{"id":9468,"date":"2014-11-20T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T20:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=9468"},"modified":"2014-11-24T15:04:44","modified_gmt":"2014-11-24T23:04:44","slug":"reliable-high-power-race-ignition-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/reliable-high-power-race-ignition-part-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliable High Power Race Ignition – Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re presented with a situation in your racecar where you\u2019re chasing a miss, it\u2019s certainly not out of the question to consider the ignition box, coil and distributor as the big culprits.\u00a0 But it\u2019s been my experience that the first place to look is the spark plugs and the ignition wires.\u00a0 You see, years ago – in the prehistoric racing era – before high power digital ignition and optically triggered distributors became available, we were often faced with the same issues.\u00a0 Except way back then, they\u2019d actually manifest themselves in short order.\u00a0 You\u2019d go straight to the spark plugs and the wires.\u00a0 Today, with big ignition power available, it\u2019s easy to overlook the obvious.<\/p>\n

While spark plugs aren\u2019t a big part of the discussion here, it\u2019s still a really good idea to replace them on a regular basis. Ditto with spark plug wires \u2013 they\u2019re definitely maintenance items.\u00a0 Today, plug wires that are capable of suppressing electro-magnetic interference are pretty much mandatory on a racecar. The reason is the cars are filled with sensitive electronics (ignition boxes, various controllers, data acquisition and so on).\u00a0 The best wires for this sort of application are those that include a spiral wound core.\u00a0 When you\u2019re shopping for spiral core wires, the amount of resistance is a consideration.\u00a0 But before you jump right in and start testing wires and reading claims about \u201cthis wire has the lowest resistance\u201d, keep this in mind: When you check the resistance of a piece of ignition wire on the workbench, that doesn\u2019t mean that piece of wire is perfect in your race car.\u00a0 In the car, wires have to snake around header tubes, in and around chassis pipe and so on.<\/p>\n

As Crane notes, \u201cthe most important function of spark plug wire is to transfer the maximum amount of energy to the plugs\u201d.\u00a0 Typically, something like the Crane FireWire\u00ae shown in the accompanying photos accomplishes this with ease.\u00a0 These wires have a resistance rating of 25 ohms (remember though that the length of the wire has a bearing upon resistance).\u00a0 They\u2019re designed to filter out RFI and EMI \u201cnoise\u201d generated by today\u2019s high-output ignition systems. This protects the on-board electronics we mentioned earlier.\u00a0 The wires are manufactured with an 8.5-mm pure silicone double-layer shell that resists the effects of high under hood temperatures and insulation breakdown cause by abrasion. Pure silicone boots are rated to 550 degrees (F).<\/p>\n

You can also purchase Crane\u2019s Firewire pre-sleeved. Here, the wires comes protectively encased with a Kevlar\u00ae-reinforced braided fiberglass mesh. This provides protection against abrasion and extreme heat in environments up to 1200\u00b0 (F). The Sleeved FireWire\u00ae comes in over and under valve cover sets for both small block and big block universal applications. Pre-terminated custom sets or universal cut-to-fit sets are also available.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This is a lineup of partial wires from Crane. As you can see, you can purchase with or without additional sleeve protection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far so good, but something else that seems to be lost today is the need for good engine grounds (more than just an aluminum motor plate or solid motor mounts). The spark plugs in the engine must be grounded in order to complete the electrical circuit. If they aren\u2019t, then the spark from the ignition system will seek the path of less resistance. That\u2019s where the engine ground strap(s) come into play.\u00a0 Keep in mind that a basic ground strap bolted to the engine block may not be sufficient.\u00a0 Things like the head gasket and cylinder head bolt sealant can actually provide a means of insulating the heads from the ground.\u00a0 The solution is to ground the cylinder heads (both of them) directly to the frame.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The basic Firewire from Crane is based around a spiral wound core surrounded by a large 8.5 mm double layer of pure silicone. The boots you see here are good to 550-degrees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far so good, but what about the coil?\u00a0 The coil should be matched to the ignition system.\u00a0 When it comes to the Crane digital ignition boxes we covered in past segments of this series, Crane\u2019s PS92N coil is the right piece. A step up from canister-type coils, the PS92N is based upon a high output E-core configuration that\u2019s well suited for racing or street use. They deliver 70-100% more spark energy than stock or other aftermarket coils. The E-core design incorporates a closed magnetic path that reduces leakage and improves energy transfer. Crane notes the coil features a lightweight aluminum bracket along with an exposed core for cooling and is safe for harsh vibrations and high-energy breakdown.\u00a0 Note too that the mount is designed with finned aluminum on each side. The idea here is to dissipate heat (and yes, coils can get hot in a hurry).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Look<\/a>
Look closely and you can see just how the spiral wound core is laid out. Crane notes that these wires have a resistance of only 25-ohms. But of course, length of wire has an impact upon resistance too. See the text for more info.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you can see, there\u2019s a whole bunch more to ignition systems than meets the eye.\u00a0 There are a lot of options out there, more than a wee bit of snake oil and plenty of over-the-top claims.\u00a0 The bottom line here is, when you invest in an ignition system for your racecar, reliable, well proven piece will always get the job done.\u00a0 Enough said.<\/p>\n

\"Crane\u2019s<\/a>
Crane\u2019s PS92N is an E-core coil that can be used for street or strip. Typically, this type of coil will deliver 70-100% more spark energy than stock or other aftermarket coils.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part IV of Wayne Scraba’s series on Crane Ignitions explores the importance of ignition wires.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":9475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3448,3465,9],"tags":[1453,961,281,1576,461,321],"class_list":["post-9468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drag-race-101","category-drag-racing","category-tech-tips","tag-crane-ignition","tag-drag-race-101","tag-how-to","tag-ignition-wires","tag-tech-tips-2","tag-wayne-scraba"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Fire-25-Feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-2sI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9468"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9478,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9468\/revisions\/9478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}