Ignition system upgrades

[prandelia]

So has anyone tried upgraded coils and ignition components/grounding to help with misfires?

My car is 200 WHP, E85-only, ceramic coated Ace header/exhaust, dyno-tuned, fluidampr damper, Street-lite LWFW, using Antigravity 480 lithium battery.

I've been chasing misfires. Started with high gear (5th) high RPM on stock plugs/coils. 5 on-track sessions/races, came home, changed out plugs/coils, raced again, didn't seem to have any misfires (that I know of). Went to next event (testing) at NCM, more 5th gear sections, misfire is back, perhaps even worse, now on Cylinder 2. Before it was Cylinder 1 and 3.

I'm beginning to think, after seeing some of these Cusco ignition components that the electrical system and/or ignition system can't cope with the heat of a hot-NA build spinning redline all the time. Perhaps it's also an E85 thing, with higher fuel demand. I dunno, looks like we'll have to spend some time looking at the data logs, and start going through to the whole system.

Perhaps this Antigravity 480 lithium with 16Ah rating simply isn't enough to support the draw on it?

Going to add some heavy duty header wrap to shield the coils, gold tape the coils, add air-flow, and perhaps try these Cusco coils and see if that helps. Frustrating as hell. Everything else about the car is great, but this motor is so f-ing finnicky.

[soundman98]

i'm very skeptical of the first, which cascades skepticism onto the second.

if cusco can build a better _______ than subaru/toyota, why are they choosing to relegate them to mostly a japanese audience? they have distribution channels across the world.

the 'benefits' are almost exactly the same as this module, which the teardown shows is nothing but a method of removing cash from another's wallet.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISt_G_cBwbY[/ame]

[prandelia]

I just confirmed I'm one of the unlucky early 2015 models with the "old" wiring harness from '13-14. I thought all 2015 models got the new ignition parts, not so much....so first things first, I need to swap that entire harness and coil setup for the new one, then see how things fare.

[jflogerzi]

Guessing hood vents would solve your issues.

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[CSG Mike]

Ignition Projects is the way to go, for a long term fix.

https://www.counterspacegarage.com/i...set-ip-a149401
https://www.counterspacegarage.com/i...set-ip-a149402

[prandelia]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

Ignition Projects is the way to go, for a long term fix.

https://www.counterspacegarage.com/i...set-ip-a149401
https://www.counterspacegarage.com/i...set-ip-a149402

I'm actually looking at a set of Cusco Coil packs that claim the same benefit. I know IP are just re-named Okada, so wondering if Cusco is just similar since these originally were designed in Japan.

Can you cite any specific race teams or customer applications where the IP ones cured their high-RPM misfire due to stock coil packs not being up to the task. Feel free to contact me offline at pervez@rssynthesis.com

I have no doubt this is my problem, but if I'm gonna spend $800, I want it to be on the right set of coilpacks. I need the "type B" connector found on 2015+ models.

[pgranberg11]

heat gets trapped from the OEM ecu bracket... replace it with a verus engineering one. and then update to the ignition coil to the new part number problem solved. been tracking like that for years now and stopped having issues.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by prandelia

I'm actually looking at a set of Cusco Coil packs that claim the same benefit. I know IP are just re-named Okada, so wondering if Cusco is just similar since these originally were designed in Japan.

Can you cite any specific race teams or customer applications where the IP ones cured their high-RPM misfire due to stock coil packs not being up to the task. Feel free to contact me offline at pervez@rssynthesis.com

I have no doubt this is my problem, but if I'm gonna spend $800, I want it to be on the right set of coilpacks. I need the "type B" connector found on 2015+ models.

IP is not renamed/rebranded Okada. IP is made in the USA.

949 Racing is someone I recommended this to, and after they put them on, they jut re-set their old record at Buttonwillow by a good margin...

[Takumi788]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

949 Racing is someone I recommended this to, and after they put them on, they jut re-set their old record at Buttonwillow by a good margin...

So you are saying 949 beat their lap record because of coil packs? How so?

[prandelia]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

IP is not renamed/rebranded Okada. IP is made in the USA.

949 Racing is someone I recommended this to, and after they put them on, they jut re-set their old record at Buttonwillow by a good margin...

I just find something weird going on with both these brands. All their online marketing is the same, cut and paste. No competitor uses the exact same marketing verbatim. Then I read a bench-test review like this and it really makes me wonder. I'm not saying their products aren't legit, I've just been leery about both these brands from the get-go. Hopefully I'm wrong.

https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/...eal-deal.1852/

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Takumi788

So you are saying 949 beat their lap record because of coil packs? How so?

They set their old time on an engine that was misfiring.

Coilpacks aren't the sole contributor, but you're welcome to compare the straightline acceleration on the old and new videos yourself!

[prandelia]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

They set their old time on an engine that was misfiring.

Coilpacks aren't the sole contributor, but you're welcome to compare the straightline acceleration on the old and new videos yourself!

I get that. My car did the same thing, on just a set of new OE coils. Any car will be faster when it's not misfiring. The question is, will they stand up to long-term use. Hardly anybody seems to know.

The Cusco seem to be OEM manufacturer, made to their specs to better stand up to heat and high RPM use, meaning internal components, not just a spark amplifier added onto it. I'm ignorant to the inner working of a coil-pack, just going on what I can deduce. It seems IP simply takes OE coils and then modifies them in-house somehow, maybe I'm totally wrong. Not sure if this is better or worse than an OE manufacturing one from the beginning to be higher performing.

I'm not questioning their products, I'm just trying to be very thorough. I've already bought some sub-par engineered products that took some real engineering exercises to come up with a solution, because the company that sells them didn't properly design them.

I'll be the guinea pig and give the Cusco set a try. If they suck, then I'll try IP and see if they last longer. As with everything else, I'll post up to try and increase some awareness to these products and if they really work. Given the fanatical attention to detail that Cusco typically has to all their parts, I expect them to be properly designed for racing. Tons of FRS's racing in Japan, much moreso than here in the USA, so I'm sure this is why they offer this product specifically designed for high RPM use.

[prandelia]

So these arrived. Cusco also provided me with some data showing these offer a substantial ~40% increase in real ignition spark/secondary current, along with a more robust internal construction to handle heat/vibration. Apparently the only difference between the 13-14 and 15+ OE coils are the connector.

I'm confident these will do the trick! Will post on-track test results from COTA or NCM, whichever comes first.

[prandelia]

Well, the Cusco coils are in, heavy duty heat-shield has been applied to key areas (in addition to my dual sided cera-coated headers), and a Beatrush vented underpanel has been employed.

If this don't give me mis-fire free operation, and better coil life, I give up! LOL.

First test will be at NCM in just a few weeks!