The Answer to Spark Plug Wires ( Ignition Wires )

[David15151]

This is to help all those looking to upgrade their ignition wires and are not sure what brand they would like to buy.

The following is the resistance measured in ohms/ft by each major ignition wire distributer.

(low = good, high = bad)

MSD Ignition 8.5mm Super Conductor (40-50 ohms/ft)
Accel Thundersport (150 ohms/ft)
Taylor 8mm Spiro Pro (350 ohm/ft)
Aurora ignition wire set (400 ohms/ft)
Vitek Performance Cables (their web site does not mention resistance, but John Monnin measured them at about 800 ohms/ft; the label under Vitek's braiding says "Magstar Gold 8mm High Performance S-4 Stainless Steel Mag Wire" - thanks John!; Magstar wires are manufactured by Wiretec)
Wiretec Magstar Gold (800 ohms/ft as measured by John Monnin)
NGK Resistor Spark Plug Wire Set (2600 ohms/ft)
Mitsubishi factory wire sets (3000++ ohms/ft)
Car Quest brand wire sets (3000++ ohms/ft - Thanks to Bret for measuring these wires.)
Magnecor KV85 (6000++ ohms/ft)

 

[gsx951]

Yes but magnecors do fail extremely easily. They are a great race wire, but for the normal dsmer who doesn't maintan them religiously, they will fail very fast. Just stick to a cheap wire that works if you're not running some huge numbers.
http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/techbulletins/tech_mrbishi1.htm

I've been using them without any problems for over ten years.

 

[doug684]

In my opinion Magnecores are not the best. I love my MSD and have had no problems out of them. They actually took care of the miss I had.

 

[2_blue]

ok this must be lame ... but how often should you change the sparkplug wires? I read a post saying that 2 yrs on a daily driver is too long? I've had magnacore 8.5mm competition wires on my Talon for about 4 years and they are still working just fine. I just replaced the spark plugs today and looked for arcing and didn't see anything. How do you tell if you need to replace them if you don't have any major issues?

I do have a huge intake leak thats making my car drive like crap, but thats a whole new issue ...

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

i use magnecors.. its been 3+ years.. prob 10k each on em between 2 cars.. my gst and now my GSX.. no problems..

 

[BoostedSpyder98]

ok this must be lame ... but how often should you change the sparkplug wires? I read a post saying that 2 yrs on a daily driver is too long? I've had magnacore 8.5mm competition wires on my Talon for about 4 years and they are still working just fine. I just replaced the spark plugs today and looked for arcing and didn't see anything. How do you tell if you need to replace them if you don't have any major issues?

I was wondering the same thing, I've been running NGK's for about 2 years and have 35k on em, I pulled em out the other day to change my valve cover gasket and they smelled kinda burnt but the car runs fine as far as I can tell.

 

[Artinist]

just took off my (4 year old 20k miles) Taylor PRO wires to test them. the 4 foot long wire had a 17300 ohm resistance. yikes.

I just orderd some MSDs. I also think magnecor is full of BS.

I also noticed that Jacobs electronics started to sell ACCEL as their own wires. thats good since their stuff sucked. i wonder how NOLOGY is with their sky-hi prices.

 

[Redmachine]

"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)."

Sorry to bring this back up, but Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords did a wire test on a 98 model cobra. They used msd, and Nology. They showed with dyno sheets and everything, the nology wires gave an increase of 8 horsepower, on a relativly stock engine... They attributed this to a widend plug gap, but the wires allowed for a increased gap, so they were happy.

 

[armandovivoni]

I didnt. see it on the first list. but Ive tested msd, magnecore, and OML 10mm

and the best are the OML 10mm at 40ohm per ft. they have become really popular here in PR. though some still say MSD is the best way to go others say its OML. they cost the same. so either way its good. also Id like to add. MSD wires popped out of the sparkplugs. OML dont!

 

[Artinist]

I just switched from a set of taylor pro wires. they were several years old but with very little miles. i measured them and they were 12k-18k ohmes per wire.

switched to MSD. now they are 110-160 ohmes per wire.

car starts twice as fast in the morning. before it took about 10 turns, now around 5. power and responce also seem improved.

definetly recommend them.

