I recently posted an article on the OSIR pod gauge I was lucky enough to find at my tuning specialist. Now, I need to find out which gauge to put in the pod!

Since the pod has 60mm holes, I need to find the right 60mm (2 3/8″) gauges. The “regular” size being 52mm (2  1/16″).

So my tuning guy tells me the most important gauge to have is the Wideband Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge. I understand the principles of richer-leaner air-fuel ratios but I still found interesting information and I think it’s good for everyone to read. Here it goes.

LEAN

Lean mixtures improve the fuel economy but also cause sharp rises in the amount of nitrogen oxides (NOX). If the mixture becomes too lean, the engine may fail to ignite, causing misfire and a large increase in unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. Lean mixtures burn hotter and may cause rough idle, hard starting and stalling, and can even damage the catalytic converter, or burn valves in the engine. The risk of spark knock/engine knocking (detonation) is also increased when the engine is under load.

RICH

Mixtures that are richer than stoichiometric allow for greater peak engine power when using vapourized liquid fuels, due to the cooling effect of the evaporating fuel. This increases the intake oxygen density, allowing for more fuel to be combusted and more power developed. The ideal mixture in this type of operation depends on the individual engine. For example, engines with forced induction such as turbochargers and superchargers typically require a richer mixture under wide open throttle than naturally aspirated engines. Forced induction engines can be catastrophically damaged by burning too lean for too long. The leaner the air/fuel mixture, the higher the combustion temperature is inside the cylinder. Too high a temperature will destroy an engine – melting the pistons and valves. This can happen if you port the head and/or manifolds or increase boost without compensating by installing larger or more injectors, and/or increasing the fuel pressure to a sufficient level. Conversely, engine performance can be lessened by increasing fuelling without increasing air flow into the engine.

Now apparently the competition amongst wideband gauge manufacturers is focused on reliability of the gauge and the O2 sensor it requires to read the Air/Fuel Ratio. The best O2 sensor out there is apparently the Bosch 4.9 5 wire heated O2 sensor. Unfortunately, there are only 3 manufacturers that offer 60mm air-fuel gauges and these are: ProSport ,PLX Devices and GlowShift. Both ProSport and GlowShift include the Bosh 4.9 O2 sensor. (PLX Devices have the older 4.2 version, so they are out of the game)

The ProSport goes for 209$ and the GlowShift is prices at 199$ (instead of 349$, as they say). Both are low-priced and have so-so reviews on forums. I personally find the Glowshift Gauges look cheap. One forum member made me laugh when I read his comment: “they look like a dancing christmas tree on speed.”

ProSport vs GlowShift Gauges

So I decided to investigate the ProSport gauges and wrote to their consumer service. First, Glenn answered me on a possible discount:

Andre,

 The only other manufacturee I know of that makes a 60mm wideband is PLX and theirs is $459.00. It is no secret we have the lowest prices around already. All of our widebands use the latest and widest range Bosch O2 4.9 sensor while other are still using the older, slower, narrower 4.2 sensor.  Our 60mm wideband also can warn you and give you peak recall and includes 0-5 volt output signal for data logging.  All that for only $209 is a very good deal at that price.

Then, he answered mo on the mixed reviews I read on their products:

I can speak from experience when I tell you that on average 70% of the negative comments on forums are due to installer error. Then the poster either forgets about the post or is too embarrassed to go back and fix it so it sits forever as an example  “prosport gauges don’t work” when in reality the problem was  simple ground not installed, you get the idea. 

I have seen negative posts from people and when we ask them to explain, so we can help them they have said well “I don’t own one” well how can you post up about products you never touched or used ??  The forums are interesting as anyone can post anything regardless if it is true.

We have the best customer service hands down.  Take this email exchange for example..  Did you ask the same questions to autometer, aem, plx, etc..  If so how did they respond??  If not- then why not??

On the contrary, I have never seen a negative post about our widebands. They work perfect, because we worked directly with bosch from day one and thus they are matched perfectly.

I’m not big into typing, so if you want to discuss anything in more detail give us a call, we will talk to you for hours if needed to answer any questions you may have. It is just too hard to go into any great details in an email.  If you want us to call you just give us your #.

I think Glenn answered me very well. His answers are good and it all looks to make sense. But still, I’m not sure what I’ll be doing. I may try to fit 52mm gauges in the 60mm gauge pod. We’ll see.

I’ll keep you guys posted.

Andre

UPDATE: Feb 3 Installed! 🙂 See here.