[chukarboy]

I've been wanting to add some performance gauges ever since I got blown back in October. I had a hard time deciding on what direction to go in.

Options were, dial gauges or digital. I liked the looks of the Dial gauges but they are so limited in capability compared with digital gauges. I also thought of a combo dial and digital gauge but wanted a more uniform look. After a bunch of research I settled on Aeroforce's Interceptor dual CNC gauges. They pretty much have every option you can think of. What clenched my decision was the customization they offered. I was able to get SRT on the face of the gauge for a small fee along with a choice of start up logos on the display itself.

The primarily values I wanted to see was Boost, shift light and AFR but hell with these gauges you can view, play, record any value the OB2 puts out.

I was very apprehensive about installing them myself after viewing speedy's 20 hour install. I called and sent e-mails to 4 different vendors and would you believe only one even bothered to give me a quote or a return phone call! I guess there is not enough profit in it for them or this economy is not that bad. The one vendor that did provide a quote had several mistakes on the quote that made me feel uncomfortable. Well, I decided to install them myself, it was a good decision. It took me an hour to install and if I had to do it again it would take me 30 minutes.

The Razors Edge pod was not as nice as I thought it was going to be. My expectations were very high after the amount of positive reviews that I read. The way the fabric is stretched and stapled on the unit is kind of cheesy and it shows contoured lines that aren't appealing to me. I'm very picky and no one else would ever notice it but thats just me. I wired everything for the AFR sensor but I still need to get the well/bung welded in my exhaust to do the final hook-up.

The gauges are awesome but they have a couple corks that need to be worked out. Aeroforce has been great with the customer support.

I wanted thank Speedy again for a great install video and he helped answer all my questions. He would respond to my Pm's in less than an hour in most instances. Speedy for president!!

 

[Speedy!]

Congrats man. I think you'll like those gauges. I agree on the Razor's Edge pod....could be a bit better, but it is the best I could find at the time I purchased mine. I figure worse case it'll need new fabric after a few years and I may upgrade it to a nice leather or something.

I got the driver's side pillar to match. I think it was only like $15 and honestly the fabric was better on it.

 

[kasser]

Congrats!! those gauges looks awsome ! I will recieve my razor gauge pod in few hours, can you please give me a link on how to install these by myself??

 

[HemiSam]

You'll enjoy the gauges. Yeah, they're not perfect but as a result of a whole lot of involvement by a few on this forum, Aeroforce made the programming changes needed not to be draining the battery. That was a huge step in the right direction and only happened several weeks ago.

The black face with the blue background is definitely a smoking look, especially at night. I use the black bezel but hey, that's just me... Even old Speedy came around and got rid of the white faces. Much tougher and elegant IMO.

You definitely want that AFR in there. Just make sure your grounds are clean, especially if you're using the Innovate LC-1 which is particularly finicky. I think it has way too much granularity and you'll see AFR all over the place. It's reading it way too often but you'll figure out how to program that if you choose to with the laptop and the interface (LM software which is free).

As for the Razor's Edge, it is what it is. Once it's in there, it very much looks stock to anyone but the owner. And, the other options are not very good as far as I'm concerned. Gauges up in the sunglass holder locations...too heck with that! I want my eyes close to the road when I'm in boost ;-)

It's all good...

HemiSam

 

[DRAG CITY]

Nice...... you guys are making this to easy for me. Just wondering about brightness! Are these guages controlled by a rheostat?



HOT ROD ON

 

[HemiSam]

3 settings, bud. Manual.

HemiSam

 

[chukarboy]

I just received my passenger side pillar from Razors Edge. The quality of it is much better and nicely matches the driver-side. They are a first class company. They gave me credit back for both my stock pillars and paid for next day freight when shipping was messed up. It snapped right in.

 

[BayouTiger]

I guess I am the exception, but I prefer traditional gauges for info that is rapidly changing like boost. I can see the needle and know what's happening at a glance without reading a small number. The only issue I have with the interceptor is the readability of it. the text is pretty small and the contrast is a little low for some of us old folks.

They have a nice "cool factor" and the faceplates are very nice (I have several friends with them) I'm just not convinced that they would be for me. Not trying to be negative, just a second opinion. If I had a three gauge pod the third one would be an interceptor (after my mech. boost and A/F)

BTW, your install looks nice. I am sure there will come a day that I will regret the big hole in my dash!

 

[Speedy!]

I just received my passenger side pillar from Razors Edge. The quality of it is much better and nicely matches the driver-side. They are a first class company. They gave me credit back for both my stock pillars and paid for next day freight when shipping was messed up. It snapped right in.

Heh, I told ya you'd like that!

Chuck, I agree on the boost, I like to see the needle moving around.

However on AFR you really want a digital readout since you can't see decimals on a analog gauge. 11.8 for example.

 

[chukarboy]

I guess I am the exception, but I prefer traditional gauges for info that is rapidly changing like boost. I can see the needle and know what's happening at a glance without reading a small number. The only issue I have with the interceptor is the readability of it. the text is pretty small and the contrast is a little low for some of us old folks.

They have a nice "cool factor" and the faceplates are very nice (I have several friends with them) I'm just not convinced that they would be for me. Not trying to be negative, just a second opinion. If I had a three gauge pod the third one would be an interceptor (after my mech. boost and A/F)

BTW, your install looks nice. I am sure there will come a day that I will regret the big hole in my dash!

