With the gauges in, we can finally see exactly what our WRX is doing–even when we’re out on track.
Shortly before we blew up our 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX, we had some free time to install extra gauges from AEM. Two of the most important metrics for our modified car are the air/fuel ratio and boost pressure, but neither were included in the WRX’s stock gauge cluster.
So, we installed an AEM’s $330 Tru Boost controller, as well as the company’s $316 Wideband Failsafe gauge. These are a new generation of smart gauges from AEM, in fact they’re so smart that they can do much more than just display boost and air/fuel ratios, respectively. The Tru Boost controller is a complete boost controller, while the Wideband Failsafe gauge can automatically activate a failsafe strategy.
However, our Subaru already has a boost controller and a failsafe strategy (thank you Subaru engineers). So, we hooked up AEM’s gauges to just be gauges; nothing more and nothing less. We might do more with them in the future, but for now we’d just like to know that our car is running properly.
Wiring the gauges was easy, as each gauge only required a single connection besides power and ground. The boost gauge feed tube simply tees into a factory vacuum line, while the air/fuel ratio gauge was plugged into the wideband O2 sensor that we’d installed while we were dyno testing at Mach V Motorsports.
Wiring, though, was only half the battle. We needed a place to mount the gauges, so we used a dual gauge dash bezel from Mach V Motorsports. This $79 piece made fitting our aftermarket gauges quick and painless. With the gauges in, we can finally see exactly what our WRX is doing—even when we’re out on track.
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