Magnecor ignition wires

[tgv121281]

Okay, got some more info...SPoke w/ Jeff, again...

Here's the deal....the package I'm getting does NOT include the "Powe Cores"....But for only $320 he can send them to me right away!!!(Imagine my reaction...a few choice words were said..lets leave it there..) Anyway, so I basically told him to expect the kit sent right back to him b/c I'm not spending $600 on this crap for hardly any gains... Here's his response:

"Listen, you cant just go to Autozone to get ignition componets of this magnatude...If you want to just replace your plugs for maint. reaosns..then go ahead otherwise if you want gains then you gotta invest $$."

So I explained to him that I was gonna dyno these before and after and asked what gains I should expect to see WITHOUT the Power Cores. Again His response is:

"Listen, from our results we've documented a 2%-5% hp increase over stock...and almost 7%-10% WITH the Power Cores. However, it can be more or less depending on your vehicle.."

So I told him I knew he was gonna say that to CYA(cover his ass), and I'm not buying. Again, his response:

"I tell you what, we tested the foucs and saw MORE than these gains in most cases...so here's the deal...If they DO fit and install is ok. And you can show me a before/after dyno that doesnt show AT LEAST 3% Gain, OR even if you do get the gains and arent in love w/ the better throttle response....I'll gladly refund you your $$$...wont even ask you to show me the proof..I'll just take you're word. Thats how confident I am about it. And IF you do see what I'm telling you, and agree to post your experience on your site(this forum), I'll drop the Power Cores to almost half the price and write it off as some kind of spoonsorship. Do we have a deal?"

I said yes, and am anxious to either prove this guy wrong and abuse him...or have a hell of alot of fun tearing up the streets...as always keep you all posted on the status, feel free to comment/opinion in the meantime...

 

[ultimazda3]

tgv121281 you are quite a trooper my friend , however i am somewhate jelous, i have a feeling WITH the power cores you will probably notice a difference, this is completely speculation though, but 320 is quite expensive but the deal he is giving you is very good at half off, i still think he overcharged you for the wires because nopi sells them for 200bux which is 30 less than you payed, but i guess it evens it self out in the end.... I am definitely awaiting your results because i would love to get these if they even give us a 5whp difference not to mention better mpg, but maybe would could get a group buy so we dont have to pay 320 +230= 550 + shipping

 

[Badger Biker]

VERY interesting.

subscribed.

 

[ultimazda3]

hmm i found out something else, i was wrong about nology not selling the products on their site they do but they are a little hard to find, however i see that they have the power core that you were quoted at 320 for only 244, so i dont know why he told you 320 when on their website it shows 244 for the same application. however this lowers the price of the total cost because if someone were to buy the wires from nopi.com at $202 and the power cores from nology at 244 you are only talking about 446 + shipping without even doing a group buy.

 

[tgv121281]

Okay, got the wires, mountign bracket, and all grounds yesterday... Everything's in good shape, NO DIRECTIONS whatso ever. I printed the Foucs install and plan to work with those for now. I'm going to do my dyno hopefully in about an hour, then I'm going home to do some test fitting. I'm basically gonna remove the coils to make sore they fit on the wires, and to make sure the wires fit on the engine....Then I'll find some grounding points. If all is well, I'll leave it on mocked(cant spell) up, and take my SUV to work so I can do the install quickly Monday night. All I'm waiting on from Nology is the actual harness for the coils which allows you to move them to another area of the engine bay....Which SHOULD be a 1,2,3, thing if I accomplish what I mentioned above. I'll keep you all posted.

