Electronic Boost Gauge

[vr4_rider]

Hey, guys.

This is to get a list of interested people for a LCD boost gauge with 0-60mph times, and 1/8th mile, and estimated 1/4th mile time.

The LCD will either come in blue (like the blue color on the HKS Turbo Timer Type 1), a lighter blue, or green.

Steven, the one designing unit, will come in to answer any specific questions.

Steven will also post up pics

The gauge can hold up to 36.2 PSI for ambient style, and 22.8 for absolute.

The LCD is about 2.5-3" by 3.5-4". It will have a peak display and a graph.

For now, please put your name down and vote at a price range of how much you are willing to spend.

Thanks,
Trung

[jwilly]

i would take one if it was blue for 115 for sure

[Triple A]

Im interested.

I wont bother with a price range as posting it to me will take it way over anyway ...

BUT I would want exact specifications on the kit - and how it compares with others (better??) bits of kit like the Profec B (for instance) ... but they cost way more ...


Adam

[aiRwrEcktiOn]

hey im willing for like 125-150$

Just need pix and stuff. Where to mount it etc etc etc.

I dont want an expensive looking piece of electronic [if it has a screen, it looks expensive!] sticking out in the open where wandering thieves will bash in my windwos.

[Hannibalzero]

I doubt I would get one (I already have an SBC-id), but I'd like to see the pics. Subscribing.

[TTDEVIL]

I think it'd be sweet... I would buy it just for the estimated times alone. Gtech's are hundreds and hundreds of dollars so not worth it to me, but if you can give me an est. 1/4 mile or even 1/8 mile thats fairly accurate for $150.... i'd do it. I dont even care what it looks like or what other features it has

[MaG18]

aww id like it if it was in red

[vr4_rider]

COME ON YOUWOOs with the autometer boost gauge that isn't even that accurate!

Trung

[skyrunner]

Hey guys,

Here is finally some more information and background from me, the guy making the gauges. Basically this whole idea started from about 1.5-2 years ago when I got my '92 stock vr4 and wanted to start modding it. One of the first things that I needed was an accurate boost gauge. Being a computer nerd, I wanted a big digital readout, until I started looking around and couldn't find anything that I liked for a resonable price. At the same time I was playing with a small embedded microcontroller project for my job, and I thought to myself... "I bet I can just make exactly what I want!"

So I worked on this off and on with a cool blue/white backlit lcd that I got for awhile and after I got the boost part of the sensor working, I decided to draw a little graph of the last 30 seconds or so, and after that I decided to tap into my tach and correlate peak boost with rpms, and after that I figured why not tap into the speedo and get a 0-60 time, and then I recently implemented something that I like to call the "virtual timeslip." Virtual because it is based off of the speedo and thus if you have a bunch of wheel spin it isnt accurate (no problem for my stocker I couldnt spin the wheels if I wanted). Now when I showed the gauge to Trung he loved it and wanted one too. So I was originally going to make only 2 of these, but Trung convinced me to see if anyone else wants one too, hence this thread. Now for the pics here they are at:

http://turbo.bioneos.com/boost.php

(Be nice it is my home cable modem)
Now the gauge has a switch that will take it from boost mode to timeslip mode (first two pics) but currently it is not housed in anything. In fact I ordered the PCB's today, so until I have them I cant give you an exact estimate on the unit's size. It will be able to measure from -14.7 to 21.6psi in an absolute configuration (assuming ambient was 14.7psi), but if some people wanted a differential sensor the range would be 0-36.3psi and slightly more accurate because it doesnt have a hardcoded ambient pressure. The only drawback is that it will not measure vacuum then. Also the tach reading is accurate to +-100rpms and the speedo is accurate to +-1mph, but it is dependant on the speedo sensor and thus for people with different wheel circumferences, the gauge would have to be recalibrated. The best part about the design is that I can flash new software into the microcontroller and it is simply to replace, so hopefully I could even customize the gauges a little for some people. And hopefully people are still reading this incredibly long post, and are still interested. I am not looking to make a large profit on these gauges, it would be nice to cover my prototyping costs so far though (which are very small) and of course the cost of parts. If there is enough interest in a gauge like this, I will go ahead and make several of them, otherwise Trung and I are going to be unique I will hopefully have an encasing idea by the end of the week when my 2 PCBs and all of my parts come in so I can get some more pics out for everyone interested. Thanks for reading!!

Steve

[Hannibalzero]

This is pretty cool. I am pretty happy with my SBC-id's boost display, but is there any chance some other sensors could be adapted to work with this? Hell, I may be tempted to get this if it does eveything a G-tech can.

BTW, I could see this looking very good in the overhead lamp console.