Finding the best spark plug leads

**Stav** · 03-03-2007, 11:05 PM

Today I bought myself some topgun leads for the au.Sure enough I pulled out my multimeter. Resistance per lead was 3.5kohms.

Hmm...how does this compare? I went into my shed and found some old leads and checked their resistance.They measured at 1.9 to 2.3 kohms. This means that my brand new topgun leads had more resistance than my old wires. This has given me a new mission..which are the best leads for performance without interfering with the ecu?

The results are startling.What does this mean? Well higher resistance mean less spark at the other end..I will go through all of the brands of leads and post all of my findings here.
I think the topguns will go back for a refund!!!

SpoolMan · 03-03-2007, 11:07 PM

Never put to much thought into this, G&D Fitted 8mm gas leads on Hamo's AU6.

**Stav** · 03-03-2007, 11:12 PM

Not a worry.I will get to the bottom of this. Fancy doing big cams,heads,edits only to be shortchanged by lack of spark..nope I dont want it to happen.

LG · 03-03-2007, 11:25 PM

Eagle leads are apparently the way to go. I wanna get myself some 9mm ICE Leads.

**Stav** · 04-03-2007, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LG

Eagle leads are apparently the way to go. I wanna get myself some 9mm ICE Leads.

They are next on my test list.So too are msd accel,mallory and any other banana they claim to bre the best.If theyre going to claim to be the best then be the best .Sure you need some resistance to fight engine management probs but this seems too high for my liking.

nugget378 · 04-03-2007, 01:03 AM

MSD's we tested came in at 0.9-1.1

carratt · 04-03-2007, 06:38 AM

If only it was that easy for me to find some leads. Went to Ford yesterday to see how much for plugs and leads for my te50 and they want $36 per plug and $450 for the leads. ouch

au2sw · 04-03-2007, 09:01 AM

how many times do people need to be told....stop going to ford to buy your parts! they seem to put 500% markup on all their stuff once you buy the car, unless its a warranty job, then your lucky to get it done!

carratt · 04-03-2007, 09:03 AM

having trouble finding a place that has the right plugs/leads but trust me, going to Ford to buy them will be my absolute LAST option.

**Stav** · 04-03-2007, 09:27 AM

Dont worry about ford.They sell cars for 70k which are worth 20k to 28k in 4 years..so the local spares isnt all that bad when you think of it.
The mission here is to sort out the truth for the sake of better performance. Spark is half the power equation.

Norton · 04-03-2007, 09:48 AM

I have 8mm ICE leads and they work a treat! Being a Gas car I was advised to go these leads as they have the lowest possible resistance.

Out of interest I just went and checked the resistance, heres the results:

ICE 8mm = 1.15kohm's
Standard AU3 V8 Leads = 4.55kohm's

The ICE leads make a significant difference to a gas car as the spark strength required is greater.

I was also advised to go non resistor plugs which I have, I have never had any problems with ECU interference (I have read that this is a bit of a myth with modern cars).

Regards

Norton

ClassicAU · 04-03-2007, 10:00 AM

I dont know what the resistance is on mine, but i recently got myself a set of NGK 8mm leads and they are great. I was recommended these over the 8.8mm Top Gun leads as they have better conductivity.

Evan

**Stav** · 04-03-2007, 10:01 AM

Hey Norton..thanks for that..your saving me some cash here.

If anyone can test their resistances please post. Ice leads..where do they stock them?

Better conductivity would men lower resistance

NeishaXR8_347 · 04-03-2007, 10:17 AM

Try buying a lead that is designed for LPG use, they use less resistance then the normal leads, how much i wouldn't know.

Even so with these low resistant leads if your car is being Edited with whatever leads it wouldn't make a differance, as when its edited they can pull or put spark as they wish. Unless your's is running out of spark?

Norton · 04-03-2007, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stav

Hey Norton..thanks for that..your saving me some cash here.

If anyone can test their resistances please post. Ice leads..where do they stock them?

Better conductivity would men lower resistance

No problem Stav....

I got them direct from ICE, my LPG installer wanted to charge me more so I did it myself.

Try this link: http://www.iceignition.com.au/

They are based in Melbourne, good bunch of guy's and very helpful regarding ignition.

I was going to use the Top Gun LPG leads but was told these were not much better then standard, they were also very expensive (ICE was not much more)

**Stav** · 04-03-2007, 10:52 AM

I paid 55 for my topguns but I am not paying for a performance decrease.Theyre going back!!They have a pretty box though lol :dr_Evil:

The Monty · 04-03-2007, 11:32 AM

I have top guns. They seem to work ok for me. But now I dont know. Ill change them in 97k's so, I guess Ill try something new then.

BPXR6T · 04-03-2007, 11:42 AM

Interesting thread. Any chance of testing "Bosch Super Sport inductive core ignition leads". When I bought them a few forum members and others told me they were the best option. Some info below,

What makes Bosch Super Sports Ignition Leads Different?

Bosch Super Sports Ignition Leads use the latest Inductive Core Technology as opposed to Resistive Core Technology

What is Inductive Core Technology?

