Dave's Evo X Build/The Life of Dave blog

[simulatedwood]

Gauges? We don't need no stinking gauges!..

There really isn't a great solution, if you want these right in front of you. If this is purely a reference thing, a nice tri- panel setup custom cut out of carbon fiber sheet in the lower center console right below the HVAC controls would be a very nice compromise. Or if going for the sleeper look, the glove box is always a good way to go.

Hopefully these are good suggestions.

[Murlo26]

I want them all right in front of me for when I am tuning, driving or whatever. I don't so much need my boost gauge, its an ok thing to see there in case I am going WAY over, but I for sure want my wideband there, right in front of my face.

I already have a bunch of things i need to look for, knock light, rpm, speed, boost etc...I don't want them down in the hvac area as they aren't right in my line of sight.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

What you need is a heads-up display with some logic behind it that pops up any sensors that are outside your programmed acceptable ranges.

[Murlo26]

What you need is a heads-up display with some logic behind it that pops up any sensors that are outside your programmed acceptable ranges.

That is something I am considering, but not quite that advanced haha.

Here is the next thing I want to do.

http://www.evoxforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69289

Then take out my rockford head unit and make a custom mount for this. Then get music on this somehow as its a tablet and it will have all my gauges etc on there and hopefully you can set that up to blink or go nuts if it goes out of range. Then I could ECUflash right there too, streamlined.

[Kracka]

How do you find time to drive while looking at all that stuff? I had a triple pod in my IX, but I can tell you the only time I ever looked at any of it was cruising down the highway or sitting at a stoplight.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

On my old 1G I just used a Knock Box, which showed the current knock sum in LED. I only used a boost gauge when something didn't "feel right" aka probably a boost leak or some turbo system part failure.

If is pretty easy and cheap to setup an LED that warns of low oil pressure. On dry sump Evos we set it up so that we also require oil pressure for the car to be running, if oil pressure is lost then the ECU shuts the engine down. It takes a little extra cranking for the car to start, because it waits for oil pressure, we also have bypass buttons though. The main reason we do it on dry sump cars is in case the belt that runs the oil pump breaks or comes off.

[Kracka]

^Smart, I like that idea.

[Murlo26]

How do you find time to drive while looking at all that stuff? I had a triple pod in my IX, but I can tell you the only time I ever looked at any of it was cruising down the highway or sitting at a stoplight.

well part of it is I am always always changing my tune etc dialing it in. I spent almost all of last year dialing it in.

I am paranoid now as I have had plenty of issues and if something is feeling right like shane said I watch gauges to help figure it out initially then start logging or wrenching.

I do however, watch AFR and boost at the beginning of my pull to make sure fuel starts coming in right and it goes rich. After about 4500-5000rpms I am just quick glancing at knock CEL and RPM for shifting.

I do that on every pull, I guess I am paranoid but with fueling issues and all sorts of shit possible I still don't feel 100% confident in my car, mostly hardware wise or all hardware wise to just slam on it and hope for the best.

I have caught plenty of issues this way by watching everything.

[Kracka]

Sounds like a PITA that takes all the enjoyment out of driving.

I dealt with exactly this on my IX, with constant logging/tuning, grew sick of the car, and sold it. Smart decision and I haven't looked back. If you can't trust something and truly enjoy it, why bother owning it?

With my X I made sure to go the exact opposite way and never have to worry about it so I can focus on having fun and enjoying my car. I have no gauges and my car has remained reliable. I drive it every day and never worry about my fuel, tune, boost, etc. Hell, I've never once even logged my car with the AP. I couldn't tell you what my boost is at on any given day, nor do I care :)

Different strokes for different folks, I just hope with your next car (or even this one), you can learn from previous mistakes and figure out a way to avoid history from repeating itself.

[Murlo26]

Sounds like a PITA that takes all the enjoyment out of driving.

I dealt with exactly this on my IX, with constant logging/tuning, grew sick of the car, and sold it. Smart decision and I haven't looked back. If you can't trust something and truly enjoy it, why bother owning it?

With my X I made sure to go the exact opposite way and never have to worry about it so I can focus on having fun and enjoying my car. I have no gauges and my car has remained reliable. I drive it every day and never worry about my fuel, tune, boost, etc. Hell, I've never once even logged my car with the AP. I couldn't tell you what my boost is at on any given day, nor do I care :)

Different strokes for different folks, I just hope with your next car (or even this one), you can learn from previous mistakes and figure out a way to avoid history from repeating itself.

I think if you want a reliable car that makes almost triple stock power you are stuck with this type of caution. It does suck and I don't love worrying about it all the time. I am getting better at knowing the setup and when there is something wrong, I can usually feel it now without having to log or whatever but I still do it to feel better.

Why do you think I wanted to sell it last summer and buy a vette? I still do want a c6z right now but frankly I will mod that too much too probably. My big thing is I feel so invested into this car and can't see myself losing SO MUCH money by selling. I'd rather get smarter about keeping it running right and make sure to do everything necessary and just have fun with it.

It works well now and I am just doing little things for the most part now. It's still a lot of fun :)