Over the past few years, we have run across some teams who, for the goal of attaining maximum power, chose to run without an alternator. We started thinking about that and decided to see if there were ...

The electrical system includes several subsystems that provide your vehicle with that vital spark that makes it start and then keeps it running. It's one of the many systems on a vehicle that's ...

The distributor has two jobs: to house a switch that tells the coil when to send a spark, and to send that spark to each individual cylinder in the correct order. The distributor shaft is spun by the ...

When it comes to ignition, plug wires are often the Rodney Dangerfields of the system. This is a misconception because while not the glamour boys of automotive electronics, spark plug wires play a key ...

Ignition system technology has taken a number of twists and turns over the past fifty years. Matthew Beecham reports on some technical trends in the OE and aftermarket. “In the past, the sole purpose ...

Automotive ignitions systems have seen many transitions over the years. Historically, the designs have matured from a magneto to today’s coil-over-spark plug designs. The progression follows the ...

The 20th century saw a great many cheap, utilitarian vehicles enter the marketplace. Cars like the Mini and the original Jeep offered low-cost, no-frills motoring. However, they were also decidedly ...

Push-button start may be common today, but it wasn't always the dominant way to crank an engine. Push-button start systems and ignition key systems activate the same process in different ways. Do you ...

If you’ve been in the classic Mustang hobby for more than about five minutes, you’ve no doubt heard the name Pertronix. The company is a household name in our hobby for its line of Ignitor brand ...