MSD is around $90 for a V8 kit. nology is around $120 for a 4cyl.

MSD rules.

 

[Nayr747]

Has anyone read this? http://tprmag.com/issue/4/4_wires.shtml
They say that the large amount of EMI and RFI only interfere with an engine that has an Electromotive TEC-III engine management system or something similar and that on this type of setup they would use Magnacores.
"On a side note, we've never seen a problem with the MSD Super Conductor wires on any application except on Electromotive TEC-equipped vehicles. On the contrary, we have seen measurable performance increases on nearly all applications that we have tested."

 

[Artinist]

hmmm..

I AM running an electromotive TEC-II AND against their recommendation I also have removed the coils off of the ECU and mounted them remotly under the hood just like the TEC-III.

the crank trigger is heavily shielded and I don't think its susseptible to any EMI. if it were, then the TEC-II wouln't work from begining since originally all of the wiring including the crank trigger pass by within 2 inches of the coils and spark plug wires.

this statement i found on that site proves whoever wrote that doesn't know the difference between a ham and a cam. sounds to me like a lying politican.

"The performance output of the engine was not a direct function of spark plug wire resistance. In fact, the used stock wire with the highest resistance outperformed one of the lower-resistance aftermarket wires."

which lower resistance wires did you try against?
how much lower was it? 1 ohm or 10000 ohmes?
how much did it outperform? got any number?

all they did was throw out some generic statements in the air.

yea the car made 200 more wheel HP. if it did, what was the orignal number? 0?
was the car even running before?

they didn't provide one shred of evidence other than their unpoven opinion.

I will take MSD over magnacore anyday.

 

[heavyD]

In my Honda days I saw wire comparisons that showed that the OEM wires produced more power on the dyno than the low-resistance aftermarket wires. What a waste of a five page thread.

Spark plug wires don't make additional power, they can only restore power you may have lost running poor condition wires. As long as you are not having misfires, it doesn't matter if you have OEM, Nology, Magnecor, or whatever.

 

[psychlow]

Rather than measuring ohms per foot, why don't we try real world tests - ones that would include compensation for the skin effect?

Why doesn't someone take a spark tester and widen the spark gap until the spark can no longer arc (at a constant RPM) on wires of the same length?

The wider the gap that can be arced across, obviously, the more energy the wire can transfer.

 

[Turbo Talon DL]

UUhhh...i have a set of used Nology wires. My roommate actually shocked himself on the grounding strap. All I know is that the spark coming from the coil--->>wire is smaller than the spark going from wire--->>plug. I was like, WHOA I dont know if they were an improvement or not cause' i have never driven a stock turbo dsm. I do have a slight miss tho, but not under boost, thats the funny thing. It will only miss if i dis-connect the idle switch and let it go to 2500 or so. Its not a HARD miss, but enough there to tell.

 

[99gst_racer]

UUhhh...i have a set of used Nology wires. My roommate actually shocked himself on the grounding strap. All I know is that the spark coming from the coil--->>wire is smaller than the spark going from wire--->>plug. I was like, WHOA

Yeah, that is the reaction that Nology wanted their customers to have. They should call that the Nology Gimmick. No offense, but it's been proven many many times that the strap doesnt do anything productive, and the brighter spark doesnt mean it's a more powerful spark. I'll leave it at that.

I dont know if they were an improvement or not cause' i have never driven a stock turbo dsm.

And you never will notice or feel plug wire gains (if their are any). Nevertheless, your wires on installed and working fine at keeping the car running. That is all they are they for.......

What a waste of a five page thread. As long as you are not having misfires, it doesn't matter if you have OEM, Nology, Magnecor, or whatever.

I agree. Why cant this thread finally just DIE w/o someone bringing it back.....

"Hey.... look, what's that?"
"It's a........ It looks like a dead horse."
"Hey, lets go beat the shit out of it!!!!"

