High Performance Ignition Coil (Page 1/3)
Rhodesia1977 OCT 02, 11:11 AM
Has anyone used the High Performance Ignition Coil from the Fiero Store. It is red and about $70. Just wondering if it would work better or last longer than the base one.
olejoedad OCT 02, 01:35 PM
Stock coil is fine.
If you want bling, paint the stock coil red.
buddycraigg OCT 08, 08:23 PM

quote
Originally posted by olejoedad:

Stock coil is fine.
If you want bling, paint the stock coil red.



I agree.
BHall71 OCT 08, 09:10 PM
When I had my 95 c1500 with the 5.7L, I had all the fancy stuff on it: AFR 190 heads, Crower 212/218 hyd. roller cam, worked over 454TBI w/ cop car injectors & AFPR on a Weiand Team G 7525 single plane intake, Headman long tube headers no cat, under-drive pullies, electric fan, MSD box, DUI coil, DUI IG module, DUI distributor & Moates ostrich. After I totaled it I took all that I could off of it. I have been using the Davis Unified Ignition Screamin' Demon coil and their Dyna-module ignition module on my pretty much stock 2.8L 88 formula for several years now with no issues. I would suggest the D.U.I. products.

Coil:
https://performancedistribu...creamin-demon-coils/

Ignition module:
https://performancedistribu...trolled-distributor/


Brian

[This message has been edited by BHall71 (edited 10-08-2021).]

82-T/A [At Work] OCT 08, 10:20 PM

quote
Originally posted by Rhodesia1977:

Has anyone used the High Performance Ignition Coil from the Fiero Store. It is red and about $70. Just wondering if it would work better or last longer than the base one.




So, a lot of people will poo-poo on this. If your car is totally stock, you're really not going to see much from it. But in reality, there is a benefit to a higher-output ignition coil, for the same reason why newer vehicles went to multiple coils, or "coil on plugs." The ignition coil is an induction coil, and at really high RPMs, the coil is unable to provide the same kind of sustained charge that it normally can at lower RPMs.

To be clear, a higher output coil doesn't mean that somehow 70k volts (or whatever it is... 40k?) is going to make "more" horsepower. All it's going to do is ensure that you're not going to have the voltage drop at the higher RPMs that you would with the stock coil, which would otherwise cause you to lose power... and that's the point. Most auto manufacturers realized this was a problem... and it's why General Motors went to the "DIS" ignition system (Distributor-less Ignition System) that has THREE double-coil packs.



In this image, this is for the GM V6/60 3.1 liter engine... basically, the slightly newer version of our engine. As you can see, each one of those bungs is for a single spark plug / cyl. They realized that this improved not only emissions, but performance of the engine at mid to upper rpm range because each plug has it's own coil... meaning each coil has more time to build the appropriate charge.

It's worth noting that the 2.8 V6/60 in the Fiero engine was a bit more "hot" than what's basically a totally identical engine in previous and later years. The L44 was used in only a few cars... Fiero, Citation X/11, 6000 STE, and some other car... can't remember. For that matter, the first year it was in the Fiero was also tuned a bit higher (140hp) where as later years was only 135hp.

It's been a long time since I messed with this, but I went with the Accel Super Coil back in the day... like over a decade ago. I also didn't want it to look non-factory, so I even painted the bright-ass yellow coil with black engine paint to make it look original.

If you're freshening up your engine, and you're doing a few other things... then I definitely recommend replacing the coil. They get old anyway... remember, it works similar to a capacitor, but it's an induction coil... and it can't do the same at 5,800rpms as it can at 2,500rpms.
theogre OCT 09, 04:34 PM
MSD and Accel parts are made to take money from nubes and others and give little to show.
Worse Some coils and other parts need other mod/parts or will cause problems because Hot coils and cap discharge often eat most Distributor caps.

Standard (short for SMP or Standard Motor Products) and Wells (Now called WVE) have been very good for decades. One of them is/was maker of NAPA ignition parts but NAPA often has little or no warranty.
Note: Standard PN have xxxx and xxxxT for T-Series. GM HEI uses DR37 and DR37T. T-Series have 12 Months Warranty vs lifetime for Standard Blue Streak and BS is made better too and cost < $30.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

Skybax OCT 09, 11:32 PM
In my experience, the hi-performance aftermarket coils for the 2.8 V6 are low build quality (Made in China) and don't provide any benefits, even the Delco products are garbage these days. The only stock replacement ignition coil on the market currently for the 2.8 V6 that has decent build quality is the Standard Blue Streak, manufactured in their own dedicated ignition facility in Poland.

[This message has been edited by Skybax (edited 10-09-2021).]

Spadesluck OCT 10, 02:04 AM
I have an NGK coil in mine, been doing well for 3 years now.
Dennis LaGrua OCT 10, 10:03 AM
Unless you are running a boosted engine a higher output "performance"coil won't give you any more power. On the 3800SC the GM triple coil pack is very sufficient. When I first got into the Fiero hobby the Accel performance coil was the hot item for the 2.8L's. There were a lot of failures with that coil at the time.

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" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

pmbrunelle OCT 10, 10:19 AM
If the aftermarket coil is using the same stock coil form factor, the amount of iron/copper that can fit in the available space will be similar, so I don't see how there could be much improvement.