This is another one of those areas I view as non-performance reliability
enhancer. As an electrical engineer who was personally involved in the
development of electronic ignitions at Motorola years ago, I've tested MANY
different types. While there can be a slight performance gain by chosing the
proper coil and increasing the coil current and associated spark voltage, a
simple transistor switch replacement of the old mechanical points makes a lot
of sense to me, regardless of space in time. (I'm NOT including the more
modern, multi-spark, plasma generating systems in this analysis, also,
transistor ignitions - not breakerless however - were offered by Heathkit in
the 60's, and many found their way onto race engines).
Particularly in an engine like the Lotus Twin Cam, where the distributor is
buried beneath the head, regular adjustments, while possible, are not much
fun. A breakerless inductive system delivers the same performance as a
properly adjusted set of points and condensor, but provides much more
consistent performance over the points' rubbing block and contact life, and
therein is the single biggest difference and advantage - consistency over
time that points doesn't have.
A performance advantage, perhaps, a more reliable solution, certainly.
Obviously, I'm using one, so shoot me. (If this discussion keeps up,
you're going to learn all my secrets????)
Myles H. Kitchen
1965 Lotus (becoming more illegal by the minute) Cortina Mk1 #128
|