S3 Boost gauge ... why?

[Rupert49]

I think it's a standard part of the S3 instrument cluster, but for the life of me I can't think why I need the light show that appears when I accelerate hard!

Anyone know how to make sense or use of what is shown on the boost gauge?

Personally I'd much rather have a temperature gauge; I've always had one in previous cars and in my last one it gave me advance warning that my cooling system was about to seriously malfunction .. which it eventually did, but not while I was away from the house!

 

[veeeight]

Because...... Audi listened to the requests of the 8P S3 drivers !

Many 8P S3 owners were clamouring for a boost gauge on the S3, even more so when the RS3 came out with a boost gauge in the DIS as standard !!

So Audi listened, and gave the S3 a boost gauge !

(Admittedly at the expense of a water temp gauge !)

Yeah but no but Yeah. I haven't found a use for it yet.

 

[AndyB-S3]

Look at it this way... if the boost gauge is constantly lit up then you could be heading for a serious malfunction...1 gauge 2 functions...

 

[mfl]

It would have been nice, if it was a proper boost gauge and not just a positive pressure digital light display and given our summer temperature here a engine temp gauge would have been nice. No water temp gauge reminds me of my daughter's Suzuki Alto.
At least they should have added a car info screen in the MMI system or in the dash display that you could pick,

 

[Marc18]

I'll just leave this here

 

[OliJ]

Meh. Why not. At least its not like the ripspeed special pictured above.

"when using lc, take your foot off the brake pedal when it all lights up" is about the only use

 

[Marc18]

Meh. Why not. At least its not like the ripspeed special pictured above.

"when using lc, take your foot off the brake pedal when it all lights up" is about the only use

I'm not sure defi would appreciate thier gauges being related to Ripspeed, slightly different ends of the market

 

[TheFiftheElement]

I agree with mfl, it would have been nice to have had a proper boost gauge showing PSI, with a needle/scale ...

The S3 gauge is pretty crap .. can't say I'm a fan of the fuel gauge either, I don't personally like a bunch of lights that go out .. give me a proper dial any day ..

 

[wideboybloke]

Agree on the fuel gauge - I prefer an old fashioned type needle gauge. I don't have a boost gauge, although I do have a turbo. I'd much rather have the water temperature gauge that is provided, even though it is the new light bar design. I suppose an led gauge is mechanically much more simple than a needle and thus cheaper to produce.

 

[S3Alex]

Meh. Why not. At least its not like the ripspeed special pictured above.

"when using lc, take your foot off the brake pedal when it all lights up" is about the only use

Defi and Ripspeed.....

Difficult to see those two brands mentioned in the same sentence.
Someone doesn't know the difference.

 

[OliJ]

Ah see, what im saying is that either way, it looks like a barryboys special.

 

[S3Alex]

Ah see, what im saying is that either way, it looks like a barryboys special.

You're saying all the right things here....

Please don't give Marc18 your address!

Those are properly expensive and professionally fitted gauges,and much though I enjoy Barryboys,I'm not sure I'd compare this to that....LOL

 

[OliJ]

How is sticking a boost gauge in your air vent not barry-tastic?

 

[S3Alex]

How is sticking a boost gauge in your air vent not barry-tastic?

Depends on whether or not it's filling a useful purpose,and isn't made of tat.

Have to say,mine isn't in an air vent.....

And on that topic,what defines Barry,or non-Barry mods....do you draw the line at performance related mods...or do you include anything that isn't factory?

It's a tin of worms....

 

[Marc18]

How is sticking a boost gauge in your air vent not barry-tastic?

What's tacky to you might be fine with others, the car scene would be boring if everyone did the same things.
I mean, where else would I put a boost gauge, at least it's not just stuck on the dash, it almost looks oem where it is.
It serves it's purpose in allowing me to see where my car is boosting, and gives me some indication if there's a problem.

It's better than the useless light show the s3 owners have to look at...(no offence of course)

 

[OliJ]

It serves the same purpose, surely if one is useless then so is the other. And no offence I think but it looks more out of place than someone with self respect on the Jeremy Kyle show.

Really need to watch the boost that much in a 1.8, or is it just like the standard S3 one, there for a bit of fun.

 

[Marc18]

It serves the same purpose, surely if one is useless then so is the other. And no offense I think but it looks more out of place than someone with self respect on the Jeremy Kyle show.

Really need to watch the boost that much in a 1.8, or is it just like the standard S3 one, there for a bit of fun.

