hey i have looking buying gauges for my car, and i have seen what other people are doing. But for some reason only a few people have an air/fuel gauge on their car. I was just wondering why that is? I figure it would be a good thing to see if the car is running rich or lean. I did a search and someone said that the factory o2 sensor is really bad, is that why? ALso if i get the gauge should i get a better o2 sensor for it?

 

One reason is that most of the gauges do not use a wideband sensor, and the WRX and STi run air/fuel ratio values that cover a wide range, especially at WOT.

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"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

do you know of any gauges that use a wideband?

 

The trouble with widebands is that they are very expensive and burn out quickly with everyday use. An air/fuel ratio gauge isn't realy necessary once your car is properly tuned, because it shouldn't change much. There's certainly a good reason for having one, but it is not necessary, particularly if you are having your car tuned at a dyno facility equipped with a good wideband. I would recommend sticking to boost, EGT, and oil temp gauges. Fuel pressure is also a good alternate to oil temp.

 

I plan on getting a those gauges as well, but i always hear about people running lean or rich due to an intake or MBC, and they usually find out from an dyno, or other expensive type of software. My thinking is that wouldn't it be better to have a constant gauge to make sure that the engine is working properly, especially if i mess around with a chip that might change the air/fuel ratio.

 

Sure it would but, again, where are you going to find a gauge that's affordable and meets your needs?

EGT is a pretty good indicator of a lean condition. I don't have one because I have an ECU reflash that uses a standard off-the-shelf map, hence I accept it as safe. If I was tuning my own car, I'd definitely invest in an EGT gauge.

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0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush