totallimmortal

Will the universal plug wires that are made for v8s fit on my car? How about a 1995 volkswagen gti 2.0? I think thye'll fit both but i wanna check before i order my friend with the vw and i are gonna split a universal v8 plug wire set just ogtta make sure they fit first

scathcart

Some will, some won't.
Why not just spend the $25 on stock wires?

totallimmortal

because we could get some really low resistance wires much cheaper than buying performance wires made for either of our cars

scathcart

Do you think this will give you a performance advantage over new stock wires?

totallimmortal

why wouldn't it?

BDoty311

Don't get them. Stock ones are fine for most all applications. Save your money and buy something else. They probably won't even be lower resistance than stock anyways, because I am sure that the V8 wires are probably longer. The longer the wire is, the weaker the spark will be.

Aesop Rock

The shorter the wire the more the resistance. Don't do it, stock wires are perfectly fine for a street car, well most street cars.

totallimmortal

well i'm getting wires regardless i just didn't want to have to get racing beat wires and they are low resistance for mist the wires i'm looking at some a low as 40ohms a foot i'm not sure what the stock wires are but 40ohm a foot isn't bad and they are sheild so they won't have any electrical interference, i'm not trying to get an opinion on the wires here i know they are good i'm just making sure that the boots will fit

BDoty311

If you are trying to go fast, don't waste your money. Just my highly-informed opinion.

scathcart

There's no performance gains with "low-resistance" wires over stock wires.

scathcart

Wrong.
The longer a spark plug wire is, the higher its resistance. That's why wire resistance is given in OHMs (measurement of resistence) per foot (measure of distance).
More distance, more ohms.

totallimmortal

If there is no gain with plug wires then why are they so popular, and why do people claim gains with wires? And i'm not only going for the gain i'd also like s smoother idle. I don't understand why no one thinks it will help. Are you guys speaking about just the rx7 or all cars?

scathcart

Why are 5 foot wings so popular even if they don't do anything?
Wires are underhood "bling".
I don't think it will help b/c back-to-back runs between new stock wires and new Racing beat wires on a nitrous-equipped N/A showed no change whatsoever in power.
Idle EGT's and AFR's were also unchanged, and there was no improvement to smoothness or idle quailty.

The stock ignition system on RX-7's was plenty powerful. Not so much the case with other cars, no.

slpin

iTrader: (9)

should be same for all cars
if you have alot of cylinder pressure
running at very high rpm
it gets harder to ignite the mixture
weak wires have too much resistance for a clean spark
but...
i dont think you need that advantage for a stock car
or a near stock car

scathcart

or a 400 hp street FC

NZConvertible

If you want to learn why igntion leads do not add power or why you should not use low-resistance ignition wires, go read the FAQ on the Magnecor website. Actually read it, don't just skim over it.

totallimmortal

ok well i appreciate your guys input, really i do i'm not tryin to be an ***, but seeing that i need new wires and these are cheaper than stock and have less resistance, i know they won't cause any problems and maybe i won't cain power but can anyone answer my question, will the boots fit the coils? and will they fit the distributor on a vw? ohh yeah and what about those wires with capacitors in em? I heard someone on here the other day say they did work but just weren't popular anymore. and also would the wires be more usefull with an MSD ignition?

NZConvertible

I guess you didn't bother to read the Magnocor FAQ, since you still think low resistance is good. If you had you'd also know those wires with capacitors are about the worst thing you could put on.

I would also avoid buying leads that are not specifically for your model, purely because unless you're very lucky they will not be the right length. They'll either be too long (even more messy cable in the engine bay) or too short (self-explanetory). Is that really worth a few bucks?

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

your statement is backwards, the shorter the wire the less resistance it has.



to the poster, if you are wondering about the low resistance wires offered by accel, i have a set on my car and it runs perfectly fine.

boosted1205

iTrader: (9)

"LOW-RESISTANCE" SPIRAL WIRES

By far the most popular conductor used in ignition wires destined for race and performance street engines are spiral conductors (a.k.a. mag, pro, super, spiral, monel, heli, energy, ferro, twin core etc.). Spiral conductors are constructed by winding fine wire around a core. Almost all manufacturers use constructions which reduce production costs in an endeavor to offer ignition component marketers and mass-merchandisers cheaper prices than those of their competitors.

In the USA in particular, most marketers of performance parts selling their products through mass-merchandisers and speed shops include a variety of very effective high-output ignition systems together with a branded not-so-effective ignition wire line using a spiral conductor. Most perpetually try to out-do their competitors by offering spiral conductor ignition wires with the lowest electrical resistance. Some publish results which show their wires are superior to a competitor's wires which use identical cable (on which another brand name is printed). The published "low" resistance (per foot) is measured with a test ohmmeter's 1 volt direct current (DC) passing through the entire length of the fine wire used for the spiral conductor.

