I recently got some new gauges for the MR2. If I'm going to do some track stuff with it, I'd like my temperature readings to be more accurate than "LINE!"
Anyway, I have coolant temp, oil pressure and oil temp. I also have three available slots for the gauges: two in the dash panel formerly occupied by the radio, and one in an A-pillar housing that currently houses just a boost gauge.
So, what's my layout?
Do I group the oil-related gauges together in the center console, and put the were temp on the pillar?
Or do I group the temperature related gauges together in one place or the other, then group the pressure related gauges together in another?
Or something else?
What's the right answer?
If one has to go in the pillar it should be oil pressure IMO. That is closer to your sight lines. You might even be able to see oil pressure dips in corners with your peripheral vision.
Temperature is more of a general feel kind of thing, fairly slow to increase/decrease, and something to look at when you have a moment to look down.
I am always a fan of clocking gauges so the important number is straight up. No need to refocus, just glance and get back to work.
I'd put the temperature gauges where I can monitor them as part of a normal gauge sweep, because with those you'll want to monitor trends.
I don't care where oil pressure is as long as there's a giant bright blinding YOU HAVE NO OIL PRESSURE light aimed at your eyeballs and preferably also wired to a set of jumper cables that are attached to your junk. You don't want to rely on noticing a drop in pressure on the gauge and it requires immediate action. You can use the gauge to check things like cold pressure. If you want to learn about things like pressure drops in corners, that's part of car setup and would be best addressed by datalogging, analysis and remedial action.
Lose the boost gauge, it's just for driver entertainment. You should have a boost cut in place because a blown off wastegate hose usually prompts "wheee!" more than "uhoh" from the driver.
I'm with Pete on clocking the gauges so that normal = straight up. Our eyes are good at vertical and horizontal and it's super-easy to monitor.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I need to keep the boost gauge because as a NASA TT car I mostly have to run to a specific power level which means a specific boost level. Although I agree that it's absolutely not a mission critical gauge for actual track use. And it does have a built-in boost cut (18psi), although once I go to a standalone, which I imagine is in the plans at some point, I'll have to redo that.
The boost gauge on my street Miata is in the glovebox on a long hose so I can pull it out when I need it :) But if you need it once per event to fine-tune a manual boost control, then I'd put it somewhere visible but out of the way, as you'll only need to check it briefly under a very specific condition.
Pete, that's some quality metal work on that gauge housing.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I think I did that when I only had scrap metal and 15 minutes to work with 
It is just sort of screwed into the radio frame after I removed the stock 2.5 DIN unit. The Megasquirt used to live in that hole, which is why there is a little fold over for the switch panel to the left. This was back when there were three important LEDs on the front, so I could see the lame plunger type Mazda TPS sticking in realtime!
The dummy who installed the gauges also wired both sides of the light bulbs to ground. I have a feeling that years later, it is never going to get corrected. I am used to gently pushing on the clutch to light up the lighted switch going to the 2 step when I want to look at the gauges at night. Sort of like a SAAB that dims the unimportant gauges, right?
If those pictured gauges are the ones in question, the white ones go together and the black one goes in the pillar.
AClockworkGarage said:
If those pictured gauges are the ones in question, thw white ones go together and the black one goes in the pillar.
Ha. So I actually ordered the oil temp and water temp gauges different colors on purpose to create some built-in differentiation for quick glances, should they end up next to each other.
But I also definitely feel you on color coordinating...
Temp gauges in the center, so you don't need to sort through your thoughts when you glance that way.---> "I am checking the temperatures of things. Good. Good." Eyes back on the road. They also share a common scale.
Oil pressure has its own unique qualities and consequences, so that gauge flies solo.---> "I am checking my oil pressure now, and it absolutely needs to be appropriate to the present situation."
Add some idiot lights up near your field of vision.
+1 for clocking the gauges.
One of my dreams is to wire a klaxon instead of an oil pressure idiot light. Military testing has shown that a busy pilot can not notice a warning light for an extremely long time. Older rally cars had extremely bright idiot lights and even then sometimes the driver would not notice.
A loud AHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOga will get your attention, though
Just make it pretty. All you really need is the rev limiter and a check engine light.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:
One of my dreams is to wire a klaxon instead of an oil pressure idiot light. Military testing has shown that a busy pilot can not notice a warning light for an extremely long time. Older rally cars had extremely bright idiot lights and even then sometimes the driver would not notice.
A loud AHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOga will get your attention, though
To go along with this- one of the most likely times you would have oil pressure problems is in a corner, where your eyes are looking around the corner, not straight ahead (and very much not at the guages).
For similar reasons, I would suggest some kind of simple data acquisition system where you can monitor stuff post session. Then you can see trends that you would never notice recording by your eye.
