Aurora Ignition Wires.com

1.  My vehicle is equipped with carbon core ignition wires. What's wrong with them?

Carbon core wires, as their name suggests, have a center conductor made of powdered graphite (carbon). This wire is favored by many manufacturers, even to this day, because it is inexpensive to produce, offers somewhat acceptable vehicle performance, and must be replaced regularly. Carbon core wire, however, has high electrical resistance to ensure proper radio reception and interference-free computer operation. As electrical resistance increases, the ability of electrical current to flow through the wire decreases. This means that less current flows from the vehicle's ignition system to the spark plugs. The end result is less than optimum performance in terms of both horsepower/torque and fuel mileage.

Carbon core wire is prone to internal degradation of the graphite core, due to heat and vibration found in the engine compartment. The major problem associated with core breakdown is that, as the graphite degrades, electrical resistance in the wire further increases. As the process of core degeneration (and its inevitable result of poorer performance) is rather gradual and occurs over time, it can go unnoticed by the vehicle operator. That is why manufacturers recommend that this type of wire be replaced approximately every 2 years, whether or not there are obvious external signs of ignition wire damage.

2.  Is there an alternative to carbon core ignition wires?

Yes there is. Properly shielded metal core wire offers performance advantages not seen with traditional carbon core (afterall, carbon core is 1950's technology!). Metal core permits much more spark energy to flow from the ignition coil to the spark plugs, resulting in a hotter, more intense spark. Note that the operative phrase is 'properly shielded'. The suppression of RFI signals (radio frequency interference) and EMI signals (electromagnetic interference) are paramount for the proper operation of today's computer controlled vehicles. Without proper suppression, poorly shielded metal core ignition wires will only result in disappointment and drivability problems.

3.  Why are Aurora ignition wires better than carbon core?

Unlike carbon core, Aurora's center conductor is a spiral wound stainless steel wire. In addition to its impressive electrical conductivity (7-15 times more effective in conducting current than carbon core), the Aurora conductor is totally unaffected by heat or vibration. This means that electrical conductivity, directly linked to vehicle performance, remains the same whether the wire is brand new or many years old.

4.  How can vehicle performance be improved with Aurora ignition wires?

The ability to produce and deliver a high voltage, high current spark results in better combustion of fuel. The better the combustion, the more horsepower is produced, and the more efficient is the usage of fuel. Producing and delivering that type of spark energy is dependent on two main factors:

a) the actual production of the electrical current is a function of the capability of the vehicle's ignition system, and....

b) regardless of the quality and output of the ignition system, as much of the electrical energy as possible must be transferred from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. That is why spark plug wires are and should be treated as crucial conduits of electrical energy.

Increasing vehicle performance, with the use of low resistance ignition wires,  is a hot topic of conversation. Many swear by it and, a few, argue that its impossible ... the wires are only freeing the horsepower that the engine is capable of producing. In reality, everyone is arguing the same thing. Ignition wires don't make horsepower that isn't there in the first place (that's for certain) but without proper ones, your engine is effectively strangled.  

5.  Is it true that radio reception and computer operation are affected by metal core wire?

Aurora ignition wires should not be confused with so called metal core wire used a long time ago in the automotive industry and still used today in some racing applications, where suppression of RFI and EMI signals was/is not a concern. Aurora wires are a true hybrid wire. That is, they offer the  performance benefits of metal core wire while offering the suppression benefits normally associated with carbon core wire. Aurora wires are guaranteed not to affect radio reception or the operation of onboard vehicle computers. Our wires are used daily by police vehicles, ambulances and taxis where proper radio reception and vehicle operation are not just required.... they are crucial.

6.  I see that there are many metal core ignition wires on the market. Why should I choose Aurora?

If there is one thing for certain, it is that every manufacturer claims their wires are the best. In reality, it is the consumer that makes that decision. You can read the claims, you can understand the logic and you can compare the features and prices. The bottom line though, is that wires are not the 'best' unless you, the consumer, believe that they are. Why consider Aurora then?

