Updated: Jan 11
AEM or Innovate!?
It’s one of the oldest questions we get asked.
We think the SCG1 is probably the best deal on the market for a boost gauge/boost controller and wideband solution. It’s better that it’s all together. The failsafe is really cool.
But maybe you have a super sweet boost controller and you don’t want something like the SCG1 for boost control? the PSB-1 offers the same failsafes, no boost control.
AEM UEGO
pros:
- Does not need a fresh air calibration
- cheap
- relatively reliable
- much more flexible wiring
cons:
- requires serial connector
- sometimes die over nothing
Innovate
pros:
- can be a scg1 and have failsafes, be one gauge with other stuff
- fresh air calibration should make it more accurate
- also cheap
- the nicest wiring, albeit it stiff and sometimes hard to reasonably tuck
- comes with serial port
cons:
- sometimes die over nothing
- need calibration every so often
Given the similar life expectancy, I have a hard time coming up with a solid suggestion of one or the other. We’ve used them both with great success. And we’ve had disappointing failures with both brands. Though some clients and some cars have no issues with either wideband for many thousands of miles. Pick what fits your budget. We would probably choose the SCG-1 for a lot of situations. But the AEM is also very practical, accurate and easy to use. What about all the others? Ok, so there are countless makers of widebands. All of our personal projects and the vast majority of our experiences and customers have been with one of the above products. But all we really need for our process is a serial line out. APSX d1 and d2, Ecotrons “Accurate lambda meter”, 14Point7 NAW_7s (model out of production? maybe others?), MFR stealth gauge, Phidget interfacekit, PLX SM-AFR, Tech Edge, some TXS stuff, and zeitronix zt-2 are all technically supported by romraider. Some require costly cables or sometimes another module to get the simple serial signal out, but these all have some avenue to function that was, at least once, in production.
Mouting:
Vent gauge pod mounts are very popular right now. Not unlike the rest of the instrument cluster, one must be able to safely see some things while driving hard to make the most of the car and to monitor it reasonably. To shift right at redline, you have to see the tach. During tuning, monitoring the wideband is extremely important, so choosing a place where it can be read during driving, without having to look away from the asphalt ahead, is key. To note, no one with a vent-mounted wideband has ever recounted their logged mixtures with any accuracy, please find a better solution. ATI gauge pods. Rally road gauge pods. Cheap $10 amazon gauge pods that go on the dash. Please think about safety with this portion of the build. Obsession with cleanliness is the enemy of success here.
