Here in the USA it is standard practice with most company SOP's to ALWAYS abort t/o for ANY "significant abnormality" under V1, especially given the circumstances of your scenario. In the time that it takes to evaluate engine instrumentation changes you could be much closer to your V1 speed resulting in a rejected t/o at a much higher speed. With adequate runway remaining, this would not be a problem. However, with a shorter accelerate/stop distance available, you could impose a very significant strain on the passengers (which of course is a high priority with most company SOP's). As I see it...your Captain made the right decision, he was thinking of the passengers, and did not break any regulatory guidlines in not waiting around for changes in the engine instrumentation.