Ignition Wires Suggestions

[Cranky]

This may not be popular, but I'll say it anyway. Unless you are having miss fire issues, HP plug wires will not give any better performance than stock ones except for looks. If the engine is running well, you gain 0 HP by using 8mm and up wires.

Mark

Well, a spark plug wire that has a higher resistance will decrease the strength of the spark. Higher voltage can help overcome wires with high resistance but IMO, the lower the resistance of a wire the better....and 'stock' carbon core wires always have a higher resistance than solid core wires. At least that is what I've observed over the years. Like I mentioned in a previous post, if you use solid core wires and experience radio static, use a carbon core distributor wire and change it out when it measures higher resistance than when it was new. Seems to me that solid core plug wires last for years! Mine did.....

 

[Brandy]

Mine came with the engine. No sense to not use them.

 

[themechanic]

I normally use the MSD ignition wires, but on the Charger I kept burning boots on the 2" headers so I bought the pricy Accel 9000 Ceramic boot plug wire.
For the 440, they came with a mix of boot ends, some 45-degree and I think others were angled? I don't have many miles on them, so not sure how they are over time?

They sell single wires if you're having only one or two burning.

 

[Master Gunner]

Yes, higher resistance wires will decrease the strength of the spark, but without a misfire, there is no problem. If the mixture is being lit with 40,000 v, you don't gain anything with hitting it with 50,000+ v. High compression and forced induction will tend to blow a weak spark out, where better wires/more coil becomes necessary.
Cranky is correct about solid core wires lasting longer, got some probably 20yr old in the tractor and the thing runs great.

Mark

 

[Geoff 2]

A lot of misinformation here....
- wire type & resistance can affect HP. Circle Track tested a variety of different plug wire types & there was about a 6-8 hp difference. The highest hp wire did NOT have the lowest resistance....
- so the wire resistance is 1000 ohms; the secondary winding is 8000 ohms; 4-8000 ohm resistor in the plug; & the combined gap of the rotor-to-terminal + plug gap is....a million ohms maybe. See why wire resistance is not a big player...
- solid wires can & do indeed break from vibration.

 

[hunt2elk]

I really like these Accel Extreme wires. They have a ceramic end so header heat doesn't bother them. They come in straight, 90 degree, and 45 degree ends and are a cut to fit. I mix and match to get the best clearance and routing for each cylinder.
Accel 9001C ACCEL Extreme 9000 Ceramic Spark Plug Wire Sets | Summit Racing

 

[themechanic]

I really like these Accel Extreme wires. They have a ceramic end so header heat doesn't bother them. They come in straight, 90 degree, and 45 degree ends and are a cut to fit. I mix and match to get the best clearance and routing for each cylinder.
Accel 9001C ACCEL Extreme 9000 Ceramic Spark Plug Wire Sets | Summit Racing

I use them. But they are ceramic. So, they can crack. Ask me how I know.

 

[Cranky]

A lot of misinformation here....
- wire type & resistance can affect HP. Circle Track tested a variety of different plug wire types & there was about a 6-8 hp difference. The highest hp wire did NOT have the lowest resistance....
- so the wire resistance is 1000 ohms; the secondary winding is 8000 ohms; 4-8000 ohm resistor in the plug; & the combined gap of the rotor-to-terminal + plug gap is....a million ohms maybe. See why wire resistance is not a big player...
- solid wires can & do indeed break from vibration.

Never had a solid wire break from vibration.....but I'm sure it can happen although I think it's somewhat a rare event. Mishandling of spark plugs wires is probably a lot more common than vibration affecting them. And never ran resistor plugs either. Carbon wire and resistor plugs are for minimum interference with 'other' electronic devices, right? Don't know how that plays into the present electronic controlled vehicles but we're mostly concerned (at least I am) with 50 year old cars.