I was tossing around a few ideas for a wideband o2 sensor for when my car is finally turbocharged and I came accross the LC-1 from Innovate. $199. My question is will this kit simply plug into my laptop and I can datalog from there or will I need more parts in addition to the LC-1 kit for it to work? Has anyone used it before and can give me some feedback? Thank you!

Edit: The probably should be moved to Engine Management, sorry guys!

Originally posted by clipse_2005
I was tossing around a few ideas for a wideband o2 sensor for when my car is finally turbocharged and I came accross the LC-1 from Innovate. $199. My question is will this kit simply plug into my laptop and I can datalog from there or will I need more parts in addition to the LC-1 kit for it to work? Has anyone used it before and can give me some feedback? Thank you! Edit: The probably should be moved to Engine Management, sorry guys!

The LC-1 kit comes with everything you need to tune your car, except for a displayed output. however, you can see what the AFR is on your laptop with the software that innovate gives you.

I've used the LM-1 before and not the LC-1. I found the LM-1 fairly good, but too bulky.

The LC-1 is a great, bare-bones wideband system. The controller is mounted inline and is very compact. The sensor is an OEM Audi/VW item, so it should be fairly durable. If you want a cheap display, you can use a digital voltmeter, set it to 2V, but move the decimal place over to the 10ths place. Then, set one of the analog outputs to read 2.24V at 22.4 A/F and 0.739V at 7.39 A/F (or similar). The display will accurately show A/Fs from 7.39 to 19.99. I send one analog output to a MegaSquirt and the other to my voltmeter display (built into an old Autometer gauge body).

Corbin

'95 ESI-T
Now with more power and fewer leaks



Gimme fuel...Gimme fire...Gimme that which I desire

Well for a while in the beginning I will be using it strictly as a safety issue rather than for tuning purposes. I already have a laptop so this would probably be the best option for me. Can someone tell me if it is completely necessary to have a display on ALL THE TIME or if it is sufficient to just monitor to air/fuel ratio for a few days or so on the laptop to see if it is running rich/lean, then disconnect the laptop? Thanks for the help guys!

It certainly is not necessary to have a wideband display on all of the time. You could run a turbo for years without ever looking at it. They are only really useful when making changes or fixing things. However, it is hard to know what is normal unless you watch a gauge every day. Stare at a gauge for a couple years and you get a real feel for how the car reacts to different load conditions and you can spot when things are not right. Personally, I watch my EGT, boost, and A/F gauges constantly and feel weird without them to refer to.

Corbin

'95 ESI-T
Now with more power and fewer leaks



Gimme fuel...Gimme fire...Gimme that which I desire

It also depends on your fuel management. If you have something that cannot compensate for temperature changes then it would be nice to have that on the car. If you do have something that does then not so much. Personally I like to have it because if something ever goes wrong on the car you'll know pretty quick instead of waiting for the large boom.

Well... like I said, I own my own laptop so basically I could just hook the wideband up to my laptop during climate changes to see if the air/fuel ratio would change. Basically what I am saying is that the sensor would be hooked up all the time and I would just hide the wires in the glove box so I would be able to hook it up to my laptop.

The LC-1 is a great package for the price. I run it in conjunction with MSnS Extra but do not always have the laptop up and running in my passenger seat. Easy to install, I have it in place of my stock NB. Comes with the CD software for datalogging as well.

I bought mine from DIYAutoTune and had it on the doorstep the next day.

I'm sorry I'm kind of new to wideband, you can just replace your stock narrowband o2 sensor with a wideband sensor and your car will still run good?

The LC-1 has two analog outputs. You can set one up to simulate a narrowband (stock type) sensor and send that output to the stock ECU. That is usually enough to keep the stock ECU from throwing a code, but it is not good enough to accurately fuel the car. If you want to use the stock ECU for fueling, then you should retain the stock narrowband sensor. You can weld in a new bung for the wideband sensor. The LC-1 should come with a new bung.

Corbin

'95 ESI-T
Now with more power and fewer leaks



Gimme fuel...Gimme fire...Gimme that which I desire

That's kind of what I figured. I was planning on getting two o2 bungs on my downpipe, one for stock and one for wideband anyways. Basically I was just checking to see if I could use it to "test" it out before I am turbocharged. Thanks for the info Corbin I appreciate it!