Review: 997research's Replacement for Sport Chrono clock oil temp/press/coolant gauge

Thank you! Much appreciated!

I just sold a 997 C2S Cab and picked up a 987.1 to use primarily as a track car. Coming from the 997, I can't imagine not being able to monitor oil temp; need to make sure oil is warm before driving hard. Installing the stand-alone gauge was my first project (not really a project it was so easy). @Hatzenbach you rock! This gauge is a necessity.

Thank You very much! I am very happy to have another satisfied customer

And I also would like to point out that my gauge also displays oil pressure not only for 987.2 but also for 987.1 (the 987.1 needs a - well documented - hack, see my documentation section)

I'm interested in any further info anyone might be able to provide regarding the analog oil pressure gauge with temp readings (and its sensor) shown in the photo. Thanks, Gary

Gary, Here's what I used - (no affliation with any vendors): 4 IN 1 Series 60mm – Oil Pressure & Volt, Oil Temp, Water Temp Gauge with Sensor – ( BAR / PSI ) (°C / °F) – Black - Performance Gauge Manufacturer | D racing The temp sensors: Water / Oil Temp Sensor – APD - Performance Gauge Manufacturer | D racing Pressure sensor: Electrical Oil / Fuel Pressure Sensor - Performance Gauge Manufacturer | D racing You may need to shop around to find the kit - it's been a while since I put this in and things seem to change rapidly these days. The gauge (kit) comes with all sensors btw. Replacement parts can be found here (I had a temp sensor fail): https://www.glowshiftdirect.com/3in1-replacement-parts/ Can also get this from Depo Racing digital 60mm oil pressure gauge 4in1 WA60274B https://www.rspec.co.uk also sells a Prosport gauge that is a dead ringer. Hope this helps.

Thanks much, Gary

no offense but I think my (997research) gauge looks a bit better:

I just installed mine with the PDK sensor and it was incredibly easy. The instructions, packaging and display are all top notch. My friends with 981s are jealous. The PDK temp was extremely helpful, I can see it takes a while to come up to temp. This is crucial to know at a track weekend.

Thank You. Yes it's amazing how long it takes the PDK to come up to temps until it's safe to actually push it. About support for the 981: There was one guy who wanted to work with me to get it working on the 981, but he went dark on me. I even already 3D modeled a housing for the 981. If anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area is interested to work with me and will allow me to figure things out on his car, which includes tapping into his CAN bus , please contact me.

Added one to my track car - excellent upgrade.

Added one as well. The recent update that eliminates the need to locate a wired button - at least on the 987.2 - makes installation a five minute job. One of the best things I've done to the car in over 12 years of ownership

My friend has a 981 PDK and is able to work with you on figuring it out if you can do it remotely.

Just reiterating what a great bit of tech this is. My only gripe would be that it changes modes when you are using the other OBC menu items like TPMS or OIL, and you need to reset it to the display you were using. This can also get you in a loop of changing the clock face. If there was a way to change the display only when on the Sport Chrono menu in the cluster that would be amazing. The little shift lights at the bottom of the display is a nice idea, but kind of hard to make use of at that size and angle. Would it be possible to add a seperate rpm light display that you could mount on the steering column or cluster surround?

Thank You. Unfortunately there is no way for me to detect when the OBC is in Chrono mode About the separate shift lights display: Great minds think alike, I am actually working on that It will not only take oil temp (and of course RPM) as criteria to determine where the redline is, but also throttle position. (And for PDK cars also PDK temp). Meaning don't smash the throttle when the engine is still cold.

that’s awesome. Will it be a piggyback on the existing device wiring or another canbus tap? If you need a tester let me know.

The plan is that it uses the existing hardware, so basically you will have another set of wires coming out of the "black box". And hey, I might take you up on that offer

Just ordered mine! Can't wait to get it!!

should arrive on Friday

I recently installed mine, and a nice sweet upgrade, with a lot of helpful info. I still have to play with the settings a bit, but the installation was very straightforward, especially since the newer models have the button selector on the back of the screen now (one less series of installation steps). Also I want to note that the packaging was excellent. Almost overboard, but credit to Christopher for the thoughtfulness! Well done.

