1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hey Aaron, hope I'm not jumping in too late on this thread but I'm always looking to help out someone else with a 240k+ 9k :) Anyway, my previous car was a '77 Firebird Formula, so not suprisingly I was pretty interested in modifications. First off, the concensus seemd to be that the stock HEI was really pretty good (except at very high RPM use). I imagine the Saab set up is extremely competent too. To an extent, if the fuel is burning your ignition system is doing okay. Things like having a "hotter" spark for more complete combustion is a little bit of a myth IMHO. It's like throwing a match on gasoline, if it lights who cares how big the match was? However, situations that might make combustion more dificult such as very high compression, an overly rich condtion, or turbocharging can possibly benefit from more ignition power. Does a turbo Saab qualify? I dunno.
Ignition boxes do have some benefits however. Many offer a rev limiter (we have one on our cars anyway) and most offer multiple spark discharge (hence the name MSD). Multi spark discharge works by firing the plug multiple times per power stroke at idle and lower RPM. The idea is that this smooths out the idle, possibly helps emissions, and increase low RPM throttle response.
Personally, unless your car has a poor ignition system to begin with (like an ancient points system) or combustion takes place in an extreme environment or you desire some of the features mentioned above, I think money could better be spent elsewhere. Definetly don't invest in one for more full throttle power, it just ain't there! If I were to buy, I would probably go with MSD (or the fairly new Crane digital system!) if only because they sell their boxes for what they are, not for dubious power/economey gains. BTW, I have also heard less than favorable reviews of the Jacobs products. It's all second hand and some people do swear by them, but I've heard enough to believe that the products aren't great and many of the claims are smoke and mirrors.
Again, all this is IMHO so no one get pissed off, but itis something to consider when making a decision.
Craig
'87 9kT 242k
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