Contents Under Pressure

Classic Instruments Boost Gauge

Classic Instruments Boost Gauge

When I installed my turbo, I used a bargain-basement Prosport boost gauge. It’s pictured below. I think this is the only photo I’ve ever taken of it. And that was after I ripped it out.

Prosport POS gauge

Prosport POS gauge

It looked promising from internet photos and was a bargain at $25ish… and that was about it. Prosport mentioned multiple color options (white in the daytime, amber at night, etc) but mine seemed to have a few burned out LEDs. White was the only color that worked, even while testing it on my workbench power supply. And it was bright! No way to dim the LEDs. And, for a mechanical boost gauge, it was not very responsive. It seemed to have some built in damping or something. But for $25, what did I expect?

One thing I do have to give Prosport props for is their mechanical boost gauge install kit. Excellent tubing and a very strong tee. I was able to reuse it for my new Classic Instruments gauge.

Classic Instruments “Traditional” Boost Gauge

Classic Instruments - VDO - VDO

Classic Instruments - VDO - VDO

The new boost gauge matches these nicely.

The new boost gauge matches these nicely.

Feb 2011 center console.

Feb 2011 center console.

The new gauge is a huge improvement. It’s very very quick to respond to pressure changes. Or rather, it responds like you think it should. There’s no damping or sluggishness. It has classic reflective lighting like the VDO gauges it shares the pod with, and the face style ties in nicely with my tach and speedometer. This little boost gauge is right at home in Sharka’s interior.

The Classics gauge does have a shorter scale than the Prosport gauge, 15 PSI vs 30 PSI. But I’m okay with that. I run 12 PSI at the moment. If I go beyond 15, I don’t mind shopping for yet another boost gauge. That’s part of the fun.

Night Lighting

The center gauge pod at night.

The center gauge pod at night.

Amber everything.

Amber everything.

The lighting is a little bit too red in the center gauge pack, but it is a pretty close match. And it’s much better than the extremely bright white LED beacon that was my old Prosport gauge.

So, the new one looks better and works better? Win! All the way around. The Classics Instruments gauge can be found at egauges.com. I’ve been buying from them for nearly 10 years and have been pleased with every transaction.

Tags: , , , , ,

« | »
  • Justin says:

    beautiful! very well done.

  • Stoly says:

    Looks like it belongs there! And thanks for the link to the gauges.

  • bootz says:

    Oh, you have done it again, so very pretty and practical as well.
    Sharka is a damn fine car. Almost as nice as HiHo (Silver NB8B, LOL).

  • Luke says:

    All you need to do now is hide the cd player and it would be mint!

  • Leave a Reply to revlimiter