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On 5 May 2002, at 8:23, Drake wrote: > The air gap in the dist as well as the resistance in the top eat away power > that coul be used more efficiently (it takes a huge amount of voltage away > just for the spark to cross the small air gap in the dist). The air gap really isn't all that lossy. It holds off voltage until it builds up to some point and then breaks down and carrys the current with very little voltage drop. This also has the effect of decreasing the voltage rise time at the plug, which often helps the plug fire. Some spark plugs used to come with an internal gap which had the same effect, except that putting the gap right near the tip makes the rise time enhancement much more effective. Spark voltage is a poorly understood thing. The fact is that there are 2 numbers that are relevant: the max voltage that the system can put out and the voltage that the spark plug will fire at. As long as the second is lower than the first, the plug will fire, and the system will not reach the highly touted system max. In other words, as long as we're just talking about voltage, if the 15kV system sparks on your car, the 40kV system will too, and at the same low voltage that the cheaper system did. - ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------- Too much? Digest! mailto:type3-d-request@vwtype3.org Subj=subscribe