For George Braly --

You commented on "hotter sparks" being pure marketing hype.  I tend to agree,
but not because I know anything about it.  Here's the story, followed by my
question.

I was fortunate enough to have the MIT automotive engine research lab hire me
17 years ago when I was a graduate student.  I did my doctoral research in
that lab studying arcane issues related to diesel engine combustion which I
promptly forgot after graduation due to lack of interest.  (I just wanted the
sheepskin...)  However, I was surrounded by many brilliant people who, unlike
myself, were all motorheads-since-childhood who understood much more about spark
ignition engines than I ever did.

One of the basic findings of our laboratory, and one which the lab director
was quick to point out, was that fancy spark plugs were essentially valueless
in affecting engine performance.  He said that unless you were running at the
ragged edge of flammability (typically the lean limit) that basically any ol'
spark would do just fine.  He admitted that there may be some difference
between spark plugs as to how long they would operate (lifetime) but that all the
marketing hype about fat electrodes and platinum and all that crap was, well,
not worth spending extra money for.

My question involves Klaus Savier's latest electronic ignition system, which
offers a longer duration spark (twice as many joules spread out over twice as
many degrees of crank angle) for several hundred extra dollars.  My experience
tells me that this "longer spark" won't do squat for performance when
compared to his other systems.  I'm thinking that I should spend those extra few
hundred dollars elsewhere.

What say you?  Thanks in advance.

- Rob Wolf
IO-360-B1F Lancair 360