Generally I like to keep my cars stock. And the same goes for my RX7. However I’m soon to be taking it out on a track and I am concerned that with the standard temperature gauge I won’t know if the engine overheats until it’s too late.
So my questions to the forum is… Is overheating likely to be an issue on a 15 year old rx7 on a track in December? And if so where can I find a cheap gauge that ideally looks like a stock item?
..or would my money be better spent on an extra service?
Clive at MRP does some nice splitfire gauges including water - think santa is fetching me some
Thanks Peter, yep you never know Santa may be bringing some gauges and a pod to a chimmaly near you :Santa
Philo, your right the stock gauge is usless and normaly if the gauge hits the red this is just to tell you your engines dead !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We always try to offer both "designer" and cheap and with the cheap end of our gauge range we have Splitfire which are good acurate American gauges.
If you would like to look here you can order on line if you wish.
http://www.mazdarotaryparts.com/bfd-accessoriesb-270-c.asp
Hope this helps
We have this range of cheap gauges
http://www.rotaryart.uk.com/acatalog/Racetech_competition_gauges.html
Quote from: PhiloIs overheating likely to be an issue on a 15 year old rx7 on a track in December?
Yes, and you\'re doing the right thing getting a gauge. Personally I would run until the temps get to no more than 110 before doing a cool down lap or two and if that doesn\'t work, come off the track until it drops down below 90. 110 is high though, so make your own mind up about how safe to play it.
IIRC 120+ is the permanent damage zone - I\'ve been in a car when it hit 135 and that was *very* terminal!
What is the difference between these cheap gauges and say, a Defi...?
Apart from price :)
I quite like the look of the those Gary. Do they come with sensors and cabling etc ?
Gives a discrption of what you get on here
http://www.rotaryart.uk.com/acatalog/Racetech_dual_display_gauges.html
ie the drop down list gives you a choice of fitting and lenght.
It does not include the sensor, which is availble extra.
these just tell you which fitting it acepts.
http://www.rotaryart.uk.com/acatalog/Racetech_gauges.html
The dual gauges are great value as you can also get so dial in to one of these great pods ;-)
http://www.rotaryart.uk.com/acatalog/Rotaryart_products.html
quad pod could equal 8 gauges.
ok, in Gary\'s Catalogue, it says 7temp or 8 temp- what does that mean?
Which one is correct for the FD?
Can I still keep the standard gauge and sensor?
Really I want white face to match the rest of my interior, otherwise I would prob go for it. The dual guages are indeed great value, and the pods are v nice to from Jono old laddy.
I would get dual oil press and temp, and water press and temp.
Where do I find the sensors ?
roughly £60 each guage, £75 a pod.
Quote from: Martinyok, in Gary\'s Catalogue, it says 7temp or 8 temp- what does that mean?
the 7 or 8 shows the length in good old fashioned feet of the wire
Can I still keep the standard gauge and sensor?
Senosrs are calibrated to work with given gauges, if you use the stock sensor the gauge will work but will give an approximation and will not be accurate, I get get the calibration details for those that can recalibrate, for guys like me, I would buy a new sensor.
I will over the next couple of days get senor info up on my site
We also have all Defi on our site ,but would not recommend anyone using them unless with Defi. (just incase someone tries to order it that way round)
http://www.rotaryart.uk.com/acatalog/Defi_Gauges.html
Gary/Clive/whoever,
Is there any chance you can put a kit together on your site, with an all inclusive price. I have been looking for a dual oil temp/pressure gauge with sensors and I don\'t know my @rse from my elbow. ditto for water - you\'d sell a few if you made it easy
Quote from: andysmeeGary/Clive/whoever,
Is there any chance you can put a kit together on your site, with an all inclusive price. I have been looking for a dual oil temp/pressure gauge with sensors and I don\'t know my @rse from my elbow. ditto for water - you\'d sell a few if you made it easy
agree with Andy
for a modded car, dual oil temp and press, and dual water temp and press are the key, most of us have a boost guage already.
If you could make a kit with pod, guages and sensors I would almost certainly snap that up !! I have been after similar for a while, as above.
Cheers, let us know !! :cheers
Quote from: andysmeeGary/Clive/whoever,
Is there any chance you can put a kit together on your site, with an all inclusive price. I have been looking for a dual oil temp/pressure gauge with sensors and I don\'t know my @rse from my elbow. ditto for water - you\'d sell a few if you made it easy
Hi Andy,
The Splitfire gauges mentioned above all come with sensors and are available as electric or mechanical .
We have twin 52mm Dash mount pods and one duel 52mm piller pods on the shelf.
As a starter pack for an FD in clear eye line vision personaly I would recomend Water temp Gauges and Boost.
Just clicked through our shop and an FD Dash pod with water and boost gauges will cost £151 as a complete package
To look further click here
http://www.mazdarotaryparts.com/bfd-...iesb-270-c.asp
Hope this helps
Autogauge make some nice gauges. They are very accurate and have been in the business nearly 40 years. http://www.autogauge.com.tw/
Ok it sounds like a resounding yes to fitting a water temp gauge. Thanks for the links.
I saw a rx7 once that had put a new temp gauge in place of the old bad one, that looked very good but for the sake of not altering my rex I will probably go with a custom mount in the unused space by my single din stereo.