Oh and as for the pricing, I'm gonna let him have it.. I guess thats what you get for not looking around first...Its just that I called them every week waiting for them to release the wires for the 3, then finally they told me the focus ones would work and I ordered on the phone w/out looking around b/c I didnt want to order Focus parts from another site an dthen not be able to reutn them if they didnt fit(you knwo how they are sometimes...) But I will bring both pricing differences to his attention IF these do work(yes I'm still skeptical), b/c IF they do then I'll let you all know and I'll try and get a group buy going for us...Then after the group buy I'll ask him to also drop the diff for me as well.....(B/C the group buy price should be less than the NOPI price anyway...so it wont matter for you all, so basically I'm gonna tell him to take $20 bucks off of whatever I order to make up fo it...)

I feel like I should say something like 1small step for Man, 1 giant leap for Mazda-kind...but Lets just see what happens 1st b4 jumping to conclusions...Like I said, the package they sent me looks like it should do the trick...but fitting is only 1/2 the battle...performance is the rest!

 

[tgv121281]

Update

Ok, things are looking very good at this point. It was NOT simple, but after I mocked it all up and took some risks it got slightly easier.... Here's some info:

-The wires fit over the plugs even better than the coils did!

-The coil packs have to be completely disassembled(CANNOT BE UNDONE)

-You need to modify(bang the crap out of it w/ a hammer) the aluminum manifold that sits in the back of the engine(between the firewall and actual engine)

-You have to be "Creative" with running the wires from the plugs to the coils to avoid damaging anything, and you have to be espescially "creative" if you want to use that plastic engine cover again.

-Forget about directions, you cant print the ones on the Nology site for the Focus, and the set only comes with directions for exchanging wires-NOT the coil/wire conversion. (Not to worry, after trial and error, and 4hours of pain-I was able to pretty much rule out most scenarios, and learn some things that will save others some time--at my expense of course.

There's probably some things that I'm not listing that you guys want to know so ask away b/c I'm at work and cant really do a "How-to" right now...

The harness to connect the coils back to the ecu (extension cord if you will) is "supposed" to be waiting for me when I get home and I'll attempt to complete install.

Hope this is helping someone besides me....

 

[Badger Biker]

I'll be watching this thread with great interest. Any pictures you can take would be greatly helpful as well. Thanks for being the tester for this - it is really appreciated!

Good luck!

 

[tgv121281]

PS-I almost forgot, while I had it mocked up I found a way to fire up the engine w/ the wires....So har I can tell you this:

-Sounds a little more agressive (mostly in the higher RPMS....4.5k-6.5k)

-That lag from the electronic throttle feels greatly improved(and that was before I gounded the wires)

-Only drove the car a block or 2 like that, but feels alot crisper, shifts are smother yet feel like they pull a little harder

-Cant really speak about any gains, feels good...but if there are gains I'm sure they are minimal....

Sooooo, not sure if its a "worthwhile" investment yet, but seems like it after 1block of driving, and after knowing what I know NOW about the install...

 

[tgv121281]

Thanks Badger, I'm gonna take some pics tonight w/ my camera phone to give you guys an idea...

But please help me out guys...eventually I'll get around to doing a full "how-to" or walkthrough or whatever you call it....but for now please tell me what you want pics/answers of and I'll do my best to respond to it throughout the day...thanks!

 

[Badger Biker]

Well , my major question has to do with the hammer bit.

Are you talking about beating down that metal heat sheild over the headers?

Do you think Nology will be offering a mazda3 specific kit/instructions in the future?

 

[tgv121281]

Well, I cant say for sure on behalf of Nology, but judging by the way they sound...I'd say probably not...

As for the beat down...I exaggerated that a bit...Yes I guess its a heat shield, but its only a 3" piece of it and only about 1/4(actually less) that you need to bang it down....NOT a big deal at all...just need to finesse it a little.
Trust me, if I can do this....anyone can do it...for the record this is the 1st car I've ever modified/taken a wrench to. The easiest way is to take the relocating bracket(a 10" x 3" recatngular piece of metal), put it right where it mounts on the heat shield and then hammer the bar down which will bend the heatshield slightly homw you need it...

Hope this helps...

 

[tgv121281]

Ok well there were no other requests, so I'm gone for the day. Wish me luck all...here goes nothing!

