Onhelix motor sports is an article posted about nology wires and why they are a total ripp off and shouldn't be used (saftey, no hp inrease, etc..) Now I knwo if coudl be to sell more of there own, but they seemd to be a reputable company who often posts on this site good recommendations. Can anybody confirm this article and offer suggestions/comments, is it worth changing your plugs at all? I'll post the article below...

CAPACITOR EFFECT WIRES with grounded metal braiding over jacket

The most notable of exaggerated claims for ignition wires are made by Nology, a recent manufacturer of ignition wires promoted as "the only spark plug wires with built-in capacitor." Nology's "HotWires" (called "Plasma Leads" in the UK) consist of unsuppressed solid metal or spiral conductor ignition wires over which braided metal sleeves are partially fitted. The braided metal sleeves are grounded via straps formed from part of the braiding. Insulating covers are fitted over the braided metal sleeves. These wires are well constructed. For whatever reason, Nology specifies that non-resistor spark plugs need to be used with their "HotWires." In a demonstration, the use of resistor plugs nullifies the visual effect of the brighter spark. Ignition wires with grounded braided metal sleeves over the cable have come and gone all over the world for (at least) the last 30 years, and similar wires were used over 20 years ago by a few car makers to solve cross-firing problems on early fuel injected engines and RFI problems on fiberglass bodied cars - only to find other problems were created. The recent Circle Track Magazine (USA, May, 1996 issue) test showed Nology "HotWires" produced no additional horsepower (the test actually showed a 10 horsepower decrease when compared to stock carbon conductor wires). The perceived effect a brighter spark, conducted by an ignition wire, encased or partially encased in a braided metal sleeve (shield) grounded to the engine, jumping across a huge free-air gap (which bears no relationship to the spark needed to fire the variable air/fuel mixture under pressure in a combustion chamber) is continually being re-discovered and cleverly demonstrated by marketers who convince themselves there's monetary value in such a bright spark, and all sorts of wild, completely un-provable claims are made for this phenomena. Like many in the past, Nology cleverly demonstrates a brighter free-air spark containing useless flash-over created by the crude "capacitor" (effect) of this style of wire. In reality, the bright spark has no more useful energy to fire a variable compressed air/fuel mixture than the clean spark you would see in a similar demonstration using any good carbon conductor wire. What is happening in such a demonstration is the coil output is being unnecessarily boosted to additionally supply spark energy that is induced (and wasted) into the grounded braided metal sleeve around the ignition wire's jacket. To test the validity of this statement, ask the demonstrator to disconnect the ground strap and observe just how much energy is sparking to ground. Claims by Nology of their "HotWires" creating sparks that are "300 times more powerful," reaching temperatures of "100,000 to 150,000 degrees F" (more than enough to melt spark plug electrodes), spark durations of "4 billionths of a second" (spark duration is controlled by the ignition system itself) and currents of "1,000 amperes" magically evolving in "capacitors" allegedly "built-in" to the ignition wires are as ridiculous as the data and the depiction of sparks in photographs used in advertising material and the price asked for these wires! Most stock ignition primaries are regulated to 6 amperes and the most powerful race ignition to no more than 40 amperes at 12,000 RPM. It is common knowledge amongst automotive electrical engineers that it is unwise to use ignition wires fitted with grounded braided metal sleeves fitted over ignition cable jackets on an automobile engine. This type of ignition wires forces its cable jackets to become an unsuitable dielectric for a crude capacitor (effect) between the conductor and the braided metal sleeves. While the wires function normally when first fitted, the cable jackets soon break down as a dielectric, and progressively more spark energy is induced from the conductors (though the cable jackets) into the grounded metal sleeves, causing the ignition coil to unnecessarily output more energy to fire both the spark plug gaps and the additional energy lost via the braided metal sleeves. Often this situation leads to ignition coil and control unit overload failures. It should be noted that it is dangerous to use these wires if not grounded to the engine, as the grounding straps will be alive with thousands of volts wanting to ground-out to anything (or body) nearby. Unless you are prepared to accept poorly suppressed ignition wires that fail sooner than any other type of ignition wires and stretch your ignition system to the limit, and have an engine with no electronic management system and/or exhaust emission controls, it's best not to be influenced by the exaggerated claims, and some vested-interest journalists', resellers' and installers' perception an engine ha s more power after Nology wires are fitted. Often, after replacing deteriorated wires, any new ignition wires make an engine run better.

OTHER DEVICES CLAIMING TO INCREASE SPARKS:

Never be fooled by any device that is fitted between the ignition coil and the distributor, and/or distributor and the spark plugs (sometimes in place of ignition wires) for which claims of increased power, multiple sparks, and better fuel economy are made. These devices have come and gone over the last 50 years, and usually consists of a sealed container in which the spark is forced to jump an additional gap or is partially induced to ground on its way to the spark plug gap. These devices can also be cleverly demonstrated to produce sparks the human eye perceives as being "more powerful." The only "increase" a gullible consumer can expect from these devices is an undesirable increase in load on their vehicle's ignition system.

Used with permission from Magnecor, Inc 2001

 

Since RandyBMC sells these, how about we give him a chance to explain himself! (preferably with dyno charts)

 

HEY!

Yes I also heard the same.....

And ... Eh-hem


Click here for more MINI AD's by MightyMiniZ

 

cool hadn't seen that one. I just finshied making mine. I saw the post cards with starsky and hutch, and dukes of hazard, and figured I could probably make one of those! I'ma graphic designer by trade, just thought I would mess aroud with it.. I actually was thinking about buying a Delorean instead of a mini,,, but I just love mini too much. Yours looks rreat i esspeically like the rear view. very groovy :smile:

 

If I'm not mistaken (too lazy to check right this moment), that text is actually originally from Magnecor's website. They're obviously a direct competitor with Nology, so who knows what similarly convincing propaganda Nology could crank out about why you shouldn't use Magnecor wires.

Randy seems to be of the opinion that the Nology wires effect more of a performance increase in the MCS, while the Magnecors provide more benefit in the Cooper.

I have yet to see any convincing reason why anyone should spend the extra $100 on the Nology wires.

_________________
2003 Cooper, Borla exhaust, Moss intake, Magnecor plug wires - Brookline, MA

 

bumping this.

Randy, get yer butt in here and comment on your products!

 

You guys are right, the information contained in the above post is directly from Magnecor.

I could regurgitate company lines from Nology, but I think it may be better if I put it like this:

I have installed both sets of wires here. The data shows an improvement with the Nology and Magnecor wires - but only slightly. The Magnecors seem to do a tiny bit better on the Cooper, and the Nology wires seem to do a tiny bit better on the S. Driving both, the Nology wires really do make a throttle response "seat of the pants" difference. The Magnecors didn't makle much difference at all that was noticeable in driving (on the S).

I sell them both, because I think there is a reason to have both. The Magnecors are a great plug wire, and make a small difference at roughly half the cost of the Nology wires. The Nology make the most noticeable improvement, so for the person that wants the last nth degree, and isn't as concerned with cost, these are the wires.

Let me know if you want more technical mumbo jumbo - but this answers the question, and we've beaten this horse in older threads with the technical merits.

Hope that helps!

Randy