"Low-resistance" conductors are an easy sell, as most people associate all ignition wire conductors with original equipment and replacement ignition wire carbon conductors (which progressively fail as a result of microscopic carbon granules burning away and thus reducing the spark energy to the spark plugs) and with solid wire zero-resistance conductors that were used by racers with no need for suppression. Consumers are easily led into believing that if a spiral conductor's resistance is almost zero, its performance must be similar to that of a solid metal conductor all race cars once used. HOWEVER, NOTHING IS FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!

What is not generally understood (or is ignored) is that as a result of the laws of electricity, the potential 45,000 plus volts (with alternating current characteristics) from the ignition coil (a pulse type transformer) does not flow through the entire the length of fine wire used for a spiral conductor like the 1 volt DC voltage from a test ohmmeter, but flows in a magnetic field surrounding the outermost surface of the spiral windings (skin effect). The same skin effect applies equally to the same pulsating flow of current passing through carbon and solid metal conductors.

A spiral conductor with a low electrical resistance measured by an ohmmeter indicates, in reality, nothing other than less of the expensive fine wire is used for the conductor windings — a construction which cannot achieve a clean and efficient current flow through the magnetic field surrounding the windings, resulting in poor suppression for RFI and EMI.

Of course, ignition wire manufacturers save a considerable amount in manufacturing costs by using less fine wire, less exotic winding machinery and less expertise to make low-resistance spiral conductors. As an incentive, they find a lucrative market amongst performance parts marketers who advertise their branded ignition wires as having "low-resistance" conductors, despite the fact that such "low-resistance" contributes nothing to make spiral ignition wires perform better, and RFI and EMI suppression is compromised.

In recent years, most ignition wire manufacturers, to temporarily improve their spiral conductor's suppression, have resorted to coating excessively spaced spiral windings, most of which are crudely wound around strands of fiberglass or Kevlar, with a heavy layer of high-resistance carbon impregnated conductive latex or silicone compound. This type of construction hides the conductive coating's high resistance when the overall conductor is measured with a test ohmmeter, which only measures the lower resistance of the sparse spirally wound wire (the path of least resistance) under the conductive coating and ignores the high resistance of the outermost conductive coating in which the spark energy actually travels. The conductive coating is rarely shown or mentioned in advertisement illustrations.

The suppression achieved by this practice of coating the windings is only temporary, as the spark current is forced to travel through the outermost high-resistance conductive coating in the same manner the spark current travels through the outermost high-resistance conductive coating of a carbon conductor used in most original equipment and stock replacement wires.

In effect, (when new) a coated "low-resistance" spiral conductor's true performance is identical to that of a high-resistance carbon conductor.

Unfortunately, and particularly with the use of high-output ignitions, the outermost high-resistance conductive coating over spiral windings acting as the conductor will fail from burn out in the same manner as carbon conductors, and although in most cases, the spiral conductor will not cease to conduct like a high-resistance carbon conductor, any RFI or EMI suppression will be lost as a consequence of the coating burning out. The worst interference will come from the so-called "super conductors" that are wound with copper (alloy) wire.

However, despite the shortcomings of "low-resistance" spiral conductor ignition wires, these wires work satisfactorily on older production vehicles and race vehicles that do not rely on electronic engine management systems, or use on-board electronics effected by EMI — although with the lowest-resistance conductor wires, don't expect much RFI suppression on the AM band in poor reception areas.

Some European and Japanese original equipment and replacement ignition wires including Bougicord and NGK do have spiral conductors that provide good suppression — usually none of these wires are promoted as having low- resistance conductors — however, none are ideal for competition use, as their conductors and pin-type terminations are fragile and are known to rarely last as long as good carbon conductor ignition wires.

To be effective in carrying the full output from the ignition system and suppressing RFI and EMI in particular, spiral conductors need windings that are microscopically close to one another and precisely spaced and free from conductive coatings. To be more effective, the windings need to be wound over a core of magnetic material — a method too costly for wires sold through mass-merchandisers and most speed shops who purchase only the cheapest (to them) and most heavily promoted products.

