A/f Guage
02-06-2004, 12:49 PM
#2
to infinity & beyond, me
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: santurce
Posts: 5,124
the one i bought was like 60 bucks. which exactly are you referring to, electric, mechanical, just some red, yellow and green leds, or digital??
i got the led one, i think a digital one would work better...
id buy one that provides an error percentage as opposed to one that didnt. i only bought the autometer for looks...
i got the led one, i think a digital one would work better...
id buy one that provides an error percentage as opposed to one that didnt. i only bought the autometer for looks...
02-07-2004, 12:12 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Okinawa, Japan
Posts: 4,928
Originally Posted by FikseRxSeven' date='Feb 7 2004, 04:46 AM
i was talkin about greddy 60mm gauge.... and some other ones that use bosche 5wire o2 sensor like innovative motorsport, or pkb wideband meters
02-07-2004, 03:08 AM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: LA, USA
Posts: 1,622
Originally Posted by jspecracer7' date='Feb 7 2004, 02:12 AM
I think teh greddy is accurate, but only on WOT. And the biggest problem is that you can't datalog. 
02-07-2004, 08:18 AM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Dover DE
Posts: 989
Fikse, I have been talking in the backround with a lot of users of the Wideband O2 kits and have narrowed my choice down to the Innovative motorsports Wideband kit.
Here are my reasons, you may have a different idea but I will give you some of the information I have picked up from the reading I have done on them.
I am looking for a reasonably priced wideband O2 kit for tuning. So I started looking at the different systems available and their cost in comparison to my budget. MoTeC was out of the question due to the cost and thier unit is large and bulky, not exactly something I wanted to carry around all the time. Next ones I looked at were the FJO and Tech Edge units. The DIY tech edge is fairly cheap and has the decent display, but is still a little bulky for my tastes, no datalogging available on units prior to the v2.0 release. The avaialibility is not bad, but you have to send the unit back to Austrailia for hardware problems. The FJO was about the same as the Tech Edge, but the cost was higher for the same thing. Then about a year ago the Innovative unit hit the market (possibly longer than that, but thats when I saw them advertised heavily)
The Innovative unit had some features the others did not, had a lower price tag, used a cheaper sensor ( the honda 5 wire some of the other units were using was reaching the $250 mark for a replacement, the Innovative and newer tech edge use a VW Bosch sensor for less than $50 replacement cost) The Innovative also offers a datalogging, although it may not be needed for your specific application, for my SDS unit and tuning it is a godsend. The Innovative has great tech support!! On their webpage they offer different upgrades all the time for the software and its output. The innovative has a self calibration feature for the sensor and machine, the tech edge requires you to go through an eleaborate process to make sure the display is calibrated to the unit, and can be off if your not careful. I spoke to a few users of both the tech edge, and the innovative and have been impressed how easy the users said the Innovative was working for them.
Ok now to the nitty gritty, and this is where you will have your doubts on what I have posted. I do not have a wideband. I have never had a wideband in the past to say this unit will perform better or worse than another unit. But what I do have is many hours seat time with the guys that have used the tech edge, and I have a few friends that have the innovative that I trust their judgement. When dealing with a product I want the best bang for the buck, and in my personal opinion I see the Innovative as my best bang for the buck option out there.
Some features that make the unit intresting
Digital output. This allows the unit to put correct AFR's directly to just about all the standalones out there.
This is something they do not tell you on the website but has been tested and works...The innovative is a large unit, not exactly something your passenger will enjoy holding while you drive in comfort while you are trying to tune, So Innovative uses a digital output that allows it to have a small readout of your choice (requires an additional purcahse on your part) One user I know is using the output with his A'PEXi turbo timer that has a A/F display, he has mounted the turbo timer on top of his steering colum and has a digital readout of his A/F at any time, and it is not as intrusive as the main unit, and does not take anymore time to see than a quick glance at the speedo or tach requires.
Datalogging (requires additional purchase of datlogging cable Cable 2 is the best option for the RX-7) This allows the unit to record up to 44 minutes of Datalogs internally and be displayed later on a laptop for tuning, the unit measures Boost, TPS, Coolant, Air Temp sensor, A/F and RPM and the software is included with the main unit alkready
Ease of instalation, from the guys I talked to that owned the unit, and use it for datalogging, a person with basic electronic skills (can install a car stereo) can have the unit installed, with the datalogging cable in around 30 minutes time, master the software in less than 10 minutes and be on the road tuning in less than an hour. Try that with a Tech Edge DIY kit for around the same price as the Innovative unit. The unit has a realtime sensor check now available in the software as well (requires the unit to be on a laptop I believe but I am not sure the writeup on it was in the forums for the unit)
Now take all that information, compare it to the units that cost more, and do the same job, and are in use all over the place and make your decision.
