What would be some useful gauges if supercharging the s2000?

 

Oil pressure, boost, A/F.

 

The first two were recommended to me by Joe at Ganley Honda when my Comptech was Installed.

 

Like they said... boost and A/F I think are the two most important, and then Oil pressure

 

whats so good about oil pressure?

 

We know that many of these cars consume oil, sometimes at an alarming rate and still be considered "normal". Since oil is the lifeblood of any high performance engine and since a supercharged car requires oil to lubricate and cool its bearings, getting too low in oil can be a doubly bad thing. Even though we all should be checking the oil level frequently, in reality, we can sometimes get complacent about it or find ourselves on a very long highway journal where we can cover hundreds of miles between stops or be on the track where oil consumption can increase dramatically. Having an oil pressure gauge and knowing how to read it and interpret it can save your bacon. However, if you don't know what it's trying to tell you, then having one is of no consequence. You will quickly understand that you can be down to a couple of qts. of oil and still have oil pressure. At this time, the engine is still OK, but is in a state of extreme stress and on the verge of self destruct. An oil pressure gauge will behave in a very precise manner at this time. Those minor fluctuations tell a great deal, IF you choose to pay attention to them.
In fact, if you don't take the time to learn what a gauge is trying to tell you, there is no point in having any. This applies not only to oil pressure, but to the other gauges mentioned so far.

 

Also - another side note as well.
Regarding your A/F Gauge. I would recommend the Wideband O2 Gauge from AEM. As opposed to your traditional Autometer Sweeper Gauge - this will actually offer you a real-time readout!

 

Oil pressure also gives you a good indicator of early motor problems. If you're not holding pressure at idle or odd oil pressure behavior at higher RPMs ... it's time to look into the details.

I'm running:
- Oil temp
- Oil pressure
- A/F

I didn't go with boost as with the SC, what you get is generally what you get. Boost gauge on the car during tuning. Limited real estate for gauges. The new heads up display from Defi is looking pretty good to me though. I would like to add water temp. I currently have the CEL set with the AEM EMS to come on with high water temps ... I'd prefer to be able to see it directly though.

 

You could get an Apex I-moni. http://www.boomplustoys.net/apex.shtml
I mounted mine like this:

 

Thanks XViper. I already have a Defi control unit and sensors, so adding the heads up display is not too expensive and will give me easy line of site visibility for gauge info as well as speed, rpms and shift lights. Here's a somewhat decent pic:



Had this been available when I installed my a-pillar gauges, I would have skipped them and just gone with this. I'm a little skeptical about how readable the HUD is during the day with the top down, but I've talked with a few folks that have said it's very visable/readable. Here's a link for more details:
http://www.defi-shop.com/product/con...ncept_top.html

I'll also put in a blatant plug for the bump-steer kit available from the S2KI go-fast labs store. One of the best updates I've done to the car. I expected it would be a marginal improvement for the track. It's made a suprising impact in stability in handling even on the street. Not gauge related but a nice addition to an S2K with a SC.