The S3 gauge tells you if your boosting or not, that's all. This Way I can see if I have a boost leak or such, even if it's just slight.

It's not like I'm running a standard 1.8, granted it's just a tuning box for now but you can guarantee that somewhere along the line, I'll replace the turbo, intercooler and everything else performance related. The gauge is the first step towards that.

I'm gonna assume your not one for car mods?

 

[OliJ]

It's not that Im against car mods as such, its more you either go full on and go for a full track day car, rather than waste money on silly things that serve no real purpose than to impress your friends in McDonalds car park, when you could have arguably put that money towards something (objectively) better in the first place.

So it currently serves no real purpose. I'm afraid the earlier classification as barry-tastic stands.

 

[Marc18]

It's not that Im against car mods as such, its more you either go balls deep and go for a full track day car, rather than waste money on silly things that serve no real purpose than to impress your friends in McDonalds car park, when you could have arguably put that money towards something (objectively) better in the first place.

So it currently serves no real purpose. I'm afraid the earlier classification as barry-tastic stands.

I've just explained the purpose it serves, it's the first part in upgrading everything. I'm hardly going to buy everything at once, especially since there aren't many upgrades yet available.

It provides a more accurate reading of boost than the standard S3 gauge so therefore it clearly serves a higher purpose that the other option.

Plenty of cars from 200bhp up to 1000bhp all run boost gauges, they're hardly useless

 

[OliJ]

I'd wager that 90% of owners who choose to install them, they serve no other purpose than:
"Oi Baz, look at me new boost gauge"
"oh its sick that"

 

[Marc18]

I'd wager that 90% of owners who choose to install them, they serve no other purpose than:
"Oi Baz, look at me new boost gauge"
"oh its sick that"

I'd wager that there's more people use them for there intended purpose than just showing off. Still not sure why I've been tarred with the same brush just because you don't like boost gauges.

 

[S3Alex]

Well.....FWIW, my 500bhp road going S3 has a proper analogue boost gauge.

Why.....it actually IS useful to know when you're about to receive a pile of boost and resultant torque.

But then again....it's not a full track car,so I understand that on the definition above,it's been Barried,both in the drivers area,and under the bonnet.

 

[elpaulio]

Quite a bit of insecurity here. I stand by my original point. It looks stupid/taccy/bazza special.

...in your opinion.

I think it is actually a very neat way to install something which is, by virtue of its required size and piping/wiring requirements, very difficult to install neatly.
It is very refreshing to see someone mod their car by spending a decent chunk of money (from memory Defi gauges and controllers aren't cheap!) on something which is designed not to make the car faster but to allow them to keep an eye on things now and in the future with planned mods in mind.

Of course each to their own and the S3 boost gauge is a pile of w@nk in my opinion as it gives no information as to whether the car is overboosting or leaking pressure which is the purpose of a boost gauge in the first place!

 

[The Challinor]

Because...... Audi listened to the requests of the 8P S3 drivers !

Many 8P S3 owners were clamouring for a boost gauge on the S3, even more so when the RS3 came out with a boost gauge in the DIS as standard !!

So Audi listened, and gave the S3 a boost gauge !

(Admittedly at the expense of a water temp gauge !)

Yeah but no but Yeah. I haven't found a use for it yet.

Boost gauge in the DIS? Not seen that, like this I take it?

 

[elpaulio]

Very similar, but the photo i've seen of the RS3 one is a thicker bar and just white to fill it.
But I don't think it was in lap timer so may be different styles.

I prefer the S3 one to the RS3 one, but still think without a scale they are both fairly superficial additions.

 

[The Challinor]

Not seen one in the DIS before but I like mine on the S3, bit like a power reserve gauge on a Aston Martin lol

 

[elpaulio]

What would have been nice would be a dedicated MMI page with digital gauges similar to the GT-R's set-up.

Again, can't compete with a dedicated bank of analog gauges but wouldn't have been that difficult to implement I wouldn't have thought, seeing as most of the sensors are probably there anyway!!

But hey-ho...

 

[Rexus]

I can't understand this new trend for car manufacturers to omit an engine temperature gauge, and in the case of a high performance engine like the S3's, it's bonkers. A temperature guage tells you of a building engine problem, unlike a light which only tells you the problem has arrived. In a broader sense, I think the instrumentation options in the A3 are poor; if a digital speedo is a good idea, which I think it is, why can't I have it displayed along with say, the satnav data, in the instrument cluster? In fact, why can't I have most if not all the provided data eg range, speed, average consumption, satnav etc displayed at the same time!? Why can't you have the option to display this kind of data on the large LCD screen? I don't understand the thinking of not designing the cluster to show far more of the available data at the same time, poor design in my opinion.

