Nick's Direct Coil Ignition on a 328?

I have done a lot of this sort of thing on US-engines but NONE on Ferraris. Unless the "upgrade" can allow a wider gap of the spark plug, there is no advantage to it unless you are going from an original points-type system. And even then the actual improvement is that of maintanence, not performance. Nothing wrong with it, of course but often too much is advertised and expected from aftermarket systems.

We used to dyno test all sorts of mods and a surprising number of "performance mods," especially intake/exhaust related, actually reduced power even though the driver swore that it accelerated better. In one case, we worked on a car where the "performance exhaust" actually reduced 24HP from the oem exhaust while the owner claimed he could feel much more power. He said he could really feel the "power come on." But what he was feeling was the power coming back after the sag in the power curve caused by the "performance" exhaust system. Actually, the system was a good one but since it was the only change, it didn't work with the rest of the components.

Again, I built competition and performance engines for many years, working with companies like Racing Head Service, Competition Cams, Cam Dynamics, etc. I have never turned a wrench on a Ferrari. But engines are engines...

 

Mike - I'd be very interested in your experience with multiple engine mods, especially exhaust and ignition.. What do you think of MSD systems? I do know they are popular and allow wider gaps when used with their coil.
I have a 3.2 that had multiple reliability problems, then switched to a Unilite triggered MSD and it has run great for 6 years with wider gaps.
thanks

 

MSD systems are excellent BUT, again, the concept of multiple sparks alone is NOT what it appears to be, marketing-wise. Multiple sparks are a performance advantage in some LARGE displacement cylinders with poor flame-propagation charicterstics. A large wedge head like a 454 chevy for example, would generally benefit. A hemispheric head, would, because of it's central spark plug configuration, does not gain much of anything. I wouldn''t expect it to do anything at all in a Ferrari but, as I said, I have NO experience with Ferrari engines. One thing that I learned early in my engine building life was that all engines are unique. Frequently a setting that worked well in one engine did not work all that well in another engine of the same type/model/manufacturer. You have to see what the particular engine likes. At higher RPM, MSDs end up with just a single spark, like everyone else. What is REALLY helpful is as wide a spark gap as possible because the wider the gap (assuming a good spark) the better the flame propagation and the more efficient/powerful the burn.

I have seen some 426 Hemi (for example) engines prefer an initial timing setting of 8 degrees BTDC while another likes 14 degrees BTDC, both with a total advance of around 38 degrees BTDC. I'm confident that the same is true of Ferrari engines though again, I have NO experience with Ferraris (yet)! I just finished doing some tuning work on a 302 ford in a Cobra replica and we found that the engine was quite unhappy with the "factory" timing specs (6 degrees BTDC). It really liked 16 degrees of initial advance/36 degrees of total advance.

The issue with intake/exhaust mods is how they work together. It is easy to add a mod that totally counters the factory setup and reduces power. Frankly, this happens more often than not. One would think that adding an exhaust that "breathes better" would add power. But unless the rest of the system is designed to work with the "better" exhaust, it will not. Adding a 'free breathing" intake/exhaust without modifying fuel delivery will usually do nothing except add money to the coffers of the aftermarket intake/exhaust manufacturers. But it SOUNDS/Feels faster! That's what marketers exist for...

The stereotypical example of this in the US v8 world is adding a 4BBL or a bigger 4bbl carburetor with no other mods. The carb feels/sounds faster but the car actually is slower through the 1/4 mile than it was stock. I can't tell you how many times this happens. The whole intake/exhaust thing MUST be tailored to the specific engine and verified either by dyno testing or track testing. Otherwise it is just "Tuning by marketing."

I absolutely DO NOT want to come across like I have ANY experience with Ferraris. I do not! So I am just detailing what I have seen with other engines.