 

[2004MZ3GT]

so are the coils sitting directly over the exhaust manifold?

 

[goldwing2000]

so are the coils sitting directly over the exhaust manifold?

Good question. Heat+Electronics=Death

 

[ultimazda3]

hmm, when you said you took the car around the block, but werent sure if you could tell the difference, were the power cores hooked up, or were only the wires being used? i would purchase it even if it only helped improve throttle response..... also i think these spark plugs would help www.e3sparkplugs.com but they dont have a listing for the 3s 2.3liter, but they do have one for the 6 2.3liter, however when i emailed them they said it would not work because the 3 2.3 liter engine has a colder heat range than the 6 does but i dont know how because is it not the same engine??

 

[tgv121281]

Success!!!!!!!!!!

#1-OKay 1st to answer those questions...No, the COILS do not sit directly on the exhaust mani., the mounting bracket for the coils does. Meaning the coils themselves are sitting about 2"-2 1/2" over the mani. The coils end up being about 1/2"-1" over the valve cover.

#2-As you can see below I did not purchase the power cores yet. But when I drove it around the block, I had everything connected, except for the harness that acts as an extension cord when you relocate the coils...so basically I removed the coils..dropped in the wires..hooked the wires up to the coils and zip tied it all down to the valve cover to avoid any moving parts.


As for the install...its is COMPLETED, and IMO well worth it regardless of what the dyno will reflect. The throttle response feels greatly improved, and the car feels alot more "frisky" in the upper RPM's(namely 4500 and up).
I'll have to let the tank run down to let you all know about MPG, but I assume it'll be better as well.

I didnt have alot of time, but I was able to rag on the car a bit...and it FEELS(butt dyno) like a slight performance gain...I'd say more TQ than HP...but thats fine by me. I confirmed this w/ 2 other people that have driven my car a bit, to make sure I wasnt being biased, and they both agreed.

The install, if on a mechanic's scale of 1-10 you consider yourself a 4-5, then this should be realitvely easy for you...If you're a beginner w/ engines, but are decently handy (around the house, etc..and know how to use basic hand tools) this will also be fairly simple since you'll now be able to avoid almost any problems since you can just ask me, or read what I post. And if you are experienced w/ cars then you'll probably think that I'm an idiot for not knowing some things offhand....but hey, for myself I consider this a pretty tough mod, and its completed...by me, no help, no advice...

 

[Badger Biker]

Glad to hear things are working out. Can't wait to see pictures of everything!

 

[timt]

I ordered the Nology wires and should have them in a couple days....
They DO relocate the coil packs to another part in the engine bay, and then run the wires from the coil packs to the plugs. The packages costs $230 PLUS shipping....These are actually for the focus, but Nology claims they have tested on the 3 and they work. Either way its a full refund so we'll see. Also, per Nology, moving the coilpack away from the sparks and then running wires actually makes an even larger spark than with just the nology wires(dont ask me how)......I'll let you guys know, and of course they come in 7diff colors...I ordered the blue...

This doesn't make sense. Wire resistance cause's a voltage DROP, not an increase. The only way you could see an improved spark voltage would be that the coil used produces it. This is possible and why you see coil replacement parts in the first place. But it is NOT the wires that produce a bigger spark; they may transmit a spark more efficiently, but they don't per se make a bigger spark.

 

[tgv121281]

Ok I stand corrected, it "transmits" it more efficiently-thank you...either way they work and its noticeable


Badger, my G/F is clearing out the memory card from the digi-cam right now....I'll be taking pics soon....I tried w/ the camera phone last noght but it was too dark...Not gonna happen tonight either as I have plans. But it will happen tomm. Either in the am, and I'll post in the afternoon, or most likely in the PM and I'll post the next morning.....

 

[ultimazda3]

i would like to see what the results are with the power cores if there is a "noticable" difference without them, are you going to purchase them or leave it as is with the wires only?