When you invest in modifying your vehicle, an important aspect is installing performance gauges. No matter what you want to keep track of or collect data on, the odds are good there's an available gauge to keep you in the loop regarding what your vehicle is doing. If you find yourself asking what the advantages of installing these electronics are, read on to learn three benefits of performance gauges in your vehicle.

1. Provides Preventative Measures

Performance gauges can keep track of nearly every facet of your vehicle. Whether you want to know your car's exact oil pressure, see the air-to-fuel ratio, or keep track of the engine's coolant temperature, there are performance gauges to give you this information.

The more you learn about your vehicle and what the gauges typically measure, the easier it becomes to notice when any aspect of your vehicle's performance drops. When you know where things should be, catching a noticeable decrease allows you to act before it becomes a costly problem.

2. Increases Performance

Another benefit of performance gauges in your vehicle is seeing where you can make improvements. In vehicles with gasoline engines, you can use a wideband air-fuel ratio gauge to see whether your engine is running excessively lean (too little fuel) or rich (too much fuel). This provides the info you need to make modifications to increase your vehicle’s fuel efficiency, which leads to improved performance. Diesel enthusiasts also appreciate having an exhaust gas temperature (EGT) gauge. It monitors these temperatures and takes action if they get too hot. Excessive heat can negatively affect performance and damage engine components.

Ideal performance for any vehicle is the modifier's primary goal. Utilizing the data that you collect from performance gauges allows you to step up and make those upgrades.

3. Saves Money

There are a couple of ways performance gauges can save you money. We’ll use pressure and temperature gauges as an example. Knowing your oil pressure in conjunction with your coolant temperature can alert you to a specific problem. For instance, if your oil pressure drops and your water temperature rises rapidly, this indicates engine oil starvation. This is because a lack of oil leads to excessive internal friction and heat. Having both of these data points will tell you if it’s time to shut down the engine to avoid severe damage. You can thus prevent a situation where you must do an engine rebuild.

Thanks to the use of CAN bus in modern vehicles (2008 and newer), Onboard Diagnostics (OBDII) gauges can provide access to dozens of data channels that a factory dashboard doesn’t show. In addition to acting as multiple gauges in one unit, some OBDII gauges can read diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs). These are the codes that a vehicle’s ECU sends when the annoying check engine light comes on. So you can know what the specific problem is. This allows you to choose to make the repair yourself. Even if you can’t, you at least know what the problem is. So you'll have that knowledge when you take your car in for repairs. Plus, these gauges can clear codes. As a result, you can get rid of that pesky check engine light after getting the appropriate fix.

You may have questions or concerns about getting high-quality sport car performance parts for your vehicle. In that case, the specialists at AEM Performance Electronics have the products and information you need to find the best fit for you.