In my quest for better gas mileage I have pondered the thought of messing with ignition. Would a hotter coil be enough to see improvements or do I need a multispark system?

What systems have worked for you guys?

 

Info is building daily in this thread:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/performance-ignition-upgrades-again-31259/


Check the first message for links on reviews and such.

 

I doubt the improvement would justify the cost of purchasing the system. Then again, I have never run an aftermarket ignition unit. More of "heard it through the grapevine".

 

Take a gander at the thread that I pointed at above...

I think it's generally understood that if you can burn the fuel mixture more completely, you'll generate more power. An aside to that is, of course, you can generate the same amount of power you have now with less fuel, which translates to better economy.

Given that performance ignition systems work to burn the fuel mixture more completely, then if you can keep your foot out of it, you should be able to increase your economy.


Justification wise, it depends on how much you drive...

I just bought one of the systems mentioned in the other thread. The cost was appx $220, so with gas prices running about $2/gallon here in the PNW, that means I have to "save" 110 gallons for it to pay off.

I get about 15.8mpg on average right now - I'm driving 400 miles/week and as such use 25 gallons/week.

Most folks running ignition systems are seeing a 1 mpg improvement, so if my mileage goes up to 16.8mpg, that would save me 1.5 gallons/week. At current gas prices, that means it will take me 37 weeks to pay for the box.

That's okay with me.

 

Deathrunner,

The most important part of your question has to do with your existing ignition. The Toyota electronic ignitions are quite good and robust. As such, an upgrade to them isn't much of an upgrade. Now if you happened to be running an old points ignition, going to something like a Jacobs MSD would be a vast improvment.

The above is assuming your oem ignition is in good shape as well. If your system is weak and failing, considering the cost of oem replacement and upgrade may well be financially warranted.

The most significant part of the ignition circuit is that which is most overlooked. The spark plug. Fresh ones, optimally gapped, of a good design, proper heat range. The reason people frequently see such an improvment when changing plugs is because the old one was so bad.

 

Here is a review of the Jacob's on a 3.0.
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/reviews/jacobs/
Pretty good power increase I think. He aslo talks about very small mileage increase, but may be because of flooring it more with the new system. With that being said I've recently thought of getting one of these type of ignitions mostly to help mileage. If I can keep my foot off the gas it may help. Of the companies that sell these guarantee an increse in mileage or your money back.

A friend of mine owns two race trucks that run Crane Fireball ignitions. He says most stock ignitions are adequate at best. While an engine is running the resistance of the spark plugs change a lot. These type of systems adjust for that. He talked of the way some people test ignitions by pulling a plug, hooking it to the distributor, and turning the engine over. The plug might spark good then, but the engine doesn't run well when the plug/s is/are put back in.

We did a bench test with a stock coil and then the Crane system. The spark from the Crane system was WAY bigger and longer. The multiple spark is supposed to help fuel economy by a more effcient burn.

I'm going to get one of these systems from him eventually and test it out.

 

That looks like one of those aptitude test word problems....
....if two trains are heading toward each other at....


......what color was the train?


I am dying to see if there is a real improvement from you guys running those.

 

BLUE!


Yeah.. me too. There's new info in the other thread btw.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31259

 

From my research All the systems look the same. Crane, MSD, Jacobs...they all offer more powerful spark and more spark. All claim the same benefits.

Why do they have rev limiters??? Some have dials and some have chips you plug in with a top rpm...say 3000 or 6000.

Will these ignitions run the risk of reving beyong the redline???

If I put a 3000 rpm chip in can I go past that?

What rev limit would a 22re be set too?

Thoughts???

 

They aren't all the same. Some run a single longer spark, some run multiple sparks. Duration varies, as does time sequencing on multispark ignitions.

Rev limiters are to prevent you from over reving your engine. Primarily used in racing applications where you may not be admiring your tachometer. If you install a 3000 rpm rev limiting chip, you will not be able to rev the engine above 3000 rpm. This is another difference between the systems. Some will simply cut off at 3000 rpm, with a very abrupt response from the engine of course. Others will sequentially misfire, limiting the rpms to 3000, but in a much more smooth manner.

Factory stock rev limit on the 22RE is aproximately 7000 rpm as I recall.

 

Stupid question, but I assume I would put a 7000 rev limit chip in. Or would I be safe with 6000? I believe most of the systems offer 6000 as a standard setting.

I'm thinking that I will get a system pretty soon here. Thanks for the help.

 

Well I received a crane cams hi6s ignition and coil from a friend who never ran it. Just wondering if anyone knows how to hook one of these up to a 3vz in my 88 4runner.