[chucksaysword]

I'm slowly starting to look for mods to my Beetle Sport. One of the first things I'd like to do is add some gauges. I know that there are two different pods, one made by Autometer and one made by Bernt. Which one do you recommend? For gauges, I would like to have Boost, Temp (Water or Oil?), and Volts. I know that VDO and Autometer make gauges that will fit in the pods. Which do you prefer?

If you could post pictures and details of your gauge set-ups, that would be great. Thanks!

 

[NYBugman]

I will be running Stewart Warner gauges. Water Temp, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure in an Autometer pod and Boost in a custom pod on the dashboard.

 

[jackfrost]

both pods are functional but my preference is the bernt one. its more like stock where as the autometer one just "sticks" on the stock center piece. drawback on the bernt one is sometimes fitment is a little sketchy. so as far as sleek i would get the bernt. i have the autometer one(wish i didnt)with stewart warner gauges, boost, oil temp, water temp.

 

[chucksaysword]

Thanks for the responses. I'm new to this gauge business, do I want electrical or mechanical gauges? Also, where is a good place to buy gauges?

 

[jackfrost]

mechanical there is alot less bs to deal with, but electrical could be more accurate. hard to say. i bought mine straight from a local tuner.

 

[Billsbug]

Volts? VOLTS?!

Boost, water temp and either oil pressure or oil temp.

Bernt and only Bernt for the pod.

Source for pod: www.aiwana.com
Source for VDO's: www.egauges.com

 

[chucksaysword]

Do those VDO gauges light up at night? Also, how much of a hassle is it to install the pod and gauges?

 

[Billsbug]

All brands of gauges have backlighting. Mine are white/red/white backlighing cuz I converted my interior to an all white/red theme. The bulbs come with covers for the bulbs in whatever color u want when u order them.

I had my mods shop do the gauge/pod install. Some of the gauges need 'senders', so it can be a pita to install. There's How-To's on the old ORG, so do a search...

 

[The Cheat]

I have the Autometer pod...I wish I had the Bernt. Definitely on the list of upgrades.

I have boost/oil temp/oil press in the Autometer pod, and in a cup on the side of my cluster, I have water temp.

 

[NBTurboFreak]

I have the ABD 3 pod with carbon fiber print. I installed an air/fuel, boost, and EGT guages.

 

[chucksaysword]

All brands of gauges have backlighting. Mine are white/red/white backlighing cuz I converted my interior to an all white/red theme. The bulbs come with covers for the bulbs in whatever color u want when u order them.

I had my mods shop do the gauge/pod install. Some of the gauges need 'senders', so it can be a pita to install. There's How-To's on the old ORG, so do a search...

How much was it have the gauges and the pod installed?

 

[Billsbug]

I'd have to dig out the bill, but the pod was like $75 on e-Bay, the gauges were like $40 each plus 2 senders for $10 each (I think for water temp and oil pressure), mayvbe $75 for the install, so that's about $300...

 

[chucksaysword]

For those of you with the Bernt pod, did it come already painted? While searching the old forums last night, I thought that I read that it came unpainted. Of course, this was kinda late last night, so I might have misread.

 

[Billsbug]

Unpainted and u can get a can of the black matte rubbery dash paint from the dealer...

 

[trainspotted2]

I have the Bernt pod with VDO boost, oil pressure and oil temp gauges and really like it. The Bernt pod came unpainted from TVA but was fairly easy to finish. Fitment is good on my pod but I've seen some others that didn't fit quite as well. I purchased my gauges from 42DraftDesigns as a package that came complete with the gauges, senders and required wiring. It was actually one of their triple gauge solutions for the Jetta/Golf/GTI but it works perfectly for the NB. The various senders can be tricky to install depending on what you decide to measure.

Some pics of my install...

 

[Porkchop]

You definitely want electrical gauges. That way, you're just running wires. If you do mechanical gauges, oil pressure will be a plastic tube with oil running from the engine to the gauge... if that thing ever leaks, you're going to have oil at high pressure spray out all under your dash. Also, coolant temp will be a bowden tube which cannot be shortened/lengthened... so when you install it, if its too short, tough luck. if it's too long, it'll look shoddy installed.

So, definitely electrical gauges... (yeah yeah, I know.. they cost more).

Oh, and I think the Bernt pod looks the best. Only place I know you can get one is from www.aiwana.com for about $120. You'll have to call them - last I checked it was a special order item. And ditto on 42draftdesigns on gauges - they've got tremendous knowledge.

 

[Billsbug]

Note in the above pic, posted by trainspotted2, the discoloration between the Bernt pod and the dash, u have to use the VW dash paint or pre-test a few black matte paints for it to really match well...IMO, water temp is more important than oil temp, oil pressure is what u want...

 

[trainspotted2]

Note in the above pic, posted by trainspotted2, the discoloration between the Bernt pod and the dash, u have to use the VW dash paint or pre-test a few black matte paints for it to really match well...IMO, water temp is more important than oil temp, oil pressure is what u want...

I agree. The above pics were my first attempt using a generic matte black which doesn't match perfectly as it is a slightly different shade of black and is completely matte while the dash has a bit of gloss to it. I'm living with it for now until I have time to redo it with something that matches better. I've heard that black bumper paint is a better match for the dash as it has the right semi-gloss look.

I went with oil temp as the NB already has a water temp "gauge" so to speak with the blue/red dashboard indicator light.

 

[Billsbug]

I think that's what I used, but, even though the tone is very close (see top pic), it's still not as 'rubbery' as I would like. VW has a special paint for this and I'm gnona have to pick up a can next time I go by...

 

[r0nd3L]

I'm looking to get some gaugues too. Probably water temperature, boost, and oil pressure or oil temperature. I'll definatelly go with Bernt pod, but I was wondering about gauges.

42 Designs has VDO and Stewart Warner. Stewart Warner look more appealing in the design and are more expensive, but which ones would you guys recommend?

Looks like I caught modding fever too... And I can't even drive manual perfectly, yet.