There are 3 reasons why Aurora stands out from the competition. Other manufacturers might match Aurora with one of the following but to our knowledge, no one comes even close to Aurora in offering all 3....

a) Do you test every ignition lead for proper resistance? 

The center conductor of an ignition wire (whether carbon core or metal core) is manufactured in a continuous length, which may be miles long. Two problems can occur in the manufacturing process which can lead to a defective ignition wire, in terms of proper electrical resistance:

Splices - center conductors are often spliced together to make a longer continuous conductor. If you are unfortunate enough to receive a set of ignition wires that contain a splice, the resistance of the affected wire will be many times higher than advertised. It is not uncommon to see resistances 10 to over 100 times higher in these cases. Wire manufacturers, who build for speed and economy, do not check individual wires for proper resistance because time is money and lost time is lost profit. How does this affect you? You purchased a performance wire set for just that - better performance. A bad ignition lead will drag down the performance of your vehicle as surely as any other problem. You might spend hundreds of additional dollars trouble shooting the problem, if you even suspect there is a problem. You might, on the other hand, accept the performance as is and regret buying the wire set. Who would suspect that a brand new wire set might be defective? Shops love to troubleshoot for an hour or two, even if they quickly find the obvious. Why should you, the consumer, pay to troubleshoot a manufacturing problem? That's the job of the manufacturer! If they say 'Its not a problem with our wires' then only one of two things is possible... either they never check for problems or feel the number of problems they encounter is 'acceptable'. The only sure way of knowing the extent of resistance related problems is to check every lead and the only sure way of correcting EVERY problem is again in the checking of each lead.  

Severed conductors - ignition wires are cut to length by machine and the center conductor exposed in the same process. As the center conductor is one continuous length, cutting into that conductor during the stripping process will result in electrical resistances 10's or 100's of times higher than it should be. Severed conductors are not at all uncommon and are usually the result of stripping machines not set up properly to consistently cut cleanly. A manufacturer can build thousands of sets with no problems but it only takes one wire to ruin a set...its worse when that one wire is in the set YOU bought. Don't let manufacturers off the hook on this one... its a serious enough problem that every lead should be bench tested. Quality control is something Aurora takes very seriously. Its simple at Aurora .... any defective wires are discarded and replaced.

b)  Do you offer warranties for commercial use? 

You may ask why this point is important if I am buying a wire set for personal use? The answer is in the proper construction of the ignition wires. Most wire manufacturers offer no warranty or very limited ones (e.g. 90 days) for commercial usage. They offer what looks like good warranties for personal use, knowing that a large majority of vehicles average no more than 10-15,000 miles/year and frequently run shorter trips, where the engine hardly has the chance to warm up properly. Commercial vehicles, on the other hand, such as police, ambulance, taxi and couriers often run round the clock and for most of the year. The challenges in building a wire set that can stand up to this high heat environment are far more complex and expensive than building a set for the average person's car. Only the highest quality and heat rated components will consistently survive the extremes found in many commercial use situations. Aurora has always taken the view that if a wire set is built properly, why not give commercial use the exact same lifetime warranty as for personal use? Day in and day out, Aurora wires are used on high mileage police and taxi fleets and day in and day out, they perform as expected. Ask any other wire manufacturer why they don't offer long commercial warranties and don't accept the reason 'Because they don't want one'. Everyone wants and expects quality and longevity from a wire set. You may never run a vehicle as long and hard as a police car or taxi but isn't it nice to know that you could?

c) Do you have a single lead program so I can just buy one?

You purchased a performance wire set. One day your vehicle is running roughly. Opening the hood you find a wire that accidentally touched the exhaust manifold and burned through. You might have inadvertently spilled brake fluid on a lead and over time the jacket swelled and split. Going back to your retailer you find that you can't purchase a single lead but must buy a whole new set. Suddenly, that wire set wasn't much of a bargain. Ask any prospective wire manufacturer if they offer a single lead program so you can just purchase one or two.... accidents do happen. All ignition wire sets offered by Aurora have leads which may be purchased individually. You may never need this security but on the other hand.... that's why they call them 'accidents'. 