Inductive Core Technology is a process whereby a magnetic field is generated when the spark current passes through the cable. The Bosch Super Sports Inductive Core Ignition Leads achieve this by having wire windings wrapped around a specially constructed Ferrite Core.

How do the Bosch Super Sports Ignition Leads work?

By having the wire windings wrapped around the Ferrite Core, a magnetic field is generated when the spark current is passed across the windings. The magnetic field reduces significantly the Electronmagnetic and Radio Freguency Interference. Lower cable resistance prodvides greater spark energy.

Norton · 04-03-2007, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monty

I have top guns. They seem to work ok for me. But now I dont know. Ill change them in 97k's so, I guess Ill try something new then.

Top Guns are ok..... Looking at the resistance, they are an improvement on the standard ones I had on my car (very small).

ICE are considerably better and this is required on a gas car, as for the improvement on a petrol car I don't know.

You could also use non resistor plugs, these will give you a stronger spark but will not last like the platinum or iridium plugs do. (Non resistor plugs will last approx. 20,000k's but only cost $3.50 each).

Theses are all small gains, but hey, a gain is a gain!!!

**Mechan1k** · 04-03-2007, 11:44 AM

I thought I had a misfire due to my leads (ended up being a dodgy coilpack).

So I pulled my leads out and tested them at my mechanics ... and they came back with readings between 1.05 - 1.2 KOhms ... and these were on 60,000km old 9mm Spiral Core leads (QLD Ignition Leads). And this is on an EGAS AU engine as well.

Would be interesting to see what they read now though.

Norton · 04-03-2007, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FourBarrel

Interesting thread. Any chance of testing "Bosch Super Sport inductive core ignition leads". When I bought them a few forum members and others told me they were the best option. Some info below,

What makes Bosch Super Sports Ignition Leads Different?

Bosch Super Sports Ignition Leads use the latest Inductive Core Technology as opposed to Resistive Core Technology

What is Inductive Core Technology?

Inductive Core Technology is a process whereby a magnetic field is generated when the spark current passes through the cable. The Bosch Super Sports Inductive Core Ignition Leads achieve this by having wire windings wrapped around a specially constructed Ferrite Core.

How do the Bosch Super Sports Ignition Leads work?

By having the wire windings wrapped around the Ferrite Core, a magnetic field is generated when the spark current is passed across the windings. The magnetic field reduces significantly the Electronmagnetic and Radio Freguency Interference. Lower cable resistance prodvides greater spark energy.

Do you have a multimeter to test them? I'm interested as I looked at these before buying the ICE leads.

**Mechan1k** · 04-03-2007, 11:57 AM

If i can get a chance to get to my mechanic ... he sells these as well .... I might have grab his multimeter when I am over there next (when I am bored) ... and test them.

He literally has the entire range hanging on the rack.

trick_xd · 04-03-2007, 12:34 PM

Hurricane leads are said to be the best leads with the lowest Resistance ..
that said for a set of I6 ford leads retail at 100bux

AUTickford · 04-03-2007, 06:10 PM

Funny that i tested my brand new topgun leads and they also had considerably more resistace than my shitty old split and broken down leads that they replaced.Kind of makes you wonder when the idea is the least resistance to flow????? :jab:also the topgun leads varied greatly when i tested them

**Stav** · 04-03-2007, 06:39 PM

These topgun leads were very consistent in quality.Funnily, they didnt have the name topgun written on them either.

Mechanic ..Joes Queensland leads sound really good..
The said problem is that the low resistance leads make electrical interference with radios and ecu's. I am going to test this theory because I think the industry is bull crapping us and this may not be true for ford au's.
The end result is a loss of performance and more fuel usage.

StealthAu · 04-03-2007, 06:42 PM

don't resistors eliminate the problem of interference?

**Stav** · 04-03-2007, 07:04 PM

When you need a spark to jump a gap at 5800 rpm with higher resistance leads would resist its capability to do so.

Norton · 04-03-2007, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stav

These topgun leads were very consistent in quality.Funnily, they didnt have the name topgun written on them either.

Mechanic ..Joes Queensland leads sound really good..
The said problem is that the low resistance leads make electrical interference with radios and ecu's. I am going to test this theory because I think the industry is bull crapping us and this may not be true for ford au's.
The end result is a loss of performance and more fuel usage.

Have a chat to others running non resistor plugs and low resistance leads, I did my homework and found no real evidence to support the claims of the large manufacturers.

As stated earlier, I run very low resistance leads and non resistor plugs and I don't even notice interference on my radio let alone problems with the ECU.

I raised the issue with ICE prior to purchase and they re-assured me that there is a lot between the plugs and the ECU to insulate/absorb the radio frequency energy generated from the spark.

**Stav** · 04-03-2007, 08:10 PM

Cool because I am going to up my sparks real soon with a ridiculous upgrade.. :hihi:

xr8 007 · 05-03-2007, 10:03 AM

thanks a bunch for the research done, please do a write up and conclusion with all your findings when completed. Thanks again, hopefully with the results we can end the never ending question of what leads can i use etc etc