ok, so i want to get my gauges all setup on my car now before i turbocharge just out of curiosity of what my car is doing n/a compared to after its turbo. The gauges im pretty sure i want are as follows: autometer cobalt series - electronic - air/fuel ratio and whatever parts i need to make it true wideband , boost/vacuum, oil pressure, and automatic tranny temp...

of course this will all be in the autometer triple gauge pod ill be getting and the tranny temp i plan to put in that little compartment on the left of the steering wheel but i have to customize o spot there for it. when i was browsing thru the gauges i noticed that on the gauges i wanted there were a few different versions of the same gauges in the same series with varying prices. i only want exactly what the car needs and nothing overkill on the gauges and i wanna spend the least ammount possible at the same time. heres a link to the website and if you guys could tell me exactly what i need to purchase that would be great but i want them all to look simiar to this.

i think i want the short sweep electric unless there is a special reason i really need to have a full sweep electric...

http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugeli...&opid=2&szid=2

 

The varying prices you're referring to stem from the type of gauge it is... electric or mechanical. Full sweep just gives you a more accurate reading.

 

how neccesary is full sweep? and the thing im most confused about is the air/fuel ratio gauge... i see the digital one on there which im not a big fan of but i do like the regular gauge one on there but its alot cheaper and i need it to be wideband so how can i make that work? i hope someone on here is really educated on gauges and can help me pick the right things. if possible id like to get away with doing this at less than $500

 

this is the air / fuel ratio one i like but how do i make it a wideband?

http://www.autometer.com/cat_gaugede...gid=2567&sid=4

 

That's a narrowband. Narrowband only gives you an estimate of what range you should be in. Wideband gives you the actual ratio (hence the digital readout). So therefore you can't make that narrowband work with a wideband sensor... or at least not working in any way that would benefit you.

 

ok, so if i bought that air/fuel ratio narrowband gauge, would i be safe if its reading stoich since i done need exact numbers as im not tuning the car myself, i just want something that will tell me im in a good area and not a dangerous area, i mean the tuner guy i go to can hook up his own wideband when tuning it right?

 

This is where I get unsure... but I'd say no. Sure, it might be fine for you... but there's no way to tell the exact a/f ratio without a wideband sensor in there afaik. So you'd be better off with a wideband.

 

ok, well can anyone else chime in and tell whether or not a narrow band is useless or if its saying stoich or lean or rich that it would be correct, i assume it would be since it has to tell the ecu those things anyway, also on whether or not a tuner on a dyno can hook up a temporary wideband for tuning purposes if i really wanted to

 

so, now im told that autometer doesnt really make a cobalt specific gauge pod for our cars...

 

They make a side pillar pod for the cobalt, designed for the cobalt; but no additional pods specific for the coblat, for example the dash or stock gauge area.

 

oh ok that scared me for a minute lol, anyway what does everyone think of a narrow band air/fuel ratio? its better than nothing right?

 

IMO the narrow band is worthless, only true reading is with a physical number from a wideband. The narrow band just look pretty lol.... (bounce back and forth and change colors)

 

ok, maybe ill take another look at the wideband gauge, i just like the looks of the narrow band better