# Horsepower Gain from Pertronix Ignitor III



## xcmac26 (Dec 1, 2008)

I've heard and read the claims of increased HP from the ignitor III (which makes perfect sense) but haven't found a dyno chart anywhere online. Anyone have an idea of the actual gain from one of these units? Preferably someone who's done a before and after dyno run.


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

much like the claims some spark plug manufacturers make, the only way you will gain horsepwer is if your old points system was faulty or out of adjustment. a properly tuned points system will produce equal HP to an electronic ignition. the benifit of electronic ignition is that there is no tuning. no dwell meter etc. SIMPLICITY RELIABILITY. no hp gain.


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

they may have addressed this, but the ignitor i ran back in the day had stiff wires running to it. when the vacuum advance moves the ignitor it caused the wires to flex back and forth and eventually break.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

Here's the claim:

'The Pertronix Ignitor III is the advanced points replacement kit. It is literally an ignition box inside your distributor. It features multiple sparks throughout the entire RPM range and a high resolution REV limiter accurate to +/- 50 RPM which is set by the user. The Ignitor III module generates 5 times more spark than points. This of course means more spark energy creating more horsepower and better mileage. Ignition box performance without the box."

By reading the above, it appears to me that, how could it not increase hp. A hotter spark that generates a better more complete burn should equal more hp, IMO. Exactly how much is another story. You would have to dyno before and after to get exact numbers like was originally asked by the OP. With this unit you also need to run a hotter coil......

They did address the stiff wires.


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## Old Goat 67 (Feb 2, 2009)

Sounds like P T Barnum is still alive.


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## xcmac26 (Dec 1, 2008)

spark is spark, you'll get it from any plug, wire, ignition system, etc. however, spark advance at higher rpm WILL increase HP. That's how little 600cc motorcycles are pumping out over 120 horses these days at 16000+ rpm. 

so...anyone have an answer?


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

You're missing the point, it provides MULTPUL sparks per compression stoke. This burns more of the fuel in the cyl making more power.
Every person I've installed an MSD unit into was impressed with the faster starts and increased seat of your pants performance indicator. No dyno runs though.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

I think it would not increase power UNLESS you had a marginal points/condensor set-up to begin with. If your plugs are all firing, and you have no sign of misfire, multiple sparks at the same time would make no real difference. I Ithink if you had partially fouled plugs, the hotter multiple spark set-up would give you an advantage. In cold weather, it would probably give a faster start-up and more complete burn. Probably. Sort of like synthetic oil: no real advantage, except when it gets really hot: mineral based oil cokes up at high temps, synthetic doesn't, so if you overheat, you have an extra margin of safety for your engine. I run stock Delco DP!!2P points in both of my GTO's, and have for thirty years without problems. Problem now is finding quality ignition points these days! Main advantage I see is no maintenence, no dwell change as points wear, and convenience. Probably a good upgrade, just one I never seem to get around to.


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## 646904GTO (Feb 10, 2008)

The advantage of the electronic trigger over the points/condenser set is that the 'dwell' (look up 'coil saturation')is not variable. Thus more consistent and equal ignition time for each firing cylinder. So you get better performance because the 'burn time' of each cylinder is the same. Of course that is directly related to the carb tune and manifold flow. Short answer yes it is a better more reliable system. Happy new year all!


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

646904GTO said:


> The advantage of the electronic trigger over the points/condenser set is that the 'dwell' (look up 'coil saturation')is not variable. Thus more consistent and equal ignition time for each firing cylinder. So you get better performance because the 'burn time' of each cylinder is the same. Of course that is directly related to the carb tune and manifold flow. Short answer yes it is a better more reliable system. Happy new year all!


Short answer yes it is a better more reliable system

the reason you dont see a dyno comparison is that there is an insignificant difference if any at all. i can assure you that if there were substantial gains pertronics would pop an engine on the dyno and show you.


