Which two gauges to monitor engine health on track?

After reading through a few of the thread, it seems like a worthwhile investment to install a few gauges since I track my car fairly often. I don't want the cabin to look too cluttered so I only want to add a maximum of two gauges (analog and not dual sensor digital ones) and want to know you all think are the most important.

The ones I've narrowed down are oil pressure and water temp but am questioning if should I swap one of those out for a oil temp or intake air temp unit.

Jeff

If you must go with two only, I would go with oil pressure and water temp. I personally prefer adding on oil temp to go with those two.

Why not go digital? There are many gauges that offer 2-3 measurements per gauge. This would save you a lot of room and avoid the clutter.
here's an example: http://www.greddy.com/products/electronics/multi-da/

Another option is tablet displays. Defi has a really nice setup:
http://blog.evasivemotorsports.com/?tag=defi-smart-adapter

Or you can take it to the next level and get an AEM EMS with gaugeart.

Thanks! I'm thinking that oil pressure and water temp are the ones to get. I don't really want to go with a digital gauge because of aesthetics, I prefer the look of a analog unit.

I went through the same dilemma a while back.

Ranking in priority for a n/a car:
1) Oil Pressure
2) Water Temperature
3) Oil Temperature

I ended up getting two SPA dual gauges which included the three above plus Fuel Pressure. I also considered a Water Pressure to monitor in case a coolant hose burst or Voltmeter because it was less expensive, but I thought the oem should be good enough. I still kind of regret getting the Fuel Pressure instead of Water Pressure. I know I could just move the mounting sensor, but having it say 'Fuel' will annoy me.

Here is my set up. I personally think they look great in the interior. The illumination could be adjusted to orange to match the interior. I do plan to change out the red button caps to access the gauge's menu to black so they do not stand out.

Nice. Did you install them yourself?

jsl757 said:

Nice. Did you install them yourself?

Click to expand...

Yeah. I used a SoS blank fiberglass console, cut, finished, and painted it. Not really difficult, just time consuming. For the gauge sensors, I used adapters that SoS sells from the following locations:

Oil Pressure = Rear bank head (I couldn't get to the front bank). I used a hose from the head so the sensor is mounted on the wall between the engine bay and trunk so it is isolated from engine vibration

Oil Temperature = Welded a bung on the oil pan

Water Temperature = Spliced into the engine bay outlet hose

Fuel Pressure = on top of the fuel filter

Cool thanks for the tips - I was thinking of using a few of the SOS parts to help ease the install.

I was thinking about hiding 2 of these in the ashtray compartment...

https://www.dynotunenitrous.com/store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=221

Too bad they do not make on for the pressure.