 

[masker7]

I have owned my 98 Eclipse gst spyder for almost 2 years, and am just now getting in to tuning it and eventually working to get some real power out of it.
The previous owner updated the air filter and added a boost gauge. I will be taking it to a shop to see what else has been done to it.
I just changed the spark plugs, and am trying to change the spark plug wires but every set of wires I get seem to be too long. I've been to Pep Boys, Auto Zone, and a couple other parts stores and they look up the car in their computer to find the right wires, but still the same issue. I just picked up a set of Magstar Pro 100 race wires and I will try them in the morning.
Has anyone else had this issue of finding wires that are the same length as the stock wires? If you used longer wires, what did you do with the extra length to keep them out of the way?
I'd appreciate any help you can give me.
Thank you.

 

[Talonman]

I dont like that magnecore didnt even design an oem style boot that protects the wire at it weakest point the 90* bend and snaps into the well like stockers

 

[nano]

Thought I'd post my findings on the Nology plug wires here. I didn't buy them cause I like them, or cause they look preatty, or care about their 8hp claim. I was pretty skeptical my self. But I took a chance, and hoped that It was really worth the extra money.

I recently found out about these wires, and I know a lot of people don't think they aren't any better then stock wires. So I though I'd give them a try. Specially since I've been having a lot of miss fires problems at high boost.

I currently run 26psi on pump gas with NGK BR8ES plugs, and magnecore cables. The non projected electrode only made my missfire worse. I couldn't run more then 21psi with out missfires at .028 gap, at .025 I could run 24psi tops, and at .021 I could run 26psi . But the really small gap also made the car missfire at idle. The problem wasn't plug fouling either.

For those who don't know these cables have a built in capacitor that builds 3 milliseconds of normal spark sequence, and release it all at once in 3 to 4 nano seconds. Suposedly giving a much stronger spark. It sounds almost too good to be true for the price. Most people have to pay huge money to upgrade their ignition systems, and these guys say it's possible with some fancy spark plug cables. I read some experiments that convinced me that these $150 cables might be better. Here's the site: http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/DavidKucharczyk/ignition.html .

I tried them with a .028 gap that would easily make the car missfire at 26psi, and with these cables there's not a hint of missfire, and the top end felt much stronger and super smooth. Probably cause it was already at the edged of missfire before though. I didn't notice a big difference in power down low, or in out of high boost situations. I'd say if you're at the limit of your ignition system these cables are worth it. Otherwise I don't think there's not much to be gained. Overall they look very well built, and I'm very impreassed with the results.

 

[gsx951]

This thread is nuts.
This stuff was covered 10 years ago.

 

[Laser4G63]

This thread is nuts.
This stuff was covered 10 years ago.

Yup, and it was probably covered 20 years before by other car clubs and will still be covered 10 years from now. Just one of those things that will always be one of life's mysteries. That along with what the best oil, gas, and exfoliating creams are.

 

[gsx951]

Really not much of a mystery at all. It's just a topic that folks get hung up on, some becoming obsessive. The common denominator seems to be a lack of understanding fueled by hype and marketing.
Everything you would ever want to know about plug wires as been published on Magnecor's site for years but few ever read it.

http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/main.htm

 

[Laser4G63]

The info on Magnecor's site is good, granted, but their product has yet to impress me. I have had 2 sets of their wires in and both sets failed in less than a year. I had bad misfires at idle and under boost. That's were my ignorance came into play. I didn't research the wires and just took the word of countless DSMers. I had NGKs before that and no problems at all. Went back to them after the Magnecors and haven't had a problem like that since (knock on wood).

I guess what it all comes down to is personal preference. I believed the hype about the Magnecors that everyone was raving about years ago and that was the reason I bought them, that and the NGKs I had needed replaced. I will never buy the Magnecors again. I will just stick with what works for me and that is what everyone should do, at least it's much cheaper for me.

The reason why it is a mystery is because, like oil, there is no #1 brand and everyone will continue with discussions like this to try and give themselves an answer. The science behind the wires, however, is no mystery.

 

[gsx951]

What hype about Magnecor?
Steve clearly states that if your wires function, they function and that the only benefit his product has is in supression of noise.
The mis-fire problem really seems to be a phenomonon native to this forum, you will not find threads on NABR going on and on about this.
All the plug wire fetishist should just switch to Coil on Plug and be done with it.