Whether it's your daily driver, a weekend
warrior, or that show car sitting in the corner of the garage, one thing's for sure, we can
all appreciate a good running engine. One of the easiest and most beneficial upgrades
that you can do to get the most out of your ride is to upgrade the ignition system. But with so many choices and tons of options,
how do you know which ignition system is the best choice for your street vehicle? That's a good question, we all know the basics
of how an engine works, the air-fuel mixture is compressed into the cylinders, which is
then ignited by the ignition system. Just one small spark is all that's necessary
to combust the air-fuel mixture and complete the Powerstroke. So spark is spark right? Well not quite, most stock ignitions only
produce a single weak spark to fire the spark plug and that may be good enough for a stock
engine but it's not ideal if you really want to get the most out of your engine's potential. One of the easiest ways to take advantage
of increased spark energy is to install one of our ready to run or HEI style distributors. They act as a stand-alone ignition system
and can produce about 2.5 times the spark energy that your stock ignition does. Since the ignition is built right into the
distributor, you only need to connect a few wires to be up and running. Some models even allow you to fine tune the
ignition timing curve to match your engine's performance needs. if you've been around the automotive scene
at all, then I'm sure you've heard of MSD. Three simple letters, but do you know what
those letters stand for? Multiple Spark Discharge, it's a design that
was patented by MSD in the 1970s and you may also have heard that installing a multi-spark
ignition can give your engine more horsepower and better throttle response. Well, it's true but why? and how? Let's take a closer look at how a multi-spark
ignition works. At lower RPMs, an MSD ignition fires your
spark plug multiple times during each cycle, rather than just once like most OEM ignitions
do but that's not the only thing going on. Unlike stock inductive style ignition systems,
MSD ignitions incorporate capacitive discharge technology. Here the supplied voltage is stepped up to
as much as 535 volts, all compliments of a custom MSD transformer, then it's stored in
highly efficient capacitors. This multi-plug firing, combined with our
capacitive discharge technology produces a high powered spark which is then unleashed
to the coil at full output, no matter what the RPM. The hotter spark ensures that you'll experience
a smoother idle, better throttle response, and more complete combustion from idle, all
the way to the red line. A powerful spark is even more important when
you make performance upgrades to your engine. This can include adding an aftermarket intake,
better flowing cylinder heads, and less restrictive headers or exhaust systems. These engines will require more air and fuel
to maintain the correct air-fuel ratio. This is where the MSD ignitions really shine. With the combination of multiple spark and
capacitive discharge, our ignitions provide a stronger, hotter spark to completely ignite
your air-fuel mixture under these demanding conditions. So how do I get the benefits of multiple spark
and capacitive discharge technology? There are actually several ways that you can
take advantage. Our entry-level MSD 6A works on virtually
any vehicle utilizing the 12-18 volt electrical system with the distributor and coil. It can be triggered using breaker points,
a magnetic pickup, or the output of an electronic amplifier. The 6A is our budget minded analog ignition
and is designed for use on stock to slightly modified street machines, trucks, and street
rods. The powerful multi-spark capability of our
MSD 6A ensures complete combustion throughout the entire RPM range, along with benefits
like easier starting, improved throttle response, reduced plug fouling, more power, and even
increased fuel economy. MSD's 6AL shares the same circuitry as our
6A but with the addition of a built-in adjustable rev limiter. RPM control limits are adjusted in 100 RPM
increments and when the engine reaches a selected RPM limit, our soft touch circuitry begins
dropping spark to the various cylinders. Then on the next cycle, these plugs are fired
again to prevent fuel from loading up in the cylinders. This results in the smooth and accurate RPM
limiting action without backfires or blowbacks that could potentially cause damage to your
motor should you happen to miss a shift or have a catastrophic failure. The combination of powerful spark and the
ability to add a two-step rev limiter and safety of our soft touch rev control makes
the 6AL a perfect choice for the entry-level street-strip racer and is one of our most
popular CDI ignitions produced. For those of you that enjoy the simplicity
of the 6AL but also need to control timing on supercharged or turbocharged cars, our
MSD 6BTM has you covered. This analog ignition offers multiple spark,
capacitive discharge technology, and a high RPM rev limiter along with a built-in map
sensor that's able to detect boost pressures as well as the capability to retard timing
anywhere from 0 to 3 degrees per pound of boost. Our digital-6 plus is a step above the popular
6AL ignition, offering you additional features that put you in control of your engine's ignition. It uses MSD's high-speed RISC micro-controllers
to control ignition output while continually analyzing inputs such as supply voltage, trigger
signals, and RPMs. Our high-speed controller makes quick compensations
to the output voltage, multiple spark series timing and RPM limits in order to maintain
accurate timing signals to within a tenth of a degree and precise RPM limit accuracy. Our digital 6 plus uses soft touch rev control,
just like the 6AL but with two different RPM limits. Soft touch circuitry provides a smooth and
accurate rev limit by dropping the spark to individual cylinders and produces a load-free
rev limit. You can select two rev limiters, the first
limit can be used for staging and the second limit for top end overrev protection. Both RPM limits are adjustable externally
in 100 RPM increments with our easy to use rotary dial switches. There's also a single stage retard step that's
activated when 12 volts are applied. It remains active until 12 volts are removed,
the retard is adjustable from 0 to 9.9 degrees and it can be adjusted in tenth of a degree
increments. It's perfect for nitrous applications and
can be connected into a nitrous solenoid activation wire or your microswitch on the shifter. Depending on what you'll be triggering your
MSD box with, some of you may need the flexibility of a hall effects sensor input, the answer
to this need is the Digital 6AL-2 and our programmable 6AL-2. The 6AL-2 offers all the features of our digital
6 plus box in a more traditional MSD case while the programmable 6AL-2 is loaded with
features such as a three-step rev limiter, a single stage of timing retard for use with
nitrous, programmable timing curves, and a boost timing curve for supercharged or turbo
applications. The programmable digital 6AL-2 is easy to
set up using MSD's pro-data plus software right from your PC. Why wouldn't you want to increase spark energy
that results in a smoother idle, better throttle response, and more power? In the end, it just makes sense to add an
MSD ignition to your engine. Thanks for watching, I hope you found this
video helpful, to learn more about MSD distributors and ignition systems, or to watch more how-to
videos, visit our website at MSDPerformance.com
