A few years back Jeff and I had a back and forth discussion about the relative merits (or LACK there of) of the Nology Hot wires. Here's a chunk of what I said at the time:
The upside, the Nology wires are really nicely made and the Beru spark
plugs they sell are very high quality but on the downside :
Nology claims :
"Anyone who had physics in college knows the formula for power. In this
case we're referring to ignition spark power. Power equals work
divided by time (P=W/t). Thus, to get more power, you need to do the same
amount of work in less time." Sounds simple enough! Manufacturers of
conventional ignition systems though, want you to believe that it is possible to increase the power of ignition systems by lengthening the spark duration. This is not true! Lengthening the spark duration actually reduces spark power, as we already know P=W/t (Power=Energy/Time). "
You don't have to be Richard Fenyman to realize their website is filled with loads of this pseudo science drivel. They've really jumped on the Short duration, POWERFUL spark bandwagon. This might be useful if you were welding, but it's been proven time and again that once the required energy level to start a stable flame kernel is reached, that additional energy serves no real purpose unless that energy can be extended or repeated.
CDI ignitions by design tend to produce very short duration sparks, which at anything but HIGH RPM tends to be a DISADVANTAGE. As a rule short duration sparks tend to produce flame kernels that at low speeds or lean mixtures are easily quenched regardless of how much energy was used to start them.
Two-strokes have the added disadvantage of poor mixture distribution at low speeds, and high levels of residual exhaust gas, which makes for localized lean pockets in the chamber that are difficult for a short duration spark to
fire reliably. It's not a coincidence that CDI units which produce multiple short duration sparks of variable duration based on RPM are the most common ignition sources in every serious form of racing. I learned a lot of these lessons over 20 years ago when I was testing the original Gerex Multi-spark ignitions, on air cooled turbo charged drag race motors. The published research that has been done since then has done nothing to dissuade me from my original thoughts on the subject.
Circle Track Magazine ( May, 1996 issue) test showed Nology "HotWires"
produced no additional horsepower (the test actually showed a 10 horsepower decrease when compared to stock carbon conductor wires). Circle Track tends to be one of the few magazines that does scientifically accurate, unbiased, real world testing.
Nology claims:
"When the spark occurs, all the thermal energy (heat) is transferred to the fuel/air mixture, where it initiates combustion. A
hotter spark will transfer more thermal energy and therefore accelerates flame front propagation. The fuel is used more efficiently and engine performance increases."
More pseudo science misinformation. My auto shop teacher in high school
used to go APE when someone said HOTTER spark around him. It took me
a few years to appreciate why he was so intolerant of this out of context
misrepresentation of basic principles, but I eventually learned. The
thermodynamics, and physics involved is pretty long and probably boring ,
so here's a few basic facts explaining ignition from the highly regarded
book
"Mixture Formation in Spark-Ignited Engines" by H.P. Lenz :
"In a spark-ignited engine, ignition normally occurs when a small portion of the mixture is caused to react by the passage of a spark at a temperature between 3000 degrees C and 6000 degrees C. The effect of heat is of SECONDARY importance, the decisive factors for initiating ignition are molecular excitation and ionization. "
While additional heat can have the effect of increasing flame speed once
ignition is started, there is no evidence that the Nology wire would
provide any additional heat, at the appropriate time.
As for the "THE SPARK LOOKS BIGGER TO ME" that doesn't mean a thing. But it has NEVER stopped a marketing weasel from putting it in an ad and attaching some outrageous,unsubstantiated claim to it.