Ignition Wire Comparison

Summary of  Resistance Testing and Comments 

Brand Type avg. Ohms/in avg. Ohms/ft Comments
Triple A 7mm silicon
81
900
 used, run of the mill replacement wire.
Belodon  Racing
204
2448
 new -an overpriced carbon resistor wire
Jacobs Energy Core
26
314
 Silicone, boot sealed to insulation, 90 deg distributor boots
Perf Distributor

310
 bad crimps not incl in avg. Comes with heat shield
Taylor Spiro Pro
250
 Silicon, boot sealed to insulation
Moroso Spiral Core 800 
55
668
 tested better than claimed 800 ohms/ft





Old Comparison (exact length of wires not measured)

Brand
 Type
CenterWire
Resistance
Long Wire Resitance
 Short Wire Resistance
 Med. Wire Resistance
 Avg. Resistance
 Comments
Whittiker
 SupronicIII
 6.5 K
 2.0 K
 2.0 K
 2.0 K
 2.125 K
ExcellentQuality
Old ?
 ?
 7.5 K
 7.5 K
 3.5 K
 4.5 K
 5.750 K
Morroso
 Glasscore
 5.5 K
 -
 7.0 K
 6.0 K
 6.166 K
 Crimp it yourself

Comparison on '85 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 

BRAND   
 TYPE 
  Length  Resistance  Ohms/Inch  Ohms/ft    Comments
Triple A 
7 mm  silicone
 33.0
infinite 
   na
  na
  used   
Triple A 
7 mm  silicone
 16.0
 1300
 81.25
  978
  used   
Triple A 
7 mm silicone
 29.0
 2100
 72.41
  869
  used   
Triple A 
7 mm silicone
 29.0
 2500
 86.21
1034
  used   
Belodon 
Racing 8mm silicone
 11.0
 2250
204.55
2448
 new - an overpriced carbon  resistor wire  
Jacobs
Energy Core
 36.0
 1000
   27.78
  333
  new, wire set 4009817,   
Jacobs
Energy Core
 36.0
 1250
34.72
416
    
Jacobs
Energy Core
 32.5
  850
26.15
314
    
Jacobs
Energy Core
 32.5
  850
26.15
314
    
Jacobs
Energy Core
 32.5
  900
27.69
332
    
Jacobs
Energy Core
 32.5
  900
27.69
332
    
Jacobs
Energy Core
 28.5
  700
24.56
295
    
Jacobs
Energy Core
 28.5
  720
25.26
303
    
Jacobs
Energy Core
 17.5
  450
25.71
309


Comparison of wires for a Chrysler LA Small Block

Perf. Dist. Livewire                 Taylor Spiro Pro
Wire # Length(in.) (ohms) ohms/ft notes
Length(in.) (ohms) ohms/ft notes
1 30 800 320

30.5 680 268
2 30 6000* 2400* bad crimp
34 700 247
3 32 850 319

30.5 680 268
4 26 700 323

31 690 242
5 24 650 325

26 525 267
6 25 650 312

28 600 257
7 24 625 312

24 8000** 4000** Old Belodon **
8 20.5 525 307

26 550 254
coil 15 5000* 4000* bad crimp
15 350 280
**The Taylor had broken at the crimp when being removed after a particulaly torturous heat soak.  The Belodon RS/400 HighTemp wire was liberated from a junked 88 Dodge truck to limp home.

For a real detailed discussion on ignition wires, especially the Noral capicitor wires. see (yes its an MR2 site, so what!) http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/DavidKucharczyk/ignition.html
Note:  multiply ohms/mm by 25.4 to get ohms/inch (and then by 12 to get ohms/foot)
A nice description of wire construction and materials is provided by a manufacturer: Vitek's Wire Tech Page

Back to:
Matt's Vehicles Page
    Improved Vehicle Lighting
'67 Barracuda
    Barracuda: What's it got?
'85 Grand Wagoneer
 

January 25, 2005 (added external link, and finally found old old wire test)