Jacobs Electronic Ignition

Engine enhancement products seem to be thrown into our faces at every turn. Better spark plugs, thicker wires, engine additives to run smother. I will admit I have tried just about all of them looking for cheap performance upgrades with very little noticeable power or fuel savings.

One route I have never gone is with hot coils and ignition products, so it was with a skeptical eye that I installed the complete Ultra Team ignition from Jacobs Electronics. The kit comes complete with wires, coil, Energy pack, wire separators and wiring.

The first thing I noticed was how simple the unit was to install, this is a truly bolt in kit. About half an hour and the complete system was under the hood. Jacobs recommends the plugs be regapped to .054 for our specific application and this took longer than installing the other components.

Another thing I noticed was how tight the boots on the wires fit over the spark plugs. You need to squeeze the air out of the boots to get them tight over the plugs. Can you say watertight?!

Once started, the truck just sounded different, I can't quite explain it—you should find out for yourself. The day after the install I headed for the BC Ferries for a road trip to Squamish. This is usually the worst time to do any upgrades as far as I'm concerned. You just never know. Once out on the road at 6:00AM a smile started to creep onto my face as I started passing cars working my way out to the terminal. We are talking noticeable power gains. Now a CJ with 4:56 gears is no Ferrari, but passing cars just seemed near effortless, and that sound!

My final destination was Squamish, BC, for a rally in a sandpit with the Lionsgaters Four Wheel Drive Society, and well, to top off my smile for the weekend I won the rally! Now I can't give this system all the credit I do have the habit of driving a little more aggressively than some, but I will say through all the water, sand and mud, the truck did perform well. I was so impressed with the power gains I seem to have forgotten about the road fuel gains as blasting around a sandpit is no way to test fuel economy. We found approximately a 15% gain in fuel efficiency, which will recover the cost of the system in a reasonable timeframe.

The system we have installed will fit into any vehicle containing the Ford duraspark ignition, which covers:

• AMC 77-88
• Ford 75-91
• Ford trucks 75-90
• Jeep 78-92
• Lincoln 75-84
• Mercury 75-91

The interesting part is, displacement isn't a factor—just the ignition type, making these systems swappable (with the corresponding plug wires) between quite a few different vehicle types.

The basis for the improvements lies in the spark management. Stock coils provide the same amount of spark for combustion regardless of RPM, same spark at 800 as 5000. The Jacobs system provides a constantly increasing spark output the higher the RPM making fuel burn more complete creating higher combustion rates and better fuel burn which in turn creates higher horsepower ratings and better fuel economy especially on a carborated engine.

Jacobs also offers less expensive units then the one we tested this month and we will be bringing you a comparison with there Omni Magnum system soon. North Shore Off-Road carries a full line of Jacobs systems and sell the Ultra Team For approx. $650.00 for the complete package. The Omni Magnum we will be testing next is less expensive by about $100.00.

Even if you are only in the market for new plug wires, they can be purchased separately as well. For more information on these and other products from Jacobs Electronics, call 1-800-627-8800, and be sure to mention this article.

jacobs01.jpg	jacobs02.jpg	jacobs03.jpg
jacobs04.jpg	jacobs05.jpg