I've been talking with a co-worker who has a 1994 twin turbo Supra, and his mod list for the car includes a lot of things I don't often see discussed on these forums. I was wondering if anyone has tried these, and any results you might have seen.

He insists that the first thing I should do with my 02 WRX is upgrade the ignition coil and wires, to Noltecs or Hotwires or any of the aftermarket high-gauge ignition wires; additionally, he says I should switch to copper spark plugs, but there is no way I am doing that -- I've done plugs on a boxer engine, I'm only doing that twice in the lifetime of the car.

Another mod suggestion he made was lightweight, underdriven pulley sets and lightweight cams. This is a really rare mod for the EJ20, and as a result the parts for this seem to be insanely expensive -- for what it would cost me for pulleys, a flywheel and cams, I could get a 2.5l crate engine! Is this a rare mod because of the expense, or vice versa?

Anyone done the ignition wires and seen a measurable result? Or is this another example of grounding-kit voodoo?

 

Copper plugs are good but you gotta change them a lot.
You cannot upgrade ignition wires because WRX has none.
You cannot upgrade the coils. You can get an ignition amplifier but stock coils are good enough for 99% of the people.
Pulleys are very common and almost everyone got one.
There are no light weight cams for WRX.
Grounding kits work good on WRX's.

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Your co-worker is a typical Supra owner. What kind of spark plug wires does he use? :sarcasm:

 

The reason that the WRX has no need for spark plug cables is because it has a coil-on-plug system, with one coil mounted directly to the end of each spark plug. This has several advantages over conventional ignition systems.

It eliminates arcing to ground from the spark plug wires with inadequate insulation.

It eliminates potentially damaging crossfire between adjacent cylinders - when spark plug wires run alongside each other for long lengths, it is possible under some circumstances for them to induce crossfire ignition in the wrong cylinder. If it fires at the wrong time and manages to ignite the air/fuel mixture too early on the compression stroke, the result is a pounding effect much like that of detonation as the wavefront meets the piston on its way up. This is why race cars limited to older type distributor ignition systems (NASCAR, most classes of drag racing, etc.) use plug wires with very thick, multi-layer silicone insulation, and are separated from each other by a half-inch or more with race-type wiring looms or separators - never bundled together with nylon ties.

Individual coil-on-plug design means that each coil has the maximum saturation time to generate the voltage and current to fire just one cylinder per engine revolution, as opposed to a single coil that would have to fire all four cylinders in rapid succession.

Coil-on-plug ignition systems were once found only on exotics or race cars but have finally found its way to the mass production.

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0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Maybe there is a terminology problem here -- what are the actual electrical lines that go to the spark plugs and deliver electricity called, if not ignition wires? I know about coil-on-plug, and so does the Supra owner; he was referring to the actual wires themselves. For the record, he uses Noltecs.

As for cams, I did actually find a half-dozen companies making them for WRX, they are just prohibitively expensive. However, as they do exist, I was wondering what type of result anyone was getting with them; all of them require standalone engine management, so obviously they would only be for the most extreme racing application. Here's one example: http://www.techworkseng.com/Products...ngine_Cams.htm

As for pulleys, in the threads here I've always seen people warned away from using underdrive pulleys, or pulleys and lightweight flywheel at the same time (choose either one or the other). Is there a definitive answer to that? The flywheels are quite expensive, but the pulleys do seem an inexpensive and do-able mod.

Oh, and he promised me a ride in the Supra, but only after it gets out of the shop (sometime in the next three weeks)

 

The wiring for the coils on a WRX are just that - wiring to the coils. I don't think they are specifically referred to as ignition wires. What does your Supra owner friend say are the benefits of replacing the WRX wiring to the coils? Does he know that there will be a benefit? I don't know that the wiring for the coils is inadequate for street use.

Underdrive pulleys are a fairly common mod. Most are lightweight aluminum or aluminum billet. The trick is to use a pulley that isn't overly underdriven for street use, resulting in excessive dimming of lights or draining of the battery at idle. I have used a Vishnu Performance underdrive pulley since March 2003 with no noticeable ill effects. I doubt that the power gains can be felt at the seat-of-pants.

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0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

The cams are expensive because you will need 4 of them. Few companies make them, but only for the EJ207. I heard some companies make them for EJ257, but I bet they are re-grinds and I would not recommend that. For JDM AVCS EJ207's there are few choices. TOMIE, JUN and HKS. But yeah, they are expensive. When you say lightweight, you probably mean hollow and there are no aftermarket companies that make them hollow. MY06 WRX STi's in Japan will have OEM hollow cams.

SUPRA has no plug wires. I am not sure what "NOLTEC" wires he has. Definetely not PLUG wires as Supra's use coil per plug setup just like the WRX's.

Some people like pulleys and flywheels, some don't. I have been using them on all my Subaru's and never had a problem. Highly recommend them.

 

Thanks for the info. Durn JDM Subies, they get all the fun!

Tim (the Supra owner) is a bit of an electrical ****, he claims he upgraded the wire gauge and density of his electrical system and it solved a host of problems and gave him a bit more horespower. With a 1994 car, I can see how those upgrades (plus some $299 grounding kit with little flashing LEDs) would actually help him, but I think he's got an inferiority complex -- he seems to want REALLY BIG GAUGE wire in his car I keep accusing him of being a closet Corvette owner.

I think I'd gamble on lightweight pulleys before a flywheel; my 02 transmission is dicey enough without changing its dynamics. Any chance that lightweight pulleys would help with parasitic accessories, such as the A/C compressor?

 

Also, I though Noltec makes suspension parts. I did a search and did not come up with any wires.

But yeah, I guess if you rewire the coil harnesses to have fatter/better wires could be benefitial. But, too much hassle if you ask me.

 

I asked him today; he corrected himself and they are "Nology" wires. Man, that's the stupidest company name ever.

 

Once again, Supra's have no plug wires and thats what NOLOGY makes. Can you humor me and have him take a pic of what he is talking about, please.

 

I'll ask him about it when his car is out of the shop. Someone backed into it in a parking lot and tore a huge gash in his FMIC and cracked both inlet and outlet pipes