Looks like you captured top of 3rd, AF looks great :thumbsup:

 

[MalcolmV8]

damn! badass malcolm :rockon:

the only thing I'll add about the speedhuts...is if you order the "SVT" logo cutout instead of painted red...it will backlight at night. Just another option to consider. Looks great either way :rockon:

Yeah only thing with that is in the day time the SVT logo is a green color instead of the red. I wish they could have made it red in the day and glow at night
I chose to have to have it red in the day since I figured that's when I'd see it the most. Both ways look good though.

 

[Mystic03]

AEM wideband is very visible!

 

[gmtech]

AEM wideband is very visible!

x2, love mine

 

[01Jes]

I didn't even realize autometer made a wideband, thought only a "spectrum" narrowband. Cool.

Looks like you captured top of 3rd, AF looks great :thumbsup:

Gotta be that sleeper tune ;-)

:beer:

 

[Tractionless1]

IMO AF with an analog needle readout is pointless as it's always bouncing. Innovate Lc1 piggybacked to an aeroforcetech and you get to datalog right on the gauge and all.

 

[MrCaliKrome]

AEM WIDEBAND UEGO 02 with BOOST GAUGE (Fail Safe)

I have it set up to read digital A/F numbers in the center of the gauge. Boost reading does the analog sweep around the gauge.

 

[MalcolmV8]

IMO AF with an analog needle readout is pointless as it's always bouncing. Innovate Lc1 piggybacked to an aeroforcetech and you get to datalog right on the gauge and all.

I wonder if it's just what people get used to. For me it's the exact opposite. Analog gauge is the way to go because I can see the needle from the corner of my eye and tell exactly what the car is doing. Also when you're driving and blipping the throttle, downshifting etc. I can see any sudden sweeps or spikes that happen.
However when someone brings me a car with a digital wideband I'm lost lol. When the numbers are jumping around like crazy it's hard to tell trends or what's happening and I end up having to hook up the laptop and datalog and analyze.

 

[03cobra#694]

^^^Same here, those numbers bouncing all over the place gives me vertigo, lol.