Prosport 52mm Halo Series Gauges - Proving Grounds - Modified Magazine

Key Features

• 270-degree precision stepper motor movement
• Amber, white and red LED display with red halo ring
• 6 stages of dimming for both day and night operation modes
• Daisy chain power supply easily hook gauges up to one another
• Gauges perform start-up and shutdown ceremony
• Built-in peak/warn flash functions, as well as audible beep

Description
Gauges are a great way to keep track of your engine’s vital signs. While the factory cluster may provide you with engine temperature and even oil pressure, it’s far from being very precise. We all know the more we modify an engine, the greater the need to ensure it runs within proper operating parameters.

There are a lot of gauges on the market, so figuring out which brand suits your needs can be a bit daunting. We’ve used and tested lots of brands in the past — Defi, Auto Meter, Glowshift, STRI, just to name a few — and what we’ve found is that you definitely get what you pay for. The cheaper brands seem to use stepper motors that have less precision in the needle’s movement, while the higher-end gauges offer quieter operation, analog-like movement and more bells and whistles like peak hold, record and warning.

This is where Prosport enters the game and promises high-end performance and features at a fraction of the price. Costing just over $100 each, the Halo Series of 52mm electronic gauges features a 270-degree stepper motor with a bright-red needle that’s backed by an LED display with three color options (amber, white and blue) and a halo ring around the perimeter of the gauge. Peak and recall functions are also standard on the Halo series, as well as an audible warning. An opening and closing sequence with a blacked-out tinted lens round off the impressive lineup of options on what seems to be the best bang-for-the-buck gauge on the market.

Results
On paper, the Prosport gauges seem like an unbeatable package. For the amount of features at its price point, there’s nothing out there that can compete, but how do the Halo Series stand up in real life?

We installed the 52mm Halo Series on a ’90 Nissan 240SX, and out of the box the gauges come with everything needed to fit them in your car. The instructions are simple and straightforward, and if you’re even remotely electrically inclined you shouldn’t have any problems wiring them in. Prosport prides itself for not having a controller that links all the gauges together, and while this is a necessity for keeping the cost down, it adds more wires to the back of the gauges. The power/ground wires daisy chain from gauge to gauge to eliminate some extra cords, but every gauge still has to plug its sensor into the back, which in the case of our installation didn’t help in terms of a clean look. If you’re installing the gauges into the dash or on an A-pillar, this wont be of concern to you.

When the Halo Series powers up, a quick opening ceremony greets you and the tinted lens comes alive with a vivid LED display that’s easy to read at night and during bright days. The dimming options and three color choices are impressive features for a gauge at just over $100, plus the control functions actually work very well. We were a bit skeptical about the light-touch operation, but it works just as advertised.

The movement of the needles is precise and sharp — there’s no sign of choppy or inconsistent fluctuations.

The movement of the needles is precise and sharp — there’s no sign of choppy or inconsistent fluctuations. That in itself makes the Prosport Halo Series one heck of a bargain. It’s hard to confirm the accuracy of these gauges without getting into some scientific testing, but after hooking up an OBDII scanner we were able to monitor the ECU’s engine temperature readings and compare them to the Prosport temperature gauge. There was roughly a 5-degree difference between the scanner’s readout and the gauge, but we can’t say that it wasn’t due to the placement of the temperature probe in the radiator hose versus the OEM temperature sensor mounted in the engine block. We’re confident in saying that there’s no reason to doubt the accuracy of the Prosport gauges.

There is, however, one issue that we have with the gauges and it’s that they look just like the Defi Advance CR gauges. Prosport has a great product on its hands, but we’re hoping to see an original design for the next generation. Otherwise, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better bargain for what you get in the Prosport Halo Series gauges.