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Tech: Touchscreen Tuner Gauge

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By EditorTurner

Tech: Touchscreen Tuner Gauge

In the Round

Lethal Performance and Lund Racing have a new way to tune your Mustang

By Steve Turner

At this point, there are myriad ways to tune your Mustang. Tuning solutions have come in all shapes and sizes over the years—from simple boxes to sleek, modern devices. The goals of these products are all the same; to rewrite the stock calibration in your Mustang’s PCM with something that performs better and better suits the mods you have installed.

Featuring a 2.4-inch, 320x240 color LCD touchscreen, the nGauge packs the capabilities of several devices into the form factor of an OBD-II smart gauge. From displaying OBD-II data and clearing trouble codes to datalogging and tuning, the Lund Racing nGauge can do it all.
Featuring a 2.4-inch, 320×240 color LCD touchscreen, the nGauge packs the capabilities of several devices into the form factor of an OBD-II smart gauge. From displaying OBD-II data and clearing trouble codes to datalogging and tuning, the Lund Racing nGauge can do it all.

Most of these devices also provide some matter of datalogging support to assist you or your tuner in dialing in the combinations. They also add some nice touches, like reading and clearing factory trouble codes. As with any technology, the devices tend to get smaller and more powerful. In some instances, they get more clever, which is why we were so excited upon discovering eMotion’s nGauge device at last year’s SEMA Show.

This device has the form factor of a gauge, but it is so much more. Yes, it plugs into your Mustang’s OBD-II port to provide real-time data from the vehicle’s sensors, but it also packs some powerful datalogging capabilities. Most intriguing, of course, is that this gauge will also load those performance tunes into your stock PCM. Well, it will if it has the proper software support, and that’s where Lund Racing came into the picture.

Thanks to the ingenious crew at Lund Racing, the nGauge is now available with Lund’s popular calibrations via Lethal Performance. From this home screen you can choose to view OBD-II data via gauges; read and clear diagnostic trouble codes; or program you PCM with a calibration. Those LED lights above the display are user programmable, so you can use them as warning lights, shift lights, etc.
Thanks to the ingenious crew at Lund Racing, the nGauge is now available with Lund’s popular calibrations via Lethal Performance. From this home screen you can choose to view OBD-II data via gauges; read and clear diagnostic trouble codes; or program you PCM with a calibration. Those LED lights above the display are user programmable, so you can use them as warning lights, shift lights, etc.

“We decided to bring the nGauge to market so we would have maximum control over the user experience. We consider the nGauge to be a living and breathing device. We use it daily on our own vehicles, so that allows us to continually make changes based on what we feel makes the best product out there,” Ken Bjonnes of Lund Racing explained. “Since it’s based on Linux, it is really a mini computer that will only continue to grow based on what we can dream up. We are very excited about what the future holds with this device.”

If there is an available OBD-II parameter, you can view it in gauge form on the nGauge, which will display up to six of the hundreds of parameters in gauge form at one time. Likewise, the nGauge allows you to log these parameters for later review, so you document how you car is behaving in the track or dyno and tweak its tuning in kind. Its datalogging is powerful and the files save automatically, so you don’t have to fret about losing precious data.
If there is an available OBD-II parameter, you can view it in gauge form on the nGauge, which will display up to six of the hundreds of parameters in gauge form. Likewise, the nGauge allows you to log these parameters for later review, so you document how you car is behaving in the track or dyno and tweak its tuning in kind. Its datalogging is powerful and the files save automatically, so you don’t have to fret about losing precious data.

The tuning gurus at Lund have not only provided the backend support to deliver performance calibrations with the nGauge, but they have worked with eMotion to improve its datalogging and tweaked its parameters to make it work with the on-board computers in the latest Mustangs, so this version of the nGauge is a unique offering that only works with Lund Racing calibration files.

“The Lund Racing nGauge separates itself from the other tuning devices in many ways. For one it offers advanced datalogging parameters. If the PCM has it, the nGauge can read and record it. This gives Lund Racing the ability to tune these cars even better than before. Another great feature of the nGauge is its display options,” Jared Rosen of Lethal Performance explained. “You can display and monitor up to six parameters in real time. It’s basically like an Aeroforce Interceptor gauge and advanced tuning device all in one—all packed into a small round gauge. It sounds like a winner. I’ve seen this thing in action from the beginning and it’s impressive to say the least, which is why we’re really excited to now offer it to our customers.”

Like most other tuning devices, the nGauge allows you to read and clear diagnostic trouble codes, which is a handy way to diagnose problems and solve them without taking a trip to the dealership.
Like most other tuning devices, the nGauge allows you to read and clear diagnostic trouble codes, which is a handy way to diagnose problems and solve them without taking a trip to the dealership.

