>>A question for Randy (or anyone else who knows):
>>
>>I live in the boondocks and have part of the stock wires eaten by field mice. Looks like I need to replace them sometime this summer.
>>
>> Are either the Nology or Magnecore wires intrinsically rodent repellent?
>>
>>Tom



Are you serious????!

 

I think, more than anything, the capacitor in the Nology wires is supposed to:

A. Provide more consistent delivery of voltage.
B. Provide instant discharge of voltage.

This isn't a bad idea, in theory... across any wire you'll have some voltage drop. But on the Mini the wires are already so freaking short, I can't imagine a giant benefit? The main benefit would be the more instantaneous discharge of voltage...

In the case of spark plugs, the higher the voltage, the less current required to jump the gap in the plug. The more voltage, and the more consistent the delivery, the better the spark which nobody can argue is a good thing. I think the capacitor may also have to do with the voltage control electronics in the electronic ignition and consistency over the time of the spark. The capacitor should block the DC portion of the spark, effectively isolating the plug from the electronics, DC-wise. AC passes right through a capacitor, but DC does not.

With the ground wire and the stored energy concept, the capacitor must be in parallel with the spark plug. Since the voltage is essentially AC, the capacitor would store energy delivering a larger voltage to the spark plug with no loss over the wires. It would also dampen any very large spikes or dips delivering a smoother voltage and spark.

One other benefit I thought of - a shorted plug could fry the electronics, but a capacitor would prevent that. And, one other benefit is that a capacitor may also cut down on EMI noise generated back through the wires. It should provide longer spark plug life and be cleaner burning... notice I said 'should'.

Theoretically, the car should have a more optimized delivery of spark, which would mean more consistent performance. I just don't see it making THAT much more power, but it should produce more CONSISTENT power. There's no way to trust a dyno for something like this, IMHO. You just aren't going to see a hugely measurable, consistent gain. Daily driving should be better, though.

But, Nology's pitch still sounds like marketing hype to me, a la Splitfire plugs... there, I said it. It looks like an electrical engineer got an idea and built a company, along with a saavy marketing person to spin theory into lofty words to get someone to drop $150+ on a set of wire. It appears to be working, and to that I say, "Long live capitalism!!!".

They still look schweet and expensive. :smile: For my $60, I'd just stick with the Magnecor wires... heh.

 

Tom,

Perhaps that extra capacitor in the Nologies would be sufficient to fry those pesky rodents, sending them to that big cheese wheel in the sky. I know my Magnecor's didn't come with the D-Con impregnated option.

May I suggest a change of venue for your future parking needs. i.e use cones and not cows for your next auto-x.

 

Here's my two cents. I have run Nology wires on 2-porsches, a 944turbo, a 914 2.0. Both Cars benefitted from the wires but the plugs must be chosen carefully. A lower resistance silverstone plug burned beautiful in the turbo, the 914 did not like these plugs (virtually refusing to run) but loved the beru ultra-x plugs. It also would not start as easily when the nology coil booster died (capacitor). I would install beru ultra-x plugs and nology wires on a mini without hesitation. I'ts not so much about the power (very little gain if any) but the starting. idle, smoothness and mpg...that's where it is baby. BTW the nology ultra coils have a great reputation and I would install one of these as well after many mods including ecu, etc.. :smile:

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to ground Nology Hot Wires? And if so, does that not allow a spart to jump from the plug to the engine block itself? It just seems that the real concept is that it makes a larger circut. Also, although probally totally un-related, I worked with a guy who was an airplane mechanaic, and he would always laugh at the claims that Splitfire made about their plugs. He told me that the plugs in an airplane engine were close to the same thing, and yes, the ran hotter, but they were made that way for saftey, not for performance, and really did not perform any better than regular plugs.

So?

Isn't Nology's big deal that they make a bigger spark? As far as I know, a bigger detonator does not make a bigger explosion, which is really what Nology is claiming. Sort of like when someone says that two sparks from a Splitfire plug means a bigger explosion which would mean more HP.


Rocketboy_X

 

Theoretically, a hotter, more consistent spark would produce a more complete burn in the combustion chanber... at least that's my understanding, anyway. It's not the size of the spark that matters...