Uncoolron

I thought it is more ideal to monitor oil temp and water temp/engine temp than oil pressure and oil temp combo. I tried looking for that combo but I ended up getting two separate gauges.

ringo14

i want all three... i want oil pressure to see whats going on when i run at 130mph around the banking at the roval

i'll have water temp already so im thinking oil pressure and temp in one gauge...

SlowTeg

Sorry for reviving an old thread but wanted to revisit this question. I'm looking for a multigauge that interfaces with the OBD2 port to grab some info off the stock sensors, and something that can add on additional external sensors. I always want it to be shallow so I can flush mount it. It seems like there are only a few options that fit my criteria.

The ARK MFD2, currently at $300, and the PLX DM-100. Does anyone have the ARK MFD2 care to comment on it? I'm contemplating mounting it in a visor and adding the external oil temp sensor now and possibly oil pressure down the road. I looked at ARK's website and they don't have a US dealer? They also don't have the sensor in stock.. I'm a little concerned if I went with this option that I might not be able to find additional sensors down the road if need be. It's only .6" thick which is good.

The PLX DM-100 looks a little smaller but should have good support down the road I'd think which is good. It's .7" deep.

If anyone has any thoughts on these two gauges I'd love to hear it. Both of these gauges have external control boxes where the sensors plug in to make remote mounting the display easier. Thanks.

Croc

IMO no reason to pay for those expensive gauges - they're bad value for money.
i ran Ultragauge - and it's great.
if you need few more readings such as oil temp, pressure, etc - i would just add some dual gauge (SPA or other) and call it a day.

ATCrunch

So I can run a aem tru boost with a plx multi gauge and basically have all the gauges and a boost controller? Is that a decent setup?

robrob

I think I'm going to order an Ultragauge. Anyone know for sure if the AP1 will offer water temp readings? I know oil temp and pressure aren't available.

As far as additional gauges go I think #1 should be oil temp because it can go very high on track. This is an even stronger #1 for the boosted guys.

An oil pressure idiot light is probably #2 because you probably wouldn't notice when the oil pressure drops on a gauge because you're in the middle of a high speed sweeper. An oil pressure data logger would be sweet.

Water temp would be a distant #3 for me.

SlowTeg

I think the ultragauge is a steal for the money, but the fact that it doesn't take external sensors kind of makes it a deal breaker for me. My car is primarily a street car, and I hate the look of multiple gauges especially if they wouldn't make a difference on the street (not to mention it attracts thieves). For daily driving an NA car, monitoring oil/water temp is unnecessary, which is why my #1 priority is installing the gauge in a concealed location that I can use when I goto the track.

I think I'm strongly leaning towards the PLX DM-200 at this point. Yes, it's not that cheap (but not that expensive either), but it can pull obd2 data and work with a much needed oil temp sensor (and oil pressure down the road) for the track. Plus, I think I can mount it in the passenger visor and make it completely invisible with the visor up (a big plus to me). When I finally finish/decide on the setup I'll be sure to post a picture in this thread.

SlowTeg

Got this installed a little bit ago but figured I'd share it for those looking for a more obscure location (not to mention easily reversible). No holes were drilled in any panels minus the big one in the visor..

I went with a DM200 (which is the 60mm gauge), and it reads OBD2 data, so can pull water temp, AIT, and some other useful things. I just need to install the temp probe in the oil pan one of these days and I'll have oil temp readings. The visor flaps up and it's virtually undetectable, there are no marks on the backside of the visor. I decided to cut the wire and resolder all the wires so I could feed it through the visor (rather than surface mount the wire), but that's a giant pita I wouldn't do again/recommend (I think it uses a vga or serial cable with 15 tiny wires/pins). My only real complaint with the plx gauge is the fact that you can't disconnect the cable from the display so you can feed the wire into tight spaces w/o cutting.

Only downside about the gauge location is it's hard to read in direct sunlight with the top down. The gauge is easily visible from the driver's seat, and I find that the passenger visor being down doesn't obscure my vision at all.

mdrury

FYI, the ARK Design franchise changed hands earlier this year and the products/support situation appears to have improved. I'm in the middle of a full install of the MFD-2 just now (trial install had no problems) and will probably do a posting on this site with an update on the product/company etc.

davidc1

Cool. Probably be good to start a new thread with your views of the product and company rather than bump a 3 yr old thread. Just saying.....