I have seen many of these MSD 6al etc. boxes attached to firewalls and fenders of cars at car shows. Could someone let me know what the benefits and advantages are. They are a little pricey, but are they worth the money?

Thanks
Eric

 

a points an HEI system work just as well for a daily driver. THE MSD boxes help in the low and high RPM ranges with a consistent spark and have multiple spark per a piston at low RPM (I think under 2-3K) then it goes back to a single fire after that. Another advantage is a rev limiter. Some boxes you can add retard controls for NOS and other systems and easily wire kill switches to them also. I got one just to help with the low RPM's and it's seemed to help a lot with that and throttle response.

 

As noted, the primary reason for a Multi Spark Discharge box is to fire each plug multiple times per compression stroke. The intent was that with lean mixtures common when MSD boxes first came out, this would help avoid misfires. The reality is that unless you have a highly modified engine with high cylinder pressures, the MSD will not provide any measurable improvement in either performance or economy. Unless your stock ignition system was completely screwed up, there is no measurable HP improvement to be had from these expensive ignition upgrades. The benefits only come if the upgrades are being done to support other radical mods such as forced induction or nitrous.

You see a lot of them at car shows because the owners want to be sure you know how much money they spent on their cars, most of which have never turned a wheel on the track.

 

Its just something else introduced into your ignition system that will possibly fail and leave you on the side of the road. Usually during a freak frog floating rainstorm where its just barely not cold enough to snow. As Joe said you won't realize an increase in performance, just bragging rights that you have one.

 

Thanks for the input guys, I heard they improve throttle response but didn't know if it was worth the hassle. I have seen them mounted on the inner fender wells as well as on the back firewall and they do look good. I'd hate to have something leave us stranded that just isn't worth no added performance.
Cheers
Eric

 

I have a MSD programable box,plug it into your laptop to set timing curve, rev limiter, line lock etc etc. Its a neat product but I have had issues with it but since it's now made in China I think that's the problem.

MSD has been great to deal with and even sent me a replacement. As mentioned above unless your engine is highly modified keep it simple. A good brand name distributor and coil is all you need!

 

Or GM hei would be fine as well...

 

If you are a non drag racer you negatives guys are right! If you are a drag racer show some facts! I got a race track full of guys who use them. I have been using mine for over 13 years before it failed. Not bad beyond repair sent it in and was fixed at a fair price!

 

Do you have back-to-back run data with and without the MSD box, appropriately corrected for weather conditions? THAT would be information worth sharing.

 

They can keep plugs from fowling on supercharged or motors with big cams. I've used them on supercharged marine motors and helped with those issues.
Other than that, they seem to keep tow truck drivers in business.

 

I have 13 years of drag racing the same car same box over 800 passes. Three thousand street miles and yes i drove the car to the track!! What do you have?

 

Well I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night

 

You're missing the point.

Did you try any of those 800 passes with the MSD disconnected, to see whether it helped you at all?

Could be that your excellent success all of those 800 times was due entirely to your mechanical and driving skills, and not to the MSD at all.

Oh, and what Joe has is an engineering degree with over forty years of experience.
What do you have?

- Eric

 

I think Joe is well respected here and knows plenty of things i don't know!! That being said all you nay sayers are just full of bs on this subject saying they are bling bling and no help. If you use junk spark wires,if you use a crappy distributor, junk plugs, crappy coil!! Yes i think you may have problem and no improvement! I use the best wires,msd distributor,coil, and a 6al box never fail at track or on drive home. When mine quit it would run and the die after 4 to 5 minutes and wouldn't refire for around 10 min. This happened in my garage in the winter and i don't drive mine in snow. My car is a 1970 442. So i called MSD to find out what was wrong. They said send it in as some of the early ones {did} have a problem after a period of time but they had a repair to stop this. So i spent 80 bucks and sent it in. The distributors also had problems but i fixed mine with out using the upgrade repair. I figured out what was cause and effect.This was 01 when i bought dist. then had problems in 04. I thought it was carb at first then discovered what it was been good ever since.

 

 

First, if you go back and read my posts, I've said that the MSD is a good investment for a modified performance motor driven on the track. It has just about zero value for a street motor that never turns a tire at the strip. 99% of the cars at cruise night with MSD boxes have never been on a track.

Second, as Eric points out, you are completely missing my point. I was not criticizing your use of the MSD box or your success at the track. I was asking for back-to-back test data to either prove or disprove the value of the MSD box. Unfortunately, if you have never run the car in the identical configuration without the MSD, you have no idea if the box is really helping or is simply money wasted. I don't know - I'd like to find out. The butt dyno is notoriously inaccurate, as a lighter wallet ALWAYS makes the car feel faster.

Third, my comments about the value of an MSD are specifically for the basic multi-spark unit. I fully understand that newer boxes have additional features like variable spark advance, programmed retard for nitrous applications, rev limiter, etc. The value of these functions is not what I'm talking about (and again, probably are not required or used by 99% of the people running these units).

Finally, the value of any performance modification can only be verified by back-to-back testing, preferably at the track but also on a dyno. Again, any such comparison tests need to be corrected for factors such as air pressure, temperature, humidity, traction, etc, etc, to ensure that the ONLY variability is from the specific change being tested. This is how professional racers dial in their combinations. Unfortunately, most people don't have the time or equipment needed to perform such testing and usually fall back on the butt dyno.

 

wr1970,
I actually agree with you on a non stock motor. MSD does a great job at keeping plugs clean on hi performance/supercharged motors.
And yes, MSD will rebuild their failed boxes at a big discount.
That being said, yours failed some time during 3000 miles and 800 passes. Kinda what my experience has been with them in marine motors, including new ones. Granted some of those were due to a 12V battery feed wire that was too small.
So yeah, they have their place where needed. But on a relatively stock motor, be honest, any upside?

 

It seems some guys have had decent luck with these boxes and some not. I myself like the bling bling so to speak, I don't have much to show off but what I do have I'm very proud of and like it to look good. I work hard for the $$ and do like things, any little bit of performance is always nice if its affordable and comes with a bling to it. I realize now reading through most of the comments, is that they are aimed more for the serious racer, not so much for the street. I recently purchased a new set of Taylor Thundervolt 8.2 wires along with a new MSD cap and rotor. I ran the 8.0 Taylor spiro pro wires last summer along with a accel coil and accel module. My enjoyment is in purchasing parts over the winter so I have something to do in through the summer. My enjoyment is little changes and upgrades each year at this point .
Thanks for all your input
Cheers
Eric

 

Joe the motor was mild build 461 e heads no bowl work on heads hs rockers performer intake 496 lift cam and a 750 demon carb. I call that very mild and warmed over! I read your post a agree somewhat with what you are saying. I know they had some parts that failed. Name parts that don't at some point in time. To say they have little to no benefit is wrong and with no facts to base that on. A guy who plans to run a car at the drag strip and street does this. One eliminate weak links where ever possible to make car consistent.Two buy good products and talk to guys who use them parts for what you are thinking of using for strip /street. Why i had more problems with accelerator cables than any thing. I hope to go solid rod soon.I have my slips and years with these parts was a no brainer after talking to other street/ strip guys in the first place. I have upgraded to a different engine and plan on using same systems and drive the car to the track.It will be a 468 with 569 lift cam hs rockers and 850 demon carb. Still not a highly modified eng and will run close to mid 11's. Still saying bling bling is bs Jmo. Thank you have good day guys.

 

We're in complete agreement on this. That's also my point - 99% of the cars you see at cruise night that have MSD, or stainless braided hoses, or whatever only have those parts for the bling factor. I'd rather put my money into parts that make the car run better.