One:

PLX DM-100 with the following modules with alerts:
EGT
Oil Pressure
Oil Temp
Coolant Temp

Two:
AEM Boost/Wideband Gauge with ****** failsafe!!!! BIG BONER
AEM Performance Electronics Wideband UEGO Failsafe Gauge - Wideband O2 UEGO, Water/Methanol, Stand Alone Engine Management, Piggyback F/IC, Tru Boost Controller, Gauges, Automotive Performance Electronics

Three:
Some type of knock light because yeah while your EMS should actively monitor for knock, and while your EMS should log for knock, it is quite helpful when tuning or driving in general. I like the Turbo XS knocklite

 

VEI is the ****.
Boost / AFR
Oil pressure / temp

 

Running AFR, Boost, Water Temp, Oil temp/pressure all in the center panel I made. All the gauges are useful to me. Plenty of time to catch a quick glance down a front straight on track.

 

Comradefks, what brand is that boost gauge you have there. I have been looking for a lower range gauge and all i can find is 20 - 30. This is too high for my 8-12 range.

That gauge of yours would be perfect.

I will go with Hakans solution in the next couple of months but in the meantime need to cover the basics. AFR, Boost, Oil Pressure and water temp by only buying one more gauge...for the meantime.

 

AEM UEGO I picked up 2nd hand on this forum a few months back. Don't remember exact model number. Seems to work well so far. Pretty simple to install.

 

Is this gauge set-up still available?

 

After losing the previous motor on the dyno, decided to go extreme. Went with a high-end ECU, dual gauges on most everything. Rather than some warning lights, I wired it to the Check Engine light. It will flash Morse code numbers when it senses high, solid light when anything hits high-high, and ECU will shut it down on the 3rd set point. Obviously in the case of fuel pressure and oil pressure it is low, low-low and shut-down levels. I really don’t watch the gauges with all the ECU settings in place, just keep an eye on that check engine light.

i can quickly glance at the blue-tooth tablet if I want even more detail, reset any alarms or double-check a gauge on my panel. I’m a big believer in extra steps to save a motor if at all possible. At some point I might add tranny and diff fluid temps since it’s easy to do and Texas summers get pretty hot.

2x Boost & Lambda
2x Coolant temp
1x Oil Temp (In the pan)
2x Oil Pressure
2x Fuel pressure
2x Flex Fuel
4x EGT
1x Knock

 

I recommend to program the ECU to take the appropriate action. Slow-acting, non-critical metrics, like oil temperature, can be handled with a gauge and warning system. Anything that needs to happen quickly, like a lean condition, overboost, fuel starvation, oil starvation, or knock retard, should be handled by the computer and an appropriate limp mode. I use a multi-stage rev limiter for coolant temperature, which cannot be missed, is somewhat self-correcting, and really prevents me from pushing it too far when tempted. I find an analog boost gauge is nice to have to keep an eye on the closed loop boost behavior, which changes a bit once the car is warmed up. AFR is sometimes interesting to glance at, but it's more a curiosity and AFR error is more useful. I found that the Perfect Tuning MS3 gauge is useful for it's price especially because I can select the channel I'm actually interested in at the time. It fits nicely into a duct. Anything more and an AIM Dash or equivalent is appropriate. If you are looking for a logger dash, take a look at their new PDM 08 product. Very nice.

Overall, I wouldn't assume you or your co-drivers will see a warning, hear a warning, or have time or clarity to make good decision behind the wheel. Plan and program the computer to make the "right" decision. Gauges are useful to analyze after the computer has taken preventative action, after which you can correct the problem or override the computer.