I have the opportunity to buy the AEM wideband O2 (link attached) for my turbo Miata. My stand alone management will interface with the wideband, so i don't need to worry about lack of a display.

My question is...how useful is this to have, how much cleaner and safer will i be able to tune my car? Is it worth it?

With the stand alone i am getting i can tune the car entirely on the road, and i thought this might be a great way to get quite close to a dyno situation?

I can get it for $250 because of a couple discounts that i have with Flying Miata...

Thanks.

Cheers,
Sameer<ul><li><a href="http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?action=product&amp;itemid=102518">http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?action=product&amp;itemid=102518</a</li></ul>

It's one of the best tools for tuning. If you go standalone, a wideband will be your best friend while dialing it in.

A wdieband reads a/f readings faster and much more accuratly. It will give you simuliar results compared to EGT, but it will be mor eral time. As said alreadly, its a MUST for fine tuning.

Do not trust a normal O2 for tuning.

$250 is cheap insurance for a turbo motor

I will get default maps that will work well, and then i can autotune with the narrrow band...but doing it with a wideband would be alot better, i could gain another 20hp judging by others who have used a dyno for their fine-tuning.

Second, i don't think the wideband will last long in such a rich environment...any guesses on durability? $90 a sensor to replace.

Once tuning is done though, is there any benefit day-to-day in using a wideband?

Cheers,
Sameer

it looks like a Bosch sensor, which is used by Audi/VW, and is supposedly good for 100K miles. Maybe not that much in a richer environment, but still should be good for a while.

I've heard the Bosch sensors can be had for $25-$30, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

just SLOW as ****. The readings are ok, but not what I would call "real time"

if you want to tune to 14.7:1

Other than that, it's a ballpark figure at best

or is the factory mixture not as rich as a chipped or bog turbo mixture?

richer and higher exhaust temps lead to a shorter life.

i should be able to get to ~260whp.

Cheers,
Sameer

going on. But from a production standpoint and just "drive your car to the grocery store," you only need to know when you are at 14.7:1 and when you aren't. Any deviation is bad from that point of view.

in fact, Ultramegasquirt will utilize the bosch sensor off that MY in order to integrate WB tuning into the system.

Regular o2 sensors read from 0-1 volt whereas the wideband o2's read up to 5 volts. Regular O2 sensor guages/meters will not work straight off a WB sensor.

*'01 MY audi A4 1.8t uses a 0-5volt O2 (WB) and so does a 1995 Honda Civic 1.6

Check this site out too:

http://www.negative-camber.org/crispyrx7/wideband.htm