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Finding Hidden Performance by Providing Constant Power (Voltage & Current) Makes For Happier MSD®Ignition boxes!
A good thing to keep in mind when trying to get everything out of your engine program is to make sure the MSD®Ignition thinks it is sitting on the shop bench with the battery right next to it. Your focus should be to provide the power requested with no delays or line losses to the ignition box. This applies to all currently available ignition boxes as well. Of course this only applies to you if your intent for the racing program is to Leave Nothing on the Table for maximum effort from the racing platform.
Most racers will spend a lot of time sorting out their fuel system so it will deliver the fuel with the least amount of restriction so when the demand for fuel happens there is No delay in fuel pressure or volume. That way they have made sure their system will function at top performance when needed. This same attention to the electrical system can also allow you access to performance your engine builder has already given you!
First place to start with for most racers would be getting the wire sizes correct from the battery all the way up to the final end points. Then properly grounding of all electrical equipment which will goe along way to making sure the ignition system and other equipment can operate at full kill. The next step is usually to look at the battery with the idea of either upgrading it or to add a second battery to help handle the added demand. Over the past few years a good upgrade would be to move to a 16 volt battery to help provide an even more stable power output that doesn’t drop its output as fast as a 12 volt unit. Another performance upgrade would be to add an alternator to help keep the power source as stable as possible. Yes, there are two sides on this upgrade when to use or not to use an alternator the benefits do out weigh the drag the alternator puts on the engine. But this usually ends up being a personal choice or a recommendation from a trusted performance source. The 16 volt battery addition has been shown to allow the MSD®Ignition to work more efficiently and to react to triggering quicker. If you make this change to 16 volts you will want to do some testing & see if you can back off the timing by 1 to 2 degrees to take full advantage of the boxes new found performance.
Now taking this idea to the next level, putting a voltage regulator in front of the MSD®Ignition boxes Large Red wire, Large Black wire and the small Red wire to keep the power provided to the box as stable as possible. In addition to the voltage regulator in line you also step up the voltage to (20 volts) at the same time to the maximum allowable level by the electronics inside the MSD®Ignition box. The additional 4 volts above the 16 volts again provides an the added performance improvement of the ignition box just like the changes seen when you moved from 12 volts to 16 volts. You will also want to do some testing to check and see if you can again back off the timing 1 to 2 degrees. This change has worked on everything from stock engines all the way up to and including fully modified engine platforms with similar results with each setup. The typical improvement seen installing this setup usually runs between 8hp to 17hp accessed out of the current engine program. By now your asking yourself is there a down side? Yes, you are running the box harder so its life expectancy is 4 to 5 years Vs the typical 6 to 7 years but when you’re running in a class that is covered by 100ths and 1000ths of a second between the racers then it makes sense to maximize your efforts before reaching the track.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me, also if you want some more information check out www.techwestracing.com/page21.html . Good Luck with the new racing season! Gentlemen Its Time to Put the Hammer Down on Twenty Twelve……. Game On!!!!!!
A good thing to keep in mind when trying to get everything out of your engine program is to make sure the MSD®Ignition thinks it is sitting on the shop bench with the battery right next to it. Your focus should be to provide the power requested with no delays or line losses to the ignition box. This applies to all currently available ignition boxes as well. Of course this only applies to you if your intent for the racing program is to Leave Nothing on the Table for maximum effort from the racing platform.
Most racers will spend a lot of time sorting out their fuel system so it will deliver the fuel with the least amount of restriction so when the demand for fuel happens there is No delay in fuel pressure or volume. That way they have made sure their system will function at top performance when needed. This same attention to the electrical system can also allow you access to performance your engine builder has already given you!
First place to start with for most racers would be getting the wire sizes correct from the battery all the way up to the final end points. Then properly grounding of all electrical equipment which will goe along way to making sure the ignition system and other equipment can operate at full kill. The next step is usually to look at the battery with the idea of either upgrading it or to add a second battery to help handle the added demand. Over the past few years a good upgrade would be to move to a 16 volt battery to help provide an even more stable power output that doesn’t drop its output as fast as a 12 volt unit. Another performance upgrade would be to add an alternator to help keep the power source as stable as possible. Yes, there are two sides on this upgrade when to use or not to use an alternator the benefits do out weigh the drag the alternator puts on the engine. But this usually ends up being a personal choice or a recommendation from a trusted performance source. The 16 volt battery addition has been shown to allow the MSD®Ignition to work more efficiently and to react to triggering quicker. If you make this change to 16 volts you will want to do some testing & see if you can back off the timing by 1 to 2 degrees to take full advantage of the boxes new found performance.
Now taking this idea to the next level, putting a voltage regulator in front of the MSD®Ignition boxes Large Red wire, Large Black wire and the small Red wire to keep the power provided to the box as stable as possible. In addition to the voltage regulator in line you also step up the voltage to (20 volts) at the same time to the maximum allowable level by the electronics inside the MSD®Ignition box. The additional 4 volts above the 16 volts again provides an the added performance improvement of the ignition box just like the changes seen when you moved from 12 volts to 16 volts. You will also want to do some testing to check and see if you can again back off the timing 1 to 2 degrees. This change has worked on everything from stock engines all the way up to and including fully modified engine platforms with similar results with each setup. The typical improvement seen installing this setup usually runs between 8hp to 17hp accessed out of the current engine program. By now your asking yourself is there a down side? Yes, you are running the box harder so its life expectancy is 4 to 5 years Vs the typical 6 to 7 years but when you’re running in a class that is covered by 100ths and 1000ths of a second between the racers then it makes sense to maximize your efforts before reaching the track.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me, also if you want some more information check out www.techwestracing.com/page21.html . Good Luck with the new racing season! Gentlemen Its Time to Put the Hammer Down on Twenty Twelve……. Game On!!!!!!
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