A premium ignition upgrade using 21st Century Technology!
PERFORMANCE: Any Performance Engine builder and Racer will tell you the advantage of having advanced timing in the Lower & Mid RPM range. They will also tell you Advanced Timing quickly turns into a disadvantage as RPM increases, as cylinder pressures and combustion chamber temperatures increase. Imagine the advantage your engine would have if the timing was automatically RETARDED as the RPM progressively increased!
Well, you no longer have to imagine!
DESIGN BACKGROUND: The Thunderbolt replacement has been in the works at HewTech Electronics for nearly 3 years. Early design attempts offered no Performance advantage over the stock units. Although we viewed the attempt as a technical failure, that wasn’t actually the case. The original Thunderbolt ignition was a very good CDI & represented the state-of-the-art system from the 1970’s. Even today, it’s better than most factory units. Our disappointment was due to no noticeable Performance gains over the stock CDI. We knew our effort was more reliable (better technology), but we wanted the same Performance gain that all other FIREPLUG CDI’s offered. We held off, while other CDI projects took precedence, but we never gave up thinking about the Thunderbolt replacement CDI.
August 2004; An idea occurred, which seemingly was ideal for the Liquid Kohler / Mercury Twister engines. The concept allowed increased timing control over the entire RPM range. This is a necessity for Hi-Performance / Hi-Revving engines; Advanced timing at Lower & Mid-RPM for performance, while Retarding timing at upper RPM’s for control of detonation and increased heat in the pipe for higher RPM’s. The stock THUNDERBOLT retards the timing approximately 4~5-degrees over the RPM range. Additional range would be a significant advantage!
FIREPLUG A.R.C.
Our concept proved to be everything we expected. We developed the FIREPLUG A.R.C. (ADVANCE RETARD CONTROL) knowing that a wider range of timing control would be an advantage over the original Thunderbolt CDI system. We discussed the “ideal” RPM/Retard range with engine-builders from both drag racing and oval racing. We determined the ideal system would retard the timing 1-degree for every 1000 RPM’s. For Example: If your engine runs from 3000 RPM’s to 11,000 RPM’s, you would see approximately 8-degrees of retard at 11,000 RPM’s. This is nearly 70% more timing range than the original Thunderbolt system.
Another advantage is NO BATTERY required! The FIREPLUG A.R.C. plugs directly into your harness, no additional power required. A 100% stock replacement with all the ADVANTAGES!
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS!
The advantage is PERFORMANCE! Racers and Engine-builders alike can now take advantage of increased initial timing (stronger hole shots, mid-range pull, throttle response) without the worries of detonation at the higher RPM’s, because the FIREPLUG A.R.C. retards your timing automatically!
NOTE:
The FIREPLUG A.R.C. is 100% compatible with ALL Thunderbolt CDI systems, and will operate in place of any existing Thunderbolt CDI, with the advantage of more energy and higher reliability. When replacing the Thunderbolt used on the Kiekhaefer Engines (Black-hood Mercs & Bolens), the timing profile will be similar to stock. The Advance Retard Control for timing requires other Liquid Twister ignition components to perform this function.
