Wasted spark for gc8

[MIGHTY_STI]

Having trouble trying to find out what is needed for a wasted spark setup. I have 4 coils and a 4 channel ignitor. Anything else?? Help!!


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[Mikie13]

What the hell is wasted spark anyway???

[MIGHTY_STI]

4 individual coil packs sparking its own cylinder.


"Lets box!"

[Mikie13]

4 individual coil packs sparking its own cylinder.


"Lets box!"

Umm I thought we already had individual coilpacks on each cylinder...it seems by reading this, that it's the exact opposite of what you say: Wasted spark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MIGHTY_STI]

Nah for gc8 we have one coil pack distributing power between the 4 leads to the spark plugs. Only the v8 - v11 have that setup. Maybe its called something else but thats what my old tuner called it.


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[Heide264]

What the hell is wasted spark anyway???

Disclaimer - it's been a while since I read over ignition system details.

Wasted spark doesn't necessarily infer anything about the number of coil packs, to my understanding. It explicitly refers to firing a pair of cylinders at the same time. While I am a bit rusty on it, a wasted spark ignition basically fires a given cylinder twice per cycle. There are a few perks to this, mainly that it uses the crank/cam shaft in place of the typical distributor (and hence is way more reliable). The downside being that your components must be able to fire twice as often (the older electrical components required more time to charge up compared to our modern day coil packs).

That being said, I am not sure what you would require to convert a car to a specific ignition system. I would bet you would need to do a lot of research on the subject. If the timing was originally controlled by a distributor, it appears you are going to an EFI type system, where the ECU controls the ignition advance (which I would highly recommend). If that is the case, however, you will need an ECU capable of controlling the ignition to take advantage of it. If you want a good reference about adding/retrofitting EFI systems (in terms of either ignition and/or fuel), let me know. I could dig up the name of a book for you.

[zax]

Wasted spark just means the coils fire a spark even during the exhaust stroke, so all 4 plugs fire during every revolution.

This is a logical evolution from the distributor-based ignition. With modern ECU controlled ignition, there is no benefit to a wasted spark setup besides simplicity.

[Heide264]

Wasted spark just means the coils fire a spark even during the exhaust stroke, so all 4 plugs fire during every revolution.

This is a much better and more accurate description than mine =)

[MIGHTY_STI]

I understand. That you so much guys! My last tuner told me that most guys lack spark modifications when it comes to engines etc. he told me about this and recommended the 4 channel ignitor from the 89-91 rs legacys. I have a g4 link as an ecu. Would be keen to get that book reference man. Cheers to all!


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