[Mk2] [NA] Gauges - Defi, DEPO, quality concerns

[synXero]

Going to need to kit myself out with two gauges shortly, oil temperature is one I definitely want, and considering oil pressure as the other. I need 60mm.

I am not sure with gauges about recommended brands. I have heard the name Defi but they seem hard to source...?

Here's a few I found quickly on eBay. For the purpose of colour matching the interior, I need white or red:

"Depo"
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DEPO-racing-6 ... 1c2447ac5b

"Demon Motorsport"
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60mm-OIL-TEMP ... 3a669e2f82

"LB Performance"
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-60mm-Stea ... 19d740b1c8

Advice appreciated

[aussieGT]

Shame there are no replies to this, i'm now in the same boat myself.

A mate swears by AutoMeter, A US brand. He bought the Cobalt range on loved them.

A little to blingy for me, nice plain proven VDO looks good to me http://www.olympicinstruments.com.au/c-77-electric.aspx

[shinny]

I am not sure with gauges about recommended brands. I have heard the name Defi but they seem hard to source...?

Defis are expensive and you need to be on the lookout for fakes, but shouldn't be *that* hard to source.

As for the gauges themselves, relative readings are more important than absolute. Most sensors should be reasonably accurate, but what's important is understanding what's normal for your car and then reacting quickly if the gauges start reading something different. For example, my tubby dropped all it's engine oil on Saturday - within 300m of the start of the issue (as seen by the oil trail) I'd spotted the problem on my Defi oil pressure gauge and within another 200m I was stopped with the engine off. The stock oil pressure warning light had barely flickered a warning at this stage!

I've not yet fixed the leak and run the engine again to see if there was any damage, but I suspect the oil pressure gauge has saved my engine in this case. You don't need a fancy gauge though - a £40 stepper gauge will be enough to get an idea of how the system behaves and thus enable you to know what low pressure is and turn off the engine before damage occurs

[shinny]

BTW, as well as my Defi gauges, I've also had a cheap stepper motor water temp gauge fitted and it does a good enough job (esp for temperature, which doesn't change quickly).

Mounting location is important though, as you want these gauges in places you will actually look at! I tend to favour the A pillar, as I find gauges around the stereo or on top of the dash are too far to move my eyes to on a normal visual sweep IMHO.

[aj.extreme]

Just finished fitting these

Will update my members profile thread with all the pics and stuff later



No more back lighting issues for me

[shinny]

I've thought about doing something similar many times, but always decided against it due to the difficulty of finding a Defi-style speedo. Still, I'm pretty happy with my own end result:

[straughton]

^^ that pictures cool, speedo says about 20mph but the outside view says your flying nice though