Now Lethal Performance has teamed up with Lund Racing to bring the first nGauges (PN LR-1234; $449) paired with its calibrations to market. These units are now available for 2011-2014 V-6, GT, and GT500. They are also available for the 2015 Mustang GT and EcoBoost.

“We’ve been testing the Lund Racing nGauge on both our 2015 GT and EcoBoost Stang for a few months. It’s been pretty awesome seeing the development of it and how much it has evolved from the beginning,” Jared said. “Ken Bjonnes at Lund Racing has put a ton of time into this thing making sure it’s perfect before its release and we’re glad it is finally here.”

If you live in a state with emissions testing, you will want to make certain that everything is ship shape with your car before you commit to testing. Using the nGauge, you can check all your vehicles monitoring systems to ensure all is well.
If you live in a state with emissions testing, you will want to make certain that everything is ship shape with your car before you commit to testing. Using the nGauge, you can check all your vehicles monitoring systems to ensure all is well.

Lund Racing is continuing to develop the platform for more vehicles and capabilities, and for a limited time is available exclusively via Lethal Performance. As such, the nGauge is now part of Team Lethal’s various Mustang Power Packages.

“All of our power packages and supercharger packages for the 2011-2015 Mustang GTs, GT500s and the Ecoboost Mustang are now available with the Lund Racing nGauge,” Jared added. “We received our first batch of Lund Racing nGauges in early June. Since then they’ve been flying out the door and we’ve had to order another batch. “We’re pretty stoked to see how well these gauges have been doing and it only seems like it will get better as support for other vehicle models is released.”

With newer vehicles becoming all the more complex, it will definitely be exciting to see what’s next for this tuning and datalogging platform.

From this screen you can find out your vehicle’s strategy code, upload a new tune file, and even see if the nGauge is married to your vehicle’s VIN or ready to mate with a new vehicle.
From this screen you can find out your vehicle’s strategy code, upload a new tune file, and even see if the nGauge is married to your vehicle’s VIN or ready to mate with a new vehicle.
The nGauge can carry as many tune files as you can store on its memory card, which means that you’ll be able to carry as many tune files as you’ll ever want or need. It also means you don’t need to deal with any complex software to upload them into the nGauge. You can just save them on the memory card and they are ready to flash. When you do flash your PCM, the nGauge does so briskly.
The nGauge can carry as many tune files as you can store on its memory card, which means that you’ll be able to carry as many tune files as you’ll ever want or need. It also means you don’t need to deal with any complex software to upload them into the nGauge. You can just save them on the memory card and they are ready to flash. When you do flash your PCM, the nGauge does so briskly.
Since the nGauge is based on the Linux operating system, it is easily updateable, and adding tune files doesn’t require special software. You can transfer tune files or datalogs with anything device that can read an SD card, including a Mac, a PC, or even an Android device. The memory card in question is a 4gb micro SD card, which is included with the nGauge. It is used to store and transfer both tune and datalog files.
Since the nGauge is based on the Linux operating system, it is easily updateable, and adding tune files doesn’t require special software. You can transfer tune files or datalogs with anything device that can read an SD card, including a Mac, a PC, or even an Android device. The memory card in question is a 4gb micro SD card, which is included with the nGauge. It is used to store and transfer both tune and datalog files.
If the hundreds of OBD-II parameters weren’t enough, the nGauge features both RS232 and CAN expansion ports. You can daisy chain up to seven nGauges together if you really have the desire to display a lot of OBD-II data, and you can also pipe in additional data from third-party sensors.
If the hundreds of OBD-II parameters weren’t enough, the nGauge features both RS232 and CAN expansion ports. You can daisy chain up to seven nGauges together if you really have the desire to display a lot of OBD-II data, and you can also pipe in additional data from third-party sensors.
The nGauge supports data from sensors outside the OBD-II network. It is compatible with the Zeitronix Zt-2, and you can add two of those if you like. The Zt-2 adds another seven channels of data, including a wideband oxygen sensor, an exhaust gas temperature sensor, an air-charge temperature sensor, a water temperature sensor, an oil pressure sensor, and more.
The nGauge supports data from sensors outside the OBD-II network. It is compatible with the Zeitronix Zt-2, and you can add two of those if you like. The Zt-2 adds another seven channels of data, including a wideband oxygen sensor, an exhaust gas temperature sensor, an air-charge temperature sensor, a water temperature sensor, an oil pressure sensor, and more.

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