Claims of Horsepower Gain

Every brand of spiral conductor ignition wires will perform the function of conducting coil output to the spark plugs, but NONE, despite the claims made in advertisements and other promotional literature, will increase horsepower. Independent tests, including a test performed by Circle Track Magazine (see May, 1996 issue) in the USA, show that NO "low-resistance" ignition wires for which a horsepower increase is claimed do in fact increase horsepower - the test also included comparisons with solid metal and carbon conductor ignition wires.
TWIN-CONDUCTOR WIRES

Despite the hype, nothing will be gained from wires which feature a twin conductor (SplitFire Twin Core wires) — although this is an excellent way to make a cheaply constructed low-resistance spiral conductor wire emit twice the EMI. The claim by SplitFire the additional core delivers "TWICE the ignition power of what used to be called 'high performance' wires!" (and more miles per gallon for consumers outside of the USA) is of no more use to consumers than the need for SplitFire's "safety of a second wire set — built in!" Any single spiral conductor (except those with pin-type terminations) will conduct all the coil current from any stock and most racing ignition systems reliably, and since the vast majority of any type conductor wires fail and/or burn away at the terminations, nothing will be gained by terminating "twin" conductors in the same terminal.
"CAPACITOR" EFFECT WIRES with grounded metal braiding over jacket

The most notable of exaggerated claims for ignition wires are made by Nology, a recent manufacturer of ignition wires promoted as "the only spark plug wires with built-in capacitor." Nology's "HotWires" (called "Plasma Leads" in the UK) consist of unsuppressed solid metal or spiral conductor ignition wires over which braided metal sleeves are partially fitted. The braided metal sleeves are grounded via straps formed from part of the braiding. Insulating covers are fitted over the braided metal sleeves. These wires are well constructed. For whatever reason, Nology specifies that non-resistor spark plugs need to be used with their "HotWires." In a demonstration, the use of resistor plugs nullifies the visual effect of the brighter spark.

Ignition wires with grounded braided metal sleeves over the cable have come and gone all over the world for (at least) the last 30 years, and similar wires were used over 20 years ago by a few car makers to solve cross-firing problems on early fuel injected engines and RFI problems on fiberglass bodied cars — only to find other problems were created. The recent Circle Track Magazine (USA, May, 1996 issue) test showed Nology "HotWires" produced no additional horsepower (the test actually showed a 10 horsepower decrease when compared to stock carbon conductor wires).

The perceived effect a brighter spark, conducted by an ignition wire, encased or partially encased in a braided metal sleeve (shield) grounded to the engine, jumping across a huge free-air gap (which bears no relationship to the spark needed to fire the variable air/fuel mixture under pressure in a combustion chamber) is continually being re-discovered and cleverly demonstrated by marketers who convince themselves there's monetary value in such a bright spark, and all sorts of wild, completely un-provable claims are made for this phenomena.

Like many in the past, Nology cleverly demonstrates a brighter free-air spark containing useless flash-over created by the crude "capacitor" (effect) of this style of wire. In reality, the bright spark has no more useful energy to fire a variable compressed air/fuel mixture than the clean spark you would see in a similar demonstration using any good carbon conductor wire. What is happening in such a demonstration is the coil output is being unnecessarily boosted to additionally supply spark energy that is induced (and wasted) into the grounded braided metal sleeve around the ignition wire's jacket. To test the validity of this statement, ask the demonstrator to disconnect the ground strap and observe just how much energy is sparking to ground.

Claims by Nology of their "HotWires" creating sparks that are "300 times more powerful," reaching temperatures of "100,000 to 150,000 degrees F" (more than enough to melt spark plug electrodes), spark durations of "4 billionths of a second" (spark duration is controlled by the ignition system itself) and currents of "1,000 amperes" magically evolving in "capacitors" allegedly "built-in" to the ignition wires are as ridiculous as the data and the depiction of sparks in photographs used in advertising material and the price asked for these wires! Most stock ignition primaries are regulated to 6 amperes and the most powerful race ignition to no more than 40 amperes at 12,000 RPM.

It is common knowledge amongst automotive electrical engineers that it is unwise to use ignition wires fitted with grounded braided metal sleeves fitted over ignition cable jackets on an automobile engine. This type of ignition wires forces its cable jackets to become an unsuitable dielectric for a crude capacitor (effect) between the conductor and the braided metal sleeves. While the wires function normally when first fitted, the cable jackets soon break down as a dielectric, and progressively more spark energy is induced from the conductors (though the cable jackets) into the grounded metal sleeves, causing the ignition coil to unnecessarily output more energy to fire both the spark plug gaps and the additional energy lost via the braided metal sleeves. Often this situation leads to ignition coil and control unit overload failures. It should be noted that it is dangerous to use these wires if not grounded to the engine, as the grounding straps will be alive with thousands of volts wanting to ground-out to anything (or body) nearby.

Unless you are prepared to accept poorly suppressed ignition wires that fail sooner than any other type of ignition wires and stretch your ignition system to the limit, and have an engine with no electronic management system and/or exhaust emission controls, it's best not to be influenced by the exaggerated claims, and some vested-interest journalists', resellers' and installers' perception an engine has more power after Nology wires are fitted. Often, after replacing deteriorated wires, any new ignition wires make an engine run better.

gildardo

I boght some 10mm magnacor and I am satisfied with them. They are better than the old ones, but then again new NGK wires would be better too. I havent compared them to some new NGK wires, but I think they would be the same.


Gil