TL;DR or BLUF: It works, easy install, I recommend it for the 987.2 Me: I have a 987.2 S Sport Chrono with PASM. I have received no incentive, financial or otherwise, to buy the product or review it. Product : 997researche's Replacement for Sport Chrono clock It runs just shy of $300USD. Delivery is cheap to those who live outside of the US. It replaces the factory, and mostly useless, Sport Chrono clock in the middle of the dash with a LCD screen that can display the time, oil pressure, oil temp, and coolant temp in one of 5 ways/modes. Your car needs to have Sport Chrono and it needs to be the 987 .2 version. The 987.1 version doesn't have the telemetry for it. How it works: It gets all its data from the CAN bus. Time, oil press, oil temp, coolant temp. Notably the coolant temp will differ from what is displayed on your factory gauge. I believe this is because on the bus there is an 'engine temperature' and an 'engine temperature(measured)'. I think the former, which is what is displayed by the factory, is 'smoothed' out a little. Can display in C or F. Install: Here is the most detailed instructions. I'm not going to do a write up or show pictures how because 997research has already done that. The instructions are very detailed with lots of pictures. It also shows the different modes and functionalities. Pretty sure anyone's questions can be answered by that manual. The manual says about 3-6hrs, I did it in less than 1 hr from tool box open to tool box close. It's very simple and easy. I have PASM so I didn't have to fiddle with mounting a microswitch. Using it : I got it so I would know when the oil is warmed up so I could then know when I could hammer on it. Simple as that. It's colour coded, it's got different displays. Again, just go through the manual, it shows everything. I can say it works well. If you have PASM the PASM button cycles through the modes. If you don't you have to mount a microswitch. The thing is fairly clever how it works and how it's integrated. Drawbacks or considerations : First thing; you need to tap into the CAN bus. You have to be comfortable doing that. You don't cut any wires instead you use Posi-taps. Secondly; if you don't have PASM you have to mount a microswitch somewhere. Again, read the manual before ordering so there are no surprises. Lastly, this is my one slight gripe with the unit, it auto-dims. This is good, however, it auto dims based off the headlights, not based off of the light sensor that is built into the instrument cluster. I drive with my headlights on during the day time a lot due to rain and fog, it's still bright out though. The unit will be dim however. I don't know if it is possible but it would be nice if the dimming feature was based off of the light sensor. This is by no means a show stopper. Overall: I like it. I think it's useful. The install is easy and reversible. The fit and finish is nice, it looks fairly stock. I recommend it.

I echo everything Vortex said. Easy to install and this should have been standard from the factory. I've only played with the Sport Chrono clock a couple of times and if you're trying to do a timed lap, forget it. This mod turns something cosmetic into a useful info pod. The startup 987.2 animation is pretty sweet too! Thanks Hatzenbach!

One more thing, I also installed his auto headlight module and it was simple to do and worked as advertised. I like that both products come with OEM type plugs so they're completely reversible.

I also installed this gauge and echo all the positive comments made by others. A couple things that I'd like to emphasize. 1) The instructions were absolutely top notch. Some of the best instructions I've ever used for any kind of install for any item. Very easy to follow and with lots of suggestions for avoiding common mistakes - not that it's a complicated install. Fairly simple in the DIY of things one does to a car. 2) The importance of this gauge cannot be overemphasized. Knowing the oil temp is the true key to knowing when you can start driving hard. The oil temp takes much longer to come up than the coolant temp. And the coolant temp gauge on a 9x7 is practically worthless. So having a gauge like this is critical to the health and longevity of the engine. 3) I took my car to the track for the first time with this new gauge last weekend. Extremely helpful because it's very easy to see, and the color codes make it so that a peripheral glance can alert you to a temp problem without having to actually "read" the numbers. The weather at the track this past weekend was relatively mild so my temps stayed fairly low. But I have two track weekends in July and I'm guessing it will be much hotter so good to have accurate numbers.

And I'm still looking for the wart/pod to install on mine. When I find it - I'll need someone to take some brown paper and make a template for me to hack into the dash with... I don't care about the color of the pod - black, blue, tan, white, green, yellow - whatever. I can always dye it to match my dark blue interior. BTW - would someone PM me a photo of their pod. I want to put it on the wrecking-yard "wire" to try to find one.... it would be easier to show them what it is rather than describe it. Nevermind - I'll just use the one above. I'll still need that template (if someone is doing this install - that would be a perfect time to make the template..)

Hope this helps some - did this a few years ago on my 06 987.1 CS. I found a Cayman at DC automotive that had the Sport Chrono pod and was able to pencil trace (like you used to do in grade school with leaves, pennies and such) the dash opening for the pod. One pic is the tracing and the other has all the dimensions (I apologize for the handwriting - not my forte). Best approach is to mark the center line of the dash (pictured) and mark out the general layout of the pod. Then using the pod as your check, start removing the dashcovering from the center out. Remove the black plastic underneath after your dashcovering is done. Use the pod to check your work as you go. The most critical dimension is where the 2 slots closest to the dash vents go - it's very tight there. If your over zealous removing the dashcovering, you'll leave a gap between the pod and the dash that is visible. I almost made that mistake. Once all the dashcovering is gone, you can cut the slots and then remove the material for the large hole. Check the slots with your pod as you go. Using a vacuum as you dremel or vibrasaw the opening keeps all that plastic from falling down on top of the center console electronics. HTH!

