GPS Speedometer

[BADSN8K]

I have Speedhut and love mind Aquires signals quickly... and is accurate

You can customize to color and style.. quite nice!!!

[grego]

Thanks for your help. GPS looks like the way to go.

How about the antenna placement/location? I appreciate any guidance there as well.

[cycleguy55]

No personal experience, but I've heard good things about the VDO system - apparently you can add their speed sender to any one of their electronic speedometers (VDO GPS Speed Sender | VDO Instruments and Accessories).

While all of their speedos will have VDO printed on the face, they do have a wide variety of styles to allow you to (hopefully) match the gauges you already have, albeit no 'reverse-wind' models. http://www.vdo-gauges.com/instrument....html?limit=40

[Detroit Bill]

I am going to replace my mechanical Smith unit with either electronic or GPS.
I have the speed sensor on my trans so either is easy.

I am leaning towards the electronic but the added features of the 0-60 sounds interesting.

Does anyone have this? Is that feature worth having?

Thanks

[CJ428CJ]

I replaced my mechanical speedometer with the Speedhut GPS gauge about a year ago and I love it. I would highly recommend it. It gives you 1/4 mile times, 0-60 mph times, maximum speed, trip meter, etc. When I fire up the car, it gets it's signal within probably less than 15 seconds. With a fiberglass car, the antenna can be placed almost anywhere. My antenna is under the dash. It's secured to my heater core by a magnet. If you have an aluminum bodied car, you might have to make the antenna visible to the sky. Oh, and the lighting in this gauge is amazing. Such a clean white light when compared to the old incandescent bulbs in all my other Stewart Warner gauges.

[Detroit Bill]

Originally Posted by CJ428CJ

I replaced my mechanical speedometer with the Speedhut GPS gauge about a year ago and I love it. I would highly recommend it. It gives you 1/4 mile times, 0-60 mph times, maximum speed, trip meter, etc. When I fire up the car, it gets it's signal within probably less than 15 seconds. With a fiberglass car, the antenna can be placed almost anywhere. My antenna is under the dash. It's secured to my heater core by a magnet. If you have an aluminum bodied car, you might have to make the antenna visible to the sky. Oh, and the lighting in this gauge is amazing. Such a clean white light when compared to the old incandescent bulbs in all my other Stewart Warner gauges.

Does the 0 to 60 appear to work?

[CJ428CJ]

0-60 times seem realistic but I can't say for sure.

[G-Pete]

Yeah, Seedhut is the way to go. I put my antenna on the turtledeck behind the passenger seat.
Just make sure you have the constant voltage wire connected directly to a 12V source. That gives you a "hot start" on the GPS location. The power draw is in the milliamps.
I used the Speedhut in the GT40 too...

[strictlypersonl]

Just a word of warning. I can't find a reference now, but a GPS speedometer isn't legal in some states. I suspect that most inspectors wouldn't know the difference though.

[G-Pete]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

Just a word of warning. I can't find a reference now, but a GPS speedometer isn't legal in some states. I suspect that most inspectors wouldn't know the difference though.

Almost got it right - almost.

In some States is it illegal to use a GPS device (no Odometer) when the Odometer/Speedometer is broken. But the Speedhut device is a Speedometer with an Odometer.

Consumer protection, fraud prevention .... and so forth - you get the drift.

[RET_COP]

I always have my Garmin on the windshield. Perfect speed recording and gets me to places I've never been before and back!

[grego]

i want to thank everyone for your help and advice. I've decided to go with the Speedhut GPS speedometer and will be ordering shortly. It will be 2-3 months before I am back in the states to install and will post an update on how well it went.

Thanks again,

Grego

[James Stern]

Great choice. The only drawback is that when you compare to the lighting in your other gauges you will have to replace them also. Don't ask me how I know.

[Jaydee]

Make sure you order the separate dimmer switch unit. They also have a nice Cobra logo.
JD

[grego]

Thanks to everyone for input on a GPS speedometer. I installed the Speedhut reverse 0-180 this weekend. The installation was quite easy and wiring very simple. The most difficult part was getting the securing ring on the inside of the dash properly threaded as there is not a lot of room to get your hands back there.

For my Superformance Mark 3 I did have to trim the securing ring threads on the speedometer itself as the diameter was slightly large to properly fit into the opening vacated by the original Smiths. That was a much better solution than making the opening larger, which would have been a project in itself. Because the ring and threads are plastic, it was a simple repeat process on the grinder to slowly grind the threads so they would fit tightly and still enough meat on them for the ring to secure the speedo to the panel.

While the Speedo is a very close replica to the Smiths, there are some very subtle differences in appearance. The bezel is a little different, not much, but noticeable for Most Cobra afficiandos. And the odometer display looks more like those you see on the Kirkhams. Lighting at night is a little brighter than the other Smiths gauges, but I like it as it really shows up nicely at night.

In spite of this, I'm very happy with the look and functionality. It secures the GPS signal in less than a minute at startup ( I chose not to use the hot start wiring feature that aquifers the signal in seconds as I usually let the engine warm up before driving and didn't see the benefit ), and is smooth and accurate and for the first time gives me confidence in the actual speed displayed. My Smiths was never accurate.

Antenna placement was under the dash and easily secured by double sided tape. No need to place it any further away than that, at least not on my car.

So, I'm very happy with the new speedo and would recommend for anyone looking to go the GPS route. Now I'm looking to get one for my boat, which would be the first time ever I would have an accurate speed for it.

Thanks again for all the input!

Greg

[AZ Cobra Mike]

I just installed the Speed Hut standard 120. I love it. Did go with hot start feature. 0-60 and 1/4 mile options look like loads of fun. Haven't tried them yet. Was easy to install and wiring was pretty basic.

AZ Cobra Mike

[8litercobra]

I just put in a GPS Speedhut unit. The folks there are GREAT to work with. I took the face off my old speedo, scanned it to Speedhut, and got a great match to all my other instruments (old SW, fwiw).

[jwd]

Originally Posted by 8litercobra

I just put in a GPS Speedhut unit. The folks there are GREAT to work with. I took the face off my old speedo, scanned it to Speedhut, and got a great match to all my other instruments (old SW, fwiw).

I have a Speedhut's GPS speedo, tach and 4 gauges. Made in America with a lifetime warranty. Can't beat that. For those that want them but haven't ordered yet, several times a year they have a sale offering 20% off. I think they have sales on Memorial day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving Black Friday, etc. Keep checking their web site.

[G-Pete]

Nothing beats Speedhut...I'm on my set number 4 (4 different cars). Soon I will order set number 5....