From what I have seen installing the gauge in the throttle body coolant lines is the easiest option and something i think i can do myself. What sort of adapter would i need to attach the gauge to the lines?
...although initially i had plans to put a car computer into my rx7. I had been looking all over the place for a package that interfaces a temperature sensor with a computer. I would love to have the ability to switch between race mode with all the gauges to sat nav or stereo mode.
However i could not find any affordable solutions on the internet to do this. Does anyone else here have experience getting boost/pressure/temperature data to a PC?
Quote from: PhiloFrom what I have seen installing the gauge in the throttle body coolant lines is the easiest option and something i think i can do myself. What sort of adapter would i need to attach the gauge to the lines?
Now THATS a good idea, as this coolant still flows when the thermostat is closed.
strange days, if you want white faces then have a look at the mocal ones (i think tweeks might sell them but not sure) they do dual gauges with a white background for a similar price to the racetech ones.
dont forget if you are getting oil temp/pres then you might need the adaptor plate for the oil filter ( you can get this from think auto and use the 25% off code if you are a member )
grinder i just tried to enter the discount code and it is saying it inst recognized. has the offer lapsed?
I\'ve used Autometer gauges in the past, and found them to be very good budget/low end units :)
Marco ,
i have no idea matey - maybe it has
they did say that it was a trail and if not many people used it , they would remove it
looks like they have
i will drop them an email tomorrow and see whats going on
Cheers
Stu
Well we might as well join in on the gauge front!
We sell the SPA gauges These are a dual sensor and will fit in the slot where you existing fuel, water temp and oil pressure gauge fits
They come with the sensors and wiring as standard, and are configurable for alarm settings. They are back lit....and you can choose from pretty much any combination you want...so getting 6 channels instead of 3.
The retail cost of these gauges start at £133.69 + P&P +VAT
Our Price is £120.32+ P&P +VAT
Club Price is £114.30+ P&P +VAT
They are subtly done without the need for pods all over your car, and give you all of the info you need!
Quote from: SiHI\'ve used Autometer gauges in the past, and found them to be very good budget/low end units :)
whats the difference between low end / budget units and the more expensive ones?
Quote from: RedRummywhats the difference between low end / budget units and the more expensive ones?
Accuracy and functionality
The tolerances on the more expensive units are going to be a lot finer. I guess unless you are racing the degree of accuracy isn\'t as crutial....but then again why bother having a gauge if it doesn\'t tell the truth?
You will find this more with the analogue gauges as the stepper motors are better in the more expensive units.
Stick with digital! Did I mention we sell digital ones? ;)
great, thanks... when you say analogue vs digital, do you mean mechanical vs electrical?
:Hammer
Quote from: RedRummywhats the difference between low end / budget units and the more expensive ones?
In our experiance, just about nothing other than looks,As many of our customers know, here at MRP whilst we don\'t ever profess to "know it all", we will tell customers the truth based on experience gained through 35 years of working on high powered cars many times at the expense of "making a sale",
Again and again over the years I have been amazed that cheap gauges are very accurate, some of you would have heard of an el chepo brand called Tim, once after having 2 new Smiths Rev counters die I put a Tim Rev counter in my race car and to my happy amazement found that on 3 different rolling roads the cheepy read the same as their\'s!!!!
Much more recently in my FD I had Splitfire water and boost gauges installed and on Abbeys Dyno pack they came up accurate.
Also I had a £400 Turbosmart Boost controller fitted and whilst driving I could see both together and guess what the big digital read out read exactly the same as my cheap Splitfire gauge.
You will find that we are also dealers for Defi and Auto meter, gauges that are much more expensive than our cheap Splitfire range but now you have read the above surrounding "accuracy" you can now see why I personally call these expensive gauges "Designer"!
Hope this helps.
As ever Clive, an Ambassador for the community
Quote from: MazdarotarypartsHope this helps.
It does... a lot...
thanks :3gears-rh
One of the plus sides of some of the more expensive gauges is the extra features they offer, and you can\'t really deny that they are useful (at times) The likes of Defis offer things such as adjustable warning limits, peak hold, time period playback and other things which can be pretty useful.
Having been out on a track day in a car with Defi\'s, i can say that the audible warning was a very useful feature - excessive oil and water temps were alerted of immediately, and the driver backed off saving potentially rather large bills :)
That\'s just an example though - obviously, it\'s horses for courses, and you can get cheaper gauges which offer similar functions. However, after having an AVCR with peak hold for boost and revs etc in my last car, i sold off all my gauges with the idea of buying Defi\'s, so i could have that facility on all of the important readings :)
Quote from: AtomicRexWe sell the SPA gauges These are a dual sensor and will fit in the slot where you existing fuel, water temp and oil pressure gauge fits
They come with the sensors and wiring as standard, and are configurable for alarm settings. They are back lit....and you can choose from pretty much any combination you want...so getting 6 channels instead of 3.
Hi AtomicRex, do you have any more details/piccies for these as there isn\'t much information on your website - which models are they? How easy are they to fit in place of the standard gauges? I\'m tempted to hold off on fitting that UK clock set until I can afford a dual oil temp/pres gauge to replace the stock oil pres one. Could you get me the club price for this please? I\'d also be interested in a water temp/boost gauge if you do one.
pm me if you want to avoid cluttering the thread.
Ta,
Chris.