Great, yeah I need CAN+ and CAN- from the Comfort canbus and then ground from somewhere. Switched 12V is being grabbed from the fusebox with the wire harness that goes to the Motor canbus, which I supply. Looks like we got it all figured out then

The wart/pod is on order, no idea of color yet, Chris @Hatzenbach has given me lots of photos with lots of dimensions, I'm going to work on those and a traced template he made to create some sort of template I can use for cutting. I won't start cutting until I have the pod in hand..

I hope I'm not violating any forums rules here, but I wanted to give you guys a sneak preview of something I'm currently working on. There were many inquiries from folks w/o the SportChrono wart if they can install the gauge too. So far the answer was "no". In a couple of weeks the answer will be "of course". These are pictures from a pre-production unit. It's pretty small: 2 1/2" diameter and 3/4" inch thick. The display rotates 360 degrees, so it can be installed in any location. Should be ready to ship in a couple weeks.

That is very cool Christopher! Nice!

Don, you are going to like this gauge. As an example, today when I went out, my Porsche gauge had already climbed to the middle position at 175 coolant. This gauge was still showing 145 for coolant and about 106 for oil. So the car really wasn't warmed up enough even though one might think it was based upon the Porsche coolant gauge. I wait until the oil temp is about 150 before pushing the car. I always knew the oil took longer to warm up. And I used to use my Cobb Accessport via the OBD to get both oil and coolant temp. But I think the oil temp reading on the Cobb was not very accurate as it was coming from the OBD . For example, when I would first start the car, the oil temp would read about 100 even though there was no way it could be that high after sitting overnight. This gauge starts both temps out at the same temp as my garage.

good news for 987.1 owners: TL;DR: My gauge displays water temp and oil temp (and of course the time) on 987.1 Still working on displaying oil pressure (read details below) OK, here’s the longer version: When I initially designed the SportChrono replacement gauge, it was for my own car, a 997.2. So, I knew it worked there. Later I found an owner of a 997.1 who allowed me to try it on his car and with a little tweaking we got it to work on the 997.1. Then I asked on Planet-9 for volunteers who would try it on a 987.2 and 987.1. One 987.2 owner installed my kit and confirmed that it was fully supported on his 987.2. But with the 987.1 it was a little different: Basically, the common consensus was that the 987.1 lacks the sensors for oil temp and oil pressure, and hence I laid the support for 987.1 to rest. And I got MANY requests from 987.1 owners to make it work on their car and it was really frustrating to have to tell them "sorry, but it won't work". But then a P9er with a 987.1 contacted me and told me that he gets oil temp on the Durametric on his 987.1. So, I sent him one of my kits for him to try if my device would read and display oil temperature. He just confirmed that oil temp gets displayed and he also confirmed via the Durametric that the displayed values were absolutely accurate – SUCCESS! So what about oil pressure? Good question, thanks for asking. Then I found the following post here: https://www.planet-9.com/threads/oil-pressure-sensor-and-data-on-can-bus.254248/ (post #14): Here’s an excerpt: “… Just install the sensor (combined sensor, it's a 996 part number), pin it in the ecu on the pin where 997.1 has oil pressure sensor, and voila you have oil pressure available on CAN like 997.1 in your 987.1… ” Now if that would work, then my device could even display oil pressure for the 987.1! I did a bit of research and the part number for the combined oil pressure switch seems to be 996-606-203-03 and looking at the wiring diagram for the ECU for a 997.1, the pin in the ECU seems to be D35 (trust but please verify). Needless to say: You (or your mechanic) have to do this yourself and there is absolutely no guarantee from my side that this will actually work and that it won’t break anything. Do it at your own risk! The P9er who verified the oil temp will also try this but he’s a bit busy at the moment and this will take him some time until he gets to it. So here’s the deal: You can now order the device for the 987.1 and it will display time, water temp and oil temp. If you want to be the first one to give it a try with the “oil pressure hack” above, please contact me and we can work out special “beta tester pricing”. In the shipped devices for 987.1 I will “hide” screen 5 (oil pressure). This is so that you don’t have to toggle through a “useless” screen. But in case the oil pressure hack works and you install it in your 987.1, all you have to do then is to remove a jumper on the motherboard to re-enable screen 5.

Man, that's some good work. You should blast this info on one or two of the Facebook pages, I did a review there and got a lot of attention and questions from the 987.1 folks.

Long overdue shout out @Hatzenbach as I finally gotten around to installing the standalone gauge I had ordered awhile ago. Super well designed product with top notch instructions..!

Got mine installed on Friday, and have been playing with it since! Excellent product! It is what my Cayman was missing all along!!