It was a tough decision, I actually pulled the trigger on the traditional guages but when the shop made a few mistakes I changed my mind.

Boost is pretty easy to read but I completely understand where you are coming from. Its a modern HEMI, so why not go with modern gauges. I'm able to record boost also, kind of cool to see what was happening after a run at the track.

Add Tim's oil return system so I can trash the catch-can and I'm done for awhile ( ya right)

 

[BayouTiger]

My A/F is digital as well. Someday I'll learn what the red yellow and green LEDs running around in circles means! I am sure it's important, but I have no idea.

 

[Speedy!]

My A/F is digital as well. Someday I'll learn what the red yellow and green LEDs running around in circles means! I am sure it's important, but I have no idea.

Well, they're supposed to be a quick reference so you can see out of the corner of your eye the AFR range. I'm not sure how it's setup on yours but I would think Red is lean, yellow is border line, and green is good.

The problem is they are too sensitive and become no more than a light show. I like Autometer gauges, but that's one of the reasons I didn't use an Autometer AFR gauge among others.

 

[BayouTiger]

I pretty much knew that what they were, but they react too fast and are useless. I think there is a setup to adjust them, but I haven't looked into it. They do put on a light show. Thing is, at other than WOT, the A/F is all over the map so they are accurate. I guess they would be more solid then, but I'm seldom looking at anything but the number.

 

[HemiSam]

chuck,

If you have the Innovate LC-1 you can hook it up to your laptop with the free software and adjust the sensitivity by having it ping the gauge less often. it's a lot easier than it sounds. I've notched down to increments and mine's still too sensitive. I'll go back in there before long. Bounces around too much for my liking on the Aeroforce Interceptor. Not meaningful data at that point.

HemiSam

 

[chukarboy]

I just finished the last portion of my gauges, I purchased the Aeroforce A/Fwideband O2 sensor kit.

The install was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. I could not get the Mid pipe out without cutting just below the cat and unbolting from the collector. It was the only alternative other than dropping the whole exhaust system. Used a saws-all and cut right through the weld on the cat and removed it, it was much easier to do a nice weld for the bung with it on the bench. Did a full penetration weld and checked for leaks.

One interesting thing while under the car was the amount of leaks at the slip joints of my Corsa catback. I assume the leaks would not be as apparent once the exhaust heats up. The clamps were tight and the joints were fully seated but the leaks were big enough to feel with your hand. I wounder if thats common.

I ran the sensor wire up and through the firewall, It was a pain in the ass once I got underneath the dash, I'm to old and big to fit underneath the dash. Taking out the center console to get to the power supply was nerve-racking.

Once everything was hooked-up, I programed the slope and intercept and pow there's my AFR. I'm yet to do some WOT runs to check it out but Idle is right at 14.7.

The Aeroforce gauge is very nice, I can view AFR , Boost , IAT, spark all in one glance. I'm going to program the interceptor to go into alarm or have red lights blink when AFR is lean when throttle is at 85%.. Very cool feature.

 

[Speedy!]

Cool man. Surprised you had to cut the exhaust though. When fooling with mine I just removed the two down pipe bolts at the manifolds and let the entire exhaust system drop down. Then I could slide the mid pipes off.

On my Magnaflow I get some exhaust seepage from the clamped connections. Sometimes when pulling up to a red light I get a whiff of exhaust smell as well when I have the windows down. I'm pretty sure any clamp style exhaust will leak a bit just due to the nature of the connection.

I'm actually seriously looking in to the SOLO exhaust system. They use ball joints on the connections like the stock exhaust which will seal much tighter.

 

[HemiSam]

Nicely done. The Aeroforces are real nice, especially now that they've resolved the issue with the battery drain.

Here's something you might find worthwhile if the exhaust leaks are bothering you. I just scored some of these and they look to be good quality. 304 stainless and value for money compared to the other options I found. Just make sure you get the right size for your exhaust. Exhaust shops swear by them.

Amazon.com: 2-3/4" Torctite Preformed Exhaust Lap Joint Clamp, Brushed Stainless Steel: Automotive

HemiSam

 

[MoparPosterChild]

I'm getting ready to order two of these gauges for my car. What all do I need to order to get these things to work?
________
EternityLove

 

[chukarboy]

I'm getting ready to order two of these gauges for my car. What all do I need to order to get these things to work?

Go to Aeroforce website and order the dual CNC gauges. It comes with all that you need (Split OB2 wire, Analog wires,mounting hardware) other than gauge pods. You can also customize the gauges and bezels. Its a great website with videos of gauges and options. I priced them around and they were actually cheaper buying direct than some other vendors. You get a break in price buying dual gauges rather than just one.

You can look around and see what style pods you want but honestly the Razors edge is the best available in my opinion at this time.

You will also need the wide-band kit if you want AFR.

Its one of my favorite mods.

 

[HemiSam]

What cb said. The only difference is I chose an Innovate LC-1 wideband for my O2 sensor. It allows some flexibility over and above what the Aeroforce unit offers. If you plan to datalog AFR using a Trinity or the like, just make sure whatever wideband / O2 sensor you choose has an additional 0-5v analog output to run to the datalogger. It's a good thing for you and your tuner ;-)

HemiSam