For $349.00 plus $99 for the datalogging cable you really cannot go wrong, and they are really open to user inputs on the system to make it better.
Here are some things to check out
Innovative motorsports website
Innovative Motorsports LM-1 users forum
Demo software will require a download to your computer, do not touch the test buttons, because the unit is not connected the software will pulse your speaker system, not a pleasant sound!
I hope this gives you a little more information that you were looking for. Although this is not the only unit on the market and none of the magazines have done a test between them all that I know of, we have to base our opinions on users.
Here are my reasons, you may have a different idea but I will give you some of the information I have picked up from the reading I have done on them.
I am looking for a reasonably priced wideband O2 kit for tuning. So I started looking at the different systems available and their cost in comparison to my budget. MoTeC was out of the question due to the cost and thier unit is large and bulky, not exactly something I wanted to carry around all the time. Next ones I looked at were the FJO and Tech Edge units. The DIY tech edge is fairly cheap and has the decent display, but is still a little bulky for my tastes, no datalogging available on units prior to the v2.0 release. The avaialibility is not bad, but you have to send the unit back to Austrailia for hardware problems. The FJO was about the same as the Tech Edge, but the cost was higher for the same thing. Then about a year ago the Innovative unit hit the market (possibly longer than that, but thats when I saw them advertised heavily)
The Innovative unit had some features the others did not, had a lower price tag, used a cheaper sensor ( the honda 5 wire some of the other units were using was reaching the $250 mark for a replacement, the Innovative and newer tech edge use a VW Bosch sensor for less than $50 replacement cost) The Innovative also offers a datalogging, although it may not be needed for your specific application, for my SDS unit and tuning it is a godsend. The Innovative has great tech support!! On their webpage they offer different upgrades all the time for the software and its output. The innovative has a self calibration feature for the sensor and machine, the tech edge requires you to go through an eleaborate process to make sure the display is calibrated to the unit, and can be off if your not careful. I spoke to a few users of both the tech edge, and the innovative and have been impressed how easy the users said the Innovative was working for them.
Ok now to the nitty gritty, and this is where you will have your doubts on what I have posted. I do not have a wideband. I have never had a wideband in the past to say this unit will perform better or worse than another unit. But what I do have is many hours seat time with the guys that have used the tech edge, and I have a few friends that have the innovative that I trust their judgement. When dealing with a product I want the best bang for the buck, and in my personal opinion I see the Innovative as my best bang for the buck option out there.
Some features that make the unit intresting
Digital output. This allows the unit to put correct AFR's directly to just about all the standalones out there.
This is something they do not tell you on the website but has been tested and works...The innovative is a large unit, not exactly something your passenger will enjoy holding while you drive in comfort while you are trying to tune, So Innovative uses a digital output that allows it to have a small readout of your choice (requires an additional purcahse on your part) One user I know is using the output with his A'PEXi turbo timer that has a A/F display, he has mounted the turbo timer on top of his steering colum and has a digital readout of his A/F at any time, and it is not as intrusive as the main unit, and does not take anymore time to see than a quick glance at the speedo or tach requires.
Datalogging (requires additional purchase of datlogging cable Cable 2 is the best option for the RX-7) This allows the unit to record up to 44 minutes of Datalogs internally and be displayed later on a laptop for tuning, the unit measures Boost, TPS, Coolant, Air Temp sensor, A/F and RPM and the software is included with the main unit alkready
Ease of instalation, from the guys I talked to that owned the unit, and use it for datalogging, a person with basic electronic skills (can install a car stereo) can have the unit installed, with the datalogging cable in around 30 minutes time, master the software in less than 10 minutes and be on the road tuning in less than an hour. Try that with a Tech Edge DIY kit for around the same price as the Innovative unit. The unit has a realtime sensor check now available in the software as well (requires the unit to be on a laptop I believe but I am not sure the writeup on it was in the forums for the unit)
Now take all that information, compare it to the units that cost more, and do the same job, and are in use all over the place and make your decision.
For $349.00 plus $99 for the datalogging cable you really cannot go wrong, and they are really open to user inputs on the system to make it better.
Here are some things to check out
Innovative motorsports website
Innovative Motorsports LM-1 users forum
Demo software will require a download to your computer, do not touch the test buttons, because the unit is not connected the software will pulse your speaker system, not a pleasant sound!
I hope this gives you a little more information that you were looking for. Although this is not the only unit on the market and none of the magazines have done a test between them all that I know of, we have to base our opinions on users.