 

[s3_trev]

Quite a bit of insecurity here. I stand by my original point. It looks stupid/taccy/bazza special.

No offence mate but you talk some rubbish. The guy has installed a functional, high end piece of equipment, in a very tidy place in his dash. Cant think of anywhere else it would have looked neater tbh. Maybe you're on the wrong forum..

 

[veeeight]

A single sensor temperature gauge is just as meaningless as a single sensor red light in this new generation of engine. The 8V red light is driven by CAN messages from various inputs, so is more sophisticated than your traditional red light.

The thermo management of this engine is so different and advanced compared with a traditional engine, the warm up time is much quicker (and oil and water have differing warm up gradients), this is mainly due to the integrated casting of the exhaust manifold within the head, that a single water temperature sensor/gauge would not reflect the true situation.

Add to that the fully electronic coolant control system, incorporating the 2 electric motor drive rotary slide valves (no more traditional wax thermostat) and the water cooled oil cooler, all reporting their status.

Don't forget that in addition to the "red" light in the dials, the middle section of the DIS will also display an overheat symbol - under the control of the ECU.

The control system actively runs the engine at 107 degC for part load scenarios (to minimise friction and gain max efficiency), and 85 degC under full load.

 

[Marc18]

Quite a bit of insecurity here. I stand by my original point. It looks stupid/taccy/bazza special.

I'm not debating what you think looks nice and doesn't, not everyone is the same. But your debating the usefulness of something that even audi deem necessary to include a variant of (albeit a s**t one) on some cars as standard.
The gauge is there to be used as it should, not to show off in McDonalds. It's a £130 defi gauge, not neons and chrome spinners.

 

[veeeight]

I use the food trays to show off in McDonalds

But not with quattro or Haldex, obviously

 

[OliJ]

Could be a limited edition Rolex custom gauge.

It'd still look *****.

 

[The Challinor]

A single sensor temperature gauge is just as meaningless as a single sensor red light in this new generation of engine. The 8V red light is driven by CAN messages from various inputs, so is more sophisticated than your traditional red light.

The thermo management of this engine is so different and advanced compared with a traditional engine, the warm up time is much quicker (and oil and water have differing warm up gradients), this is mainly due to the integrated casting of the exhaust manifold within the head, that a single water temperature sensor/gauge would not reflect the true situation.

Add to that the fully electronic coolant control system, incorporating the 2 electric motor drive rotary slide valves (no more traditional wax thermostat) and the water cooled oil cooler, all reporting their status.

Don't forget that in addition to the "red" light in the dials, the middle section of the DIS will also display an overheat symbol - under the control of the ECU.

The control system actively runs the engine at 107 degC for part load scenarios (to minimise friction and gain max efficiency), and 85 degC under full load.

Rag it from cold then Yer lol

 

[The Challinor]

Talking about useless displays.... Sat nav sea level indicator.....

 

[S3Alex]

I'm not debating what you think looks nice and doesn't, not everyone is the same. But your debating the usefulness of something that even audi deem necessary to include a variant of (albeit a s**t one) on some cars as standard.
The gauge is there to be used as it should, not to show off in McDonalds. It's a £130 defi gauge, not neons and chrome spinners.

I'm guessing that if Audi had chosen to place an analogue boost gauge(Racetech/VDO/Defi or whatever) in a pod,a vent or even in the dash,that it would not fall under the Barry classification,as it would be an OEM fitment,but yours,and mine are aftermarket,although that's just a guess of course.

 

[Marc18]

I'm guessing that if Audi had chosen to place an analogue boost gauge(Racetech/VDO/Defi or whatever) in a pod,a vent or even in the dash,that it would not fall under the Barry classification,as it would be an OEM fitment,but yours,and mine are aftermarket,although that's just a guess of course.

Well obviously it would be oem then so that's fine ha
I'm sure I've seen analogue gauges as standard in a vw beetle or something. Wonder why audi never tried it

 

[veeeight]

New Beetle:

 

[S3Alex]

Ahhhhh....that'd be the little known "Factory Barry" variant......

 

[veeeight]

Or Beetle Aftermarket Retrofit: