In a post dated July 22, 2008 VS displayed a picture of a temperature and oil pressure gauge he installed in his Smart Car. I, too, have a preference for gauges - but the customization project I'm working on is a bit more extreme. Let me explain:
My one month old SmartForTwo Passion coupe has a great radio/CD player installed. Most find this a good selling point for the car. This is not so in my case. I never listen to the radio or play CD's when I drive - I find that doing so is a distraction I don't need. That said, I'll be replacing my radio/CD player with a 5 1/4 X 9 3/4 brushed aluminum bezel on which I'll mount four ISSPRO 2 1/16" (electrical) gauges (amps, volts, temp., and oil pres.), a hard wired Schrader retrofit TPMS display, a lighted on/off toggle switch, and a thumbwheel dimmer switch for the gauge backlights. All of this will utilize the existing fused radio circuit connector. I'm using an on/off toggle switch because the radio is fused directly to the battery and I'd like to use this separate circuit for my auxiliary gauge cluster.
This customization isn't cheap - the instrumentation, sensors and sending units alone will cost about $500. I like the "retro" look of the dial type gauges, though, so I'm going with them instead of a digital display such as a ScanGauge.
When I complete this project I'll post pictures of the gauge package. In between times, I'd welcome any comments or suggestions.
Chris
My one month old SmartForTwo Passion coupe has a great radio/CD player installed. Most find this a good selling point for the car. This is not so in my case. I never listen to the radio or play CD's when I drive - I find that doing so is a distraction I don't need. That said, I'll be replacing my radio/CD player with a 5 1/4 X 9 3/4 brushed aluminum bezel on which I'll mount four ISSPRO 2 1/16" (electrical) gauges (amps, volts, temp., and oil pres.), a hard wired Schrader retrofit TPMS display, a lighted on/off toggle switch, and a thumbwheel dimmer switch for the gauge backlights. All of this will utilize the existing fused radio circuit connector. I'm using an on/off toggle switch because the radio is fused directly to the battery and I'd like to use this separate circuit for my auxiliary gauge cluster.
This customization isn't cheap - the instrumentation, sensors and sending units alone will cost about $500. I like the "retro" look of the dial type gauges, though, so I'm going with them instead of a digital display such as a ScanGauge.
When I complete this project I'll post pictures of the gauge package. In between times, I'd welcome any comments or suggestions.
Chris
Tags: amp, display, gauge, guage, oil, pressure, temperature, tpms, voltage
Replies to This Discussion
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i prefer a scan gauge 2, it gives coolant temp, air intake temp, engine load, timing advance, fuel rate GPH, fuel consumption MPG and a dozen other things, it can display 4 at once, also is a trip computer that gives data for current trip, day, previous day and tank data. and it costs $160, wires directly into the OBD2 port under the dash. and it uses standard CAT 5 computer data cables if you want a custom install.
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Permalink Reply by Christopher Smyth on -
Thanks for the info. mbe,
As with fine wine, women, and cold beer, guys have different likes and dislikes when it comes to customizing their vehilces.
Chris
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I too have been looking for extra gauges. In my research I found a solution similar to installing the scan gauge. Auto meter makes a system called Nexus OBD II which looks like an easier and solution to extra instrumentation. I for one don't want to squint at a Scan Gage at 70 MPH. The Smart dash display is bad in that aspect as well. Yeah, yeah I probably need my bifocals adjusted, but..... Check'em out here http://www.autometer.com/ Check out the Ecometer. It must be new Looks cool, and readable too.
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I need to update this entry. The Nexus system DOES NOT use the OBD port. It uses new sensors you install, wired through an interface box that controls the cosmetics of the displays. The Ecometer mentioned DOES use the OBD port to display MPG, etc. It is plug and play. I clarified all this with the help of a guy at Auto-Meter.
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I bought and installed an Ecometer on my smart. It works good, but you do have to "tune" it so to speak as it comes set by default to 100% efficiency and will not give you the correct mpg unless you change this to something lower. I first set it to 90% but after 200 miles and a fill up, a little math, it was still reporting my miles per gallon higher than what I was actually getting. I have now set it for 85% efficiency and it seems to be pretty close. I have a 300 mile drive to do this weekend so we'll see how accurate that setting is. I bought it because it was cheap and available, but in hindsight, I think i should of waited and bought a Scanguage II. When I get my Scanguage II I'll sell my ecometer lol
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Thanks for the update. I was never able to get mine due to procrastination. Sorry to hear that it must be "calibrated". It makes sense I guess. I am wondering if you have to go through the same routine with the scangauge or does it "teach itself". Since I figure my mileage with a pencil and calculator anyway, maybe all I need is the old reliable vacuum gauge I have used in the past. It is only a little less than the ecometer.
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I dug into the scangauge a bit more. It too has to be calibrated. This site http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23228 has some info. I belong to it for my Prius. As I said above I think a relative indicator of fuel efficiency is all I want, so I'm saving my money and going with the vacuum gauge. Even on our Prius the MPG indicated on it's factory readout doesn't match the calculated MPG.
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