VZ Ignition System upgrades

[BullittSV6]

So since I replced my battery, its got me thinking about the rest of the ignition system, notably the coils, leads and spark plugs.

Will any upgrades here lead to more power, specifically for the Alloytec? I've looked at Top Gun leads which claim some performance gains, I have no idea when it comes to spark plugs and coils though.

Just trying to think about small mods that add up that are cost effective and have small gains, apart from the obvious CAI, exhaust, extractors, tuning mods.

[alien]

Yea, you'll find the leads do help a little, not that much. As for spark plugs, it depends on what you have in it atm. But usually that power increase is really nothing. A better spark plug will usually lower fuel economy though. You may notice power increases if your sparks are quite old.

As for coils, not too sure.

Go the two hole mod? :P Thats cheap.... REALLY

[monaro327]

tell me more about these topgun alloytec ignition leads(laughs).

personally i'd say topgun leads wont give much power increase but might look nice layed across the top of the motor sitting there doing nothing and all...

[BullittSV6]

Yea, you'll find the leads do help a little, not that much. As for spark plugs, it depends on what you have in it atm. But usually that power increase is really nothing. A better spark plug will usually lower fuel economy though. You may notice power increases if your sparks are quite old.

As for coils, not too sure.

Go the two hole mod? :P Thats cheap.... REALLY

Yeah got the two hole mod... Top Gun leads seem good, Bosch make a good set of leads as well I think. Do spark plugs make a big difference to fuel economy or is it less than 1L/100km . I imagine even a clean spark plug would make a difference.

[BullittSV6]

tell me more about these topgun alloytec ignition leads(laughs).

personally i'd say topgun leads wont give much power increase but might look nice layed across the top of the motor sitting there doing nothing and all...

Mate I have no idea, all i did was a search for ignition leads on here and I saw there was a few people that have them. Obviously they aren't going to give me fully sick hectik 20rwkw bro, but I imagine they would make things slightly more efficient.

As I said, cheap small mods with small gains, that's what I'm after

[alien]

Yeah got the two hole mod... Top Gun leads seem good, Bosch make a good set of leads as well I think. Do spark plugs make a big difference to fuel economy or is it less than 1L/100km . I imagine even a clean spark plug would make a difference.

The hi performance leads have less of a resistance in the cable, meaning more of the power gets to the spark plugs.

As for fuel economy it depends on how your spark plugs are doing currently. If your current spark plugs are covered in crap you could definatly save more than 1L/100km. However there may not be much of a difference at all. It all depends on what you got currently. But for $20-30ish (i think that's how much consumer price is on a 6 pack of NGK) it may be worth doing anyways?

[monaro327]

mate the alloytec runs from factory whats called coil on plug. this means it has 6 coils that all plug straight onto the back of the spark plug you can't get a more efficent system you might gain a bit of performance by putting some nice new plugs in thats about it.

[BullittSV6]

mate the alloytec runs from factory whats called coil on plug. this means it has 6 coils that all plug straight onto the back of the spark plug you can't get a more efficent system you might gain a bit of performance by putting some nice new plugs in thats about it.

Ahhh that would explain why NGK and Bosch don't make ignition leads for the Alloytec...thanks for that. That's the sort of thing I need to know.

[alien]

Oh right, Alloytec, sorry didn't even click! I dont usually get to work on them. In which case the leads that are running to the coils you'll find more power by decreasing the resistance into the leads that plug into the coils.

Physics behind it:
Power will be ROUGHLY the same on either side of the coil (lets just assume for this they are the same). Now, on one side is 14.4 volts, on the other side of the coil is anything up to 50000 volts (need a check on this figure). Power is measured by voltage multiplied by current. So you will have a lot of current in the 14.4v line, and very little in the 50000v line (compared to each other). Now the power lost over each cable is equal to current^2 multiplied by the resistance of the cable. Now you see why it's important to drop the current (you square the current and so loose a lot more even with a slight increase). Hence why the big power lines from the electricity stations down to cities are very high voltage. The power companies use a step up transformer to pump up the voltage and drop the current on one side and then drop the voltage and increase the current for the street power lines.

[BullittSV6]

No need to tell me about the physics, I'm an electrical enginner. I'm just keen to see what products are backing their manufacturers claims.

Might just save my money and go for the big mods then!

[danja]

It's all a bunch of marketing wank. You will not get any gains from performance coils/leads unless the ones you already had were worn out.

Performance spark plugs are equally baseless. If they had any real performance gains, they'd publish them left right and centre. Instead they say things like "outstanding performance and acceleration" - what they don't say is "just like every other spark plug".

Honestly, save your money.

[andyman]

you can get any better value than the genuine plugs from holden at 6.50, cheapest trade price for bosch or ngk (genuine is bosch) was 12.50 each from retailers

in saying that you probably wont get the prices i get from holden, but it would probably be still cheaper than supershit, autopro etc

[BullittSV6]

you can get any better value than the genuine plugs from holden at 6.50, cheapest trade price for bosch or ngk (genuine is bosch) was 12.50 each from retailers

in saying that you probably wont get the prices i get from holden, but it would probably be still cheaper than supershit, autopro etc

How often do the plugs need cleaning and how often to replace?

[alien]

How often do the plugs need cleaning and how often to replace?

If your serious about it dont bother cleaning them. If your super serious change them every 10000km's. Otherwise 30000-40000km/s each set usually.

[monaro327]

the manual stats they need changing every 120thou but i'll probably change mine at 50thou.

[Exidor]

OEM Platinum plugs have service (change) intervals of 120 000 klms.
I changed mine to Bosch platinum/iridium.
No noticable performance or economy gains.

[andyman]

How often do the plugs need cleaning and how often to replace?

book spec is 120k, i changed mine at 80 and were visably worn, wait till you see a au-current falcons plugs after 150,000km thats there spec

[andyman]

OEM Platinum plugs have service (change) intervals of 120 000 klms.
I changed mine to Bosch platinum/iridium.
No noticable performance or economy gains.

so you changed back to the factory plugs

[danja]

OEM Platinum plugs have service (change) intervals of 120 000 klms.
I changed mine to Bosch platinum/iridium.
No noticable performance or economy gains.

You realise they are the same plugs right?

How often do the plugs need cleaning and how often to replace?

I'm with Andy, change between 80-100,000kms.

[andyman]

You realise they are the same plugs right?

cheaper at dealer too, you dont pay for the flash box they come in

[danja]

cheaper at dealer too, you dont pay for the flash box they come in

I got quite a nice box with mine thanks, painted General Blue

They only give you the box if you buy 8 or more plugs though

[monaro327]

theres a bloke that listed 6 brand new gm alloytec plugs on ebay for $10 wish i got them now.

[Exidor]

They definetly are not the same plugs.
The Bosch plugs I spoke of have 4 ground electrodes
with an iridium core.
The OEM Bosch plugs are platinum only with 1
ground electrode.

[danja]

They definetly are not the same plugs.
The Bosch plugs I spoke of have 4 ground electrodes
with an iridium core.
The OEM Bosch plugs are platinum only with 1
ground electrode.

You mean those Super4 plugs? Either way, it's money better spent elsewhere, the stock ignition system does a fine job.

[Exidor]

You mean those Super4 plugs? Either way, it's money better spent elsewhere, the stock ignition system does a fine job.

They are called Bosch Platinum Fusion.
Got them cheap through my cousin who works in the trade.
They are $129 rrp!
My reasoning at the time was my poor starting GSXR1000.
I swapped the plugs with NGK iridium.
Made a huge difference. Started first time!
I seen the light, or rather the plug and it was iridium.