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

xcmac26 said:


> spark is spark, you'll get it from any plug, wire, ignition system, etc. however, spark advance at higher rpm WILL increase HP. That's how little 600cc motorcycles are pumping out over 120 horses these days at 16000+ rpm.
> 
> so...anyone have an answer?


if you could make a 389 turn 16000 rpm it would probably make 1500HP. good luck!


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## xcmac26 (Dec 1, 2008)

true, but if your spark is a few milliseconds early at say 4000 rpm, you get pre-ignition and a more powerful downstroke resulting from spark advance. without spark advance, your HP and torque curves die off significantly earlier in the rev range.

I have a feeling, given the current state of my ignition system, a new coil, plugs, wires and pertronix III is going to really boost things up a notch or 10.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

geeteeohguy said:


> Sort of like synthetic oil: no real advantage, except when it gets really hot: mineral based oil cokes up at high temps, synthetic doesn't, so if you overheat, you have an extra margin of safety for your engine.


Oh no!!!! Not another synthetic vs conventional oil debate! Actually, I think we've had numerous threads on that subject. Synthetic oil works good in the cold too. Much easier to turn the motor over with synthetic on those cold mornings in my DD's(yes, I run it in my goat too, including the tranny and rearend)......

As far as the Pertronix Ignitor III, all I know is, it woke up my engine. More power, runs cleaner/smoother. That's all that matters to me..... And no maintenance..:cool


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

xcmac26 said:


> spark is spark, you'll get it from any plug, wire, ignition system, etc. however, spark advance at higher rpm WILL increase HP. That's how little 600cc motorcycles are pumping out over 120 horses these days at 16000+ rpm.
> 
> so...anyone have an answer?



is this what you are talking about?

'The Pertronix Ignitor III is the advanced points replacement kit.


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## xcmac26 (Dec 1, 2008)

that's the unit i'm speaking of, yes.

just hoping for a before and after hp comparison with the same motor and no other mods other than new plugs and wires.

guess nothing like that exists. May need to go do a pitiful dyno run to see what happens. I'll keep you guys in the loop.


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

'The Pertronix Ignitor III is the "advanced" points replacement kit.[/QUOTE]

this is just refering to the fact that it is technologically advanced because it includes the rev limiter and multiple spark.


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## xcmac26 (Dec 1, 2008)

And eliminates maintenance required from points. As an american, i like convenience :lol:


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## Pantera (May 30, 2010)

I installed an Ignitor III and a Blaster III coil a few weeks ago and the car has never ran better. I was running dual points before and have used them for decades so I know how to get the best from them. I was really surprised that the Ignitor III made a noticeable difference. For backup I bought an extra Ignitor III to keep in the car. 

The best testing report I’ve seen on the web is here PerTronix Track Test They didn’t test the Ignitor III but the results for the Ignitor and Ignitor II are interesting.


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

thanks for the link, thats a little surprising.


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## Pantera (May 30, 2010)

I don’t own a GTO but I found this thread when I was researching electronic ignition solutions and trying to decide what would be the best replacement for my dual points. From my experience I think Pertronix did a great job on the engineering of the Ignitor III and wanted to pass on the real world testing results I found. From the way my car is running with the Ignitor III the test results are not surprising to me.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

Pantera said:


> I don’t own a GTO but I found this thread when I was researching electronic ignition solutions and trying to decide what would be the best replacement for my dual points. From my experience I think Pertronix did a great job on the engineering of the Ignitor III and wanted to pass on the real world testing results I found. *From the way my car is running with the Ignitor III the test results are not surprising to me*.


Me neither.....


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## xcmac26 (Dec 1, 2008)

it's kind of disappointing that i started this thread months ago, and thanks to the backorder on the flamethrower coil i STILL haven't gotten everything installed and will spend the next several months away from my baby...i mean car.

and troy, thanks for the delivery offer, but with the amount of paint overspray here, i really don't think i want it around. I'll let the truck get spotty and wet sand it later. :willy:


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