Ignition System

[Sp00ner]

Does anyone know what the stock ignition system is like, ya know, the coils, etc... is it different from a stock Ion? If it is, bumping up to a higher output coil could lend a little boost perhaps. I've been looking into supercharged engines alot recently and they made a BIG deal out of having a VERY strong spark to ignite the dense mixture in the cyl. I know usually you don't usually go upgrading the coils and such until you get to a point where the air/fuel charge coming in is much greater than the stock ignition set up was built to handle. Just wondering if this is the system from the non-redlines stuck on ours to make production easier.

[Vita]

Originally Posted by Sp00ner

Does anyone know what the stock ignition system is like, ya know, the coils, etc... is it different from a stock Ion? If it is, bumping up to a higher output coil could lend a little boost perhaps. I've been looking into supercharged engines alot recently and they made a BIG deal out of having a VERY strong spark to ignite the dense mixture in the cyl. I know usually you don't usually go upgrading the coils and such until you get to a point where the air/fuel charge coming in is much greater than the stock ignition set up was built to handle. Just wondering if this is the system from the non-redlines stuck on ours to make production easier.

i don't think we have any need for it, and i'm pretty sure we've got better plugs and a MUCH better grounding system. i'm sure there was a discussion about this on SaturnMotorsportsForums, maybe they can chime in with some info, as i'd like to know as well

[Sp00ner]

I don't put a lot into the plugs, I know some plugs are better for some cars, but alot of people like to claim signifigant horsepower gains by adding 'dope' sparkplugs. Never been able to tell a difference in any of my own cars. I was thinking about the coil/ignition/wires/etc. Ya know, like slapping on a high-output coil, maybe an MSD DIS setup, something like that. I'll go look for other stuff on this.

[ZR2_S10]

FYI, on the Grand Prix, aftermarket coils have been dyno proven to REDUCE horsepower.

GM acutally put in a plenty powerful coil, unless you go to a GOOD wire like taylor spiro pro, then dont bother with the wires.

Changing the ignition system wont affect boost at all.

One thing though, as boost starts increasing, you will need to make the gap smaller on the plugs (your plugs will 'blow out' with high boost).

Jason

[Sp00ner]

On the GrandPrix maybe, but I'm not sold on the fact that our Redline is treated with such measures. The GranPrix GTP is/was one of GM's flagship type cars, unfortunately years of driving Saturns have taught me a few things. I know that this is a GM Performance Division car, but I wouldn't bet that all the little things are top of the line. How about MSD style ignition modules, do those help out on the GP? I sure can't see how it would hurt anything. I can easily see them sticking the coils and such for the 2.2 Ecotec on the 2.0 S/C.

[ZR2_S10]

Thats possible, that they reused the same coils.. easy way to check, call a saturn dealer, talk to a parts guy, and get the P/N from the 2.2, 2.0 S/C and see if they match up. If not, then you can do some research and see what the difference is.

As far as the MSD DIS-4, there are very few guys running them, and none of the 'fast' grand prix's do (we have probably 10-20 in the 11's).

Just some food for thought.


Jason

[Vita]

Originally Posted by ZR2_S10

FYI, on the Grand Prix, aftermarket coils have been dyno proven to REDUCE horsepower.

GM acutally put in a plenty powerful coil, unless you go to a GOOD wire like taylor spiro pro, then dont bother with the wires.

Changing the ignition system wont affect boost at all.

One thing though, as boost starts increasing, you will need to make the gap smaller on the plugs (your plugs will 'blow out' with high boost).

Jason

first off, i don't think he was literally talking about boost, but more of a boost in power.

next, we have a coil on plug ingnition, which doesn't use wires.

also, GM used plenty of nice parts on the Redline, check out your alternator, and you'll see what i mean. they didn't cheap out, and i doubt that they used the coils from the 2.2 unless they were plenty good to support whatever we'll need for quite some time. remember, GM's taking these cars seriously, and they're sturdy from the ground up

[Sp00ner]

Well, there has to be room for improvement. We all know that GM and every other car company has to hit that mix of economics and performance. Particuarly when dealing with a car in the $20,000 range. I'd hate to think that every part is already working to it's maximum capacity. Lots of car companies are producing 'serious' performance oriented cars, think about the EVO or the STI, these things come pretty tuned, but there is always someone out there making something better than stock. If we follow the logic of assuming GM put all the needed parts in the needed places, then there is no reason at all to even look for performance ideas. I would assume that all the parts in the car are great performing parts. That's why I asked if people knew the ratings or details on the stock ignition. I would assume that the stock airbox, exhaust, and suspension were top notch parts as well, but people are still working on those parts. People were even disconnecting solenoids and crap to get the power that GM 'hid' from them, so in my opinion, EVERY system should be checked and compared to performance replacements. You never know where the engineers were forced to install something cheaper and less effective than they wanted in order to get other more desireable and more expensive parts.