msd ignition on civic vx?

[Paulie D]

I have researched this and have found that the pay off isn't worth the price. However, I have a msd pro distributer cap and a msd blaster ss part number 8207 lying around off of an old civic. I was wondering if it would give me any benefits to put these on or would it be better off with oem parts? Any info would be helpful.
Thanks, Paul

[dkjones96]

Hotter ignition has a lot of benefits, including better fuel economy and more power(usually down low), but the coil and cap aren't going to do you any good if you have high resistance wires and spark plugs.

No idea who makes the lower resistance wires but NGK makes the lowest resistance(least EMI/RFI filtering) spark plug I know of. Optimally, you'd use a CDI system with zero resistance wires and non-resistance spark plugs but that's near impossible on a street car.

[Paulie D]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but if the wires and plugs have more resistance than thats conna creats more voltage to be carried to the cylinder to create a bigger spark? Isn't that why performance wires are usually thicker?

[zero_gravity]

actually larger diameter wire = less resistance. well higher current capacity mostly, but think of a drinking straw. its harder to suck the same amount of liquid through a smaller straw than a big fat one. same applies here.

and yes voltage increases with higher resistance because it needs it to push its way through the smaller wires. at the end of the day your voltage drops with bigger wires but you get the same spark and therefore use less energy to create it.

[dkjones96]

Voltage to the plug is always the same given the same operating conditions. Under load an engine with good compression will usually drive the ignition system up to around 25kV before the spark happens and at idle it only runs around 5-7kV.

The lower resistance is for more current. If voltage stays constant and resistance is reduced you increase current. More current means a hotter spark and a hotter spark can ignite leaner mixtures and reduce the amount of time between the actual spark happening and peak cylinder pressure therefor less waste.

[Paulie D]

Okay so then would you recommend putting on the msd ignition if i get low resistance ngks? or dont even bother?

[GasSavers_TomO]

If you have one of the Multiple Spark Discharge units, it might be beneficial for the VX.

IIRC the MSD units wil multi-spark up to 3000RPM (the main operating range of the VX) this may help to reduce the laggy feeling coming out of lean burn.

I've actually been wanting to do this experiment for a long time since I have the NGK Power Cables installed on my VX already (<300 Ohms resistance per entire length of wire opposed to the 5-6K Ohms for the OEM units). The Power Cables did give me a small bump in MPG but what I noticed the most was a smoother transition between lean burn and normal burn.