DAWIV said:
Anything that is mass produced is going to have a few problems. That said I have never had 1 problem with my Autometer guages. If they truely sucked ass, they would be out of business. But they are thriving and will continue to do so. Because the make products that are both functional and affordable. I personally would not use their A/F guage as its not practical for its purpose. I have over 80,000 miles combined on my two boost guages and they work perfectly.
Heh, I quite understand the process of manufacturing goods and quality issues. Thanks.
However, when you work in the aftermarket car field, you see and learn more than the 'average person' about not only products but their true quality after time. Autometer has yet to surprise me with the end result; it's a cheap gauge.
I've stated before and I'll say it again, I'll never have an Autometer gauge in a car of mine. I just advise others that spending more money on something that could possibly save their engine or themselves is something they may want to do. The same argument comes from me about cheap gauges as about eBay seats or harnesses. You just need to buy higher grade stuff sometimes.
Autometer will never go out of business because the "tuning community" is all about cheap mods. Hell, just look at the amount of people bitching about MAM's tubular manifold pricing. I'd pay that price when I have ajob again. Some will not. That does NOT mean a cheaper and thusly more popular manifold is better or even close to the level of the more expensive one, though.
I've installed several boost, a few of their 'disco light' a/f monitors, and pressure gauges in several cars, not just Mazdas. I'd say 80% of the installs came back to upgrade to another brand. This is not only on "performance" and "tuner" cars but lifted trucks, jeeps, stock cars for dealerships, etc.
Personally, I've had three boost gauges in my car at once; the 60mm Blitz, a 52mm Autometer, and the Apexi AVC-R. The Blitz was *dead on* with matching the AVC-R's readings. The Autometer was constantly off by 1-3psi. Maybe to some of you who won't exceed close to stock booost levels that won't matter. I was hitting around 18psi for a while, so accuracy DID matter. Thinking it may just be the gauge, we used another boost gauge out of a different MSP; same results but was around 2psi off constantly.
I cant even imagine what could happen by depending on their A/F ratio gauges to save your car.
Maybe you guys don't drive the s*** out of your cars and a simple gauge may suffice. I do, and I prefer to have exact instruments to help me feel better doing so.
I have had no experience with SW gauges, and I looked at them when I was buying my boost gauge. I'd like to try one out someday with the AVC-R to test it. Until then, I'll enjoy knowing *exactly* what my car's reading, not just an estimated guess. If I wanted that, I'd go pick up a hooker and tell her to randomly smack me in the head while I'm driving so I'll keep out of boost.
