# Is there an upgrade for OEM boost gauge?



## vr6-kamil (Sep 14, 2008)

I have a '14 Beetle R and it has 3 gauges on the middle of the dash. There are oil temp., clock with timer and boost. The boost gauge it came with is crappy and doesn't show true boost as it starts with 1psi and doesn't compensate for the vacuum.

I looked every where and nobody seems to talk about upgrade it to a better one. No sure what size it is could I just install a new better gauge. I even check websites and every body just talks about a universal gauge install


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## GZB (Jul 14, 2014)

From what I've read on other threads, the short answer is no, there's no upgrade directly for the gauge. You have to install a new, separate gauge to get a hood reading. And I agree, it's not a very useful gauge. When I got my 14 R-line, this gauge seemed better in that it usually read low values (unless I was accelerating) and seemed more useful, even reading 0 at idle.. The last time I had it in for some work they updated the firmware. Since then I've noticed more boost according to this gauge and I've lost a couple mpg's too. 

As for the gauge, from what I understand, it's not a simple gauge like an old analog one that gives a direct reading of the pressure. Rather, it is now a digital gauge with an analog face so there's a circuit board inside the gauge pod. So it wouldn't be easy to upgrade/replace the gauge (or the others for that matter) with another one. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. This is just what I've gathered from reading posts here. 

Even still, consider us lucky we have one that works. My oil temp gauge drops to zero at times (both the gauge and the MFI) only to bounce back up a few seconds later. It's done this since day one. The dealer can't "reproduce" it as its random and doesn't throw a code so to them it doesn't happen. Yet I see the gauge failing. But I'm just some dumb owner. I'm prolly making it up as far as they are concerned. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

Yea I dismantled the pod and all 3 gauges are one piece together, so you'd have to replace all or none. The pod would be good for typical 52mm sized gauges though, only thing is you'd have to find a way to mount them to the pod itself. Kinda stinks


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## Vwguy026 (May 1, 2013)

If it annoyed you that much to have more accurate gauges the euro version seems more appropriate.


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## drevaen2 (Nov 22, 2010)

GZB said:


> Even still, consider us lucky we have one that works. My oil temp gauge drops to zero at times (both the gauge and the MFI) only to bounce back up a few seconds later. It's done this since day one. The dealer can't "reproduce" it as its random and doesn't throw a code so to them it doesn't happen. Yet I see the gauge failing. But I'm just some dumb owner. I'm prolly making it up as far as they are concerned.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Mine does the same since I got it. 

Also, I have the Metric version and the boost gauge reads 1.7 bars when full throttle, which is about 25 Psi. I'm dead stock, so this is terribly off.


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

It just shows atmospheric pressure instead of actual intake manifold pressure, but it is correct. It's the same as the old 911 turbo gauges, they wanted to mimic it I think.


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## pitmang1 (Aug 20, 2011)

drevaen2 said:


> Mine does the same since I got it.


Me too. Dealer said they put 10 miles on it trying to reproduce and couldn't. Happened on the way home three times on 6 miles. They did say that there is a tech tip, not a TSB, that says this happens within the first 20-30 minutes of driving, but VW hasn't figured out how to fix it yet. They don't think it will harm anything, but if it is the sensor and it cuts out when driving to Vegas in 120 degree weather, I won't feel very comfortable.


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## venom600 (Sep 9, 2002)

vr6-kamil said:


> The boost gauge it came with is crappy and doesn't show true boost as it starts with 1psi and doesn't compensate for the vacuum.


Is it that big of a deal to just mentally subtract 15PSI from the indicated number to get what a normal boost gauge would show? The vacuum area is indicated by the 1-15PSI part that is marked differently.


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## westonea (Dec 18, 2007)

drevaen2 said:


> Mine does the same since I got it.
> 
> Also, I have the Metric version and the boost gauge reads 1.7 bars when full throttle, which is about 25 Psi. I'm dead stock, so this is terribly off.


Mine does too. Replaced the sensor, and everything.


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

Lmao no one gets it huh? It's atmospheric pressure, not true manifold pressure. 

posted from tapatalk


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## GZB (Jul 14, 2014)

drtechy - there's two issues being discussed here; the boost gauge and the oil temp gauge. Seems a lot of ppl have the same issue with the oil temp gauge dropping to zero occasionally. 

As for the boost gauge, unfortunately there seems to be few options.


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## drtechy (Jun 3, 2009)

GZB said:


> drtechy - there's two issues being discussed here; the boost gauge and the oil temp gauge. Seems a lot of ppl have the same issue with the oil temp gauge dropping to zero occasionally.
> 
> As for the boost gauge, unfortunately there seems to be few options.


lol I know but they're talking about boost, I feel bad the guy changes sensors and everything when his gauge is working properly as designed. Believe me I understand, I took it to several dealerships before someone finally told me what it was.


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## DirtyDubbs (Mar 7, 2009)

Hope this helps to clarify and back up what DRTECHY is saying. I will try to explain the difference here.

Atmosphere at sea level is 14.7psi, or, 1 bar

So on the stock beetle gauge where it says 15, this would be 0 psi of manifold pressure (0 psi of "boost'). That being said, anything below 15 on the gauge is vacuum pressure, anything above 15 is boost pressure. There is nothing wrong or inaccurate about the stock gauge. Like DRTECHY said, the difference between atmospheric pressure and manifold pressure is 14.7psi at sea level. Again, that is why the gauge starts at 15 where you would normally see a 0 on most other gauges. If you must know what the actual manifold pressure is on your car, subtract 14.7(15) from the value it reads on the factory gauge. 

I think we need to pin this info somewhere so people know what they are looking at and stop all craziness over this gauge.


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## oidoglr (Jan 26, 2009)

I think it's interesting that VW designed the boost gauge to fall within higher boost pressures from aftermarket tunings. Would've been crappy if the gauge would've pegged outside of indicated ranges due to Stg 1.


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## I've got the bug... (Jan 3, 2015)

I put an autometer mechanical boost gauge in. I have an Apr tune and show 19 or so on the mech gauge. And as stated, 14.7 on stock gauge is 0 psi to manifold, so It shows about 34 under full boost.


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## jokerny77 (Jul 1, 2008)

gotta buy some good quality gauges problem solved


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