7.  Does Aurora offer ceramic boots for high temperature applications?

The short answer is no. Ceramic boots are offered as expensive 'cures' for  high temperature applications where poor quality silicone or rubber boots burn. Ceramic offers no advantage whatsoever over the high temperature silicone boots that Aurora offers. The reason is simple. Ceramic material is a conductor of heat and will get near as hot as the engine components it is adjacent to. Although the ceramic boot can withstand the heat, the Achilles heel of this type of arrangement is that the wire entering the boot will burn. It makes no sense having a boot capable of withstanding 1200° if the wire burns at 500°. Aurora only uses high grade silicone materials that offer more than adequate protection for high heat applications such as RVs, propane conversions or round the clock emergency and service vehicles.

In emergencies, burned boots can be replaced. When the wire burns off in a ceramic boot, the only option is to purchase a new wire (if you can). We see disillusioned customers time and time again switching back to conventional wires when they find that ceramic boots were not the cure for their problems of excessive heat. 

8.  I have an application for which it is very difficult to find a proper fitting wire set. Any suggestions?

Absolutely. Sudden Impact Performance is pleased to offer Aurora's  custom wire building service. Whether you have a project car,  transplant engine, wire routing problem, older vehicle or whatever, Aurora can build a custom wire set for you. The advantages are obvious.... same quality, perfect fit, a beautiful look, quick delivery, and at usually no additional cost!

9.  I accidentally damaged a wire. Can I just buy one replacement?

Yes you can. You can buy as many single leads as you require or even just  the individual wire building/repair components such as bulk wire, boots and terminals. Before buying ANY wire set, you should always check with the manufacturer if single leads can be purchased. Accidents do happen and you don't want to be in a situation where an entire new set must be bought,  just because one lead was damaged.

10. For all the features of Aurora wires, they seem relatively  inexpensive. Why is that?

There are a variety of reasons for this. First, Sudden Impact buys direct from the Aurora factory and therefore reduces the costs associated with price markups made by middlemen. Secondly, Aurora is a 'niche' company. They are large enough to provide an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) ignition wire selection that rivals the largest competitor, but are small enough  to provide custom building services and to maintain a flexible manufacturing approach. Many wire sets offered by vehicle manufacturers or aftermarket suppliers are not priced on the basis of the cost of manufacturing and the profit margin required. Quite often, the criteria used is the popularity of the set (the less popular, the more expensive) or, how much they think the consumer will pay (expensive cars get expensive wire sets!). At Aurora, because of their manufacturing flexibility, wire sets for a 12 cylinder Jaguar or a VTEC Honda are no more difficult to build or maintain stock on than a good old Chevy 350. Consequently, Aurora prices their wire sets realistically.

All Aurora wire sets, without exception, use the exact same high quality components. Before you buy a $200 or $300 (or more) wire set for your vehicle, find out why it is so expensive. Then check our catalog listings. You will be pleasantly surprised. 

11. What does the Aurora ignition system actually do?

The function of a vehicle's ignition system is quite simple - to provide a spark  to each cylinder, in a timely manner, to ignite the air and fuel mixture inside. Although the function is rather basic, the system is necessarily complicated since spark timing changes with engine load and RPM, and very high    voltages are required to consistently fire the spark plugs. The Aurora HV70M series ignition is a state of the art performance ignition system that helps increase vehicle performance. The way in which the HV70)M unit performs this task can be characterised by four words.... HOTTER, FASTER, FATTER, LONGER.  Read on and see what we mean.

12. How does the Aurora ignition system increase performance?

The HV70M is capable of producing upwards of 100,000 volts, which is more than double the output of most OEM (original equipment manufacturer) ignition systems. Higher voltage results in a HOTTER spark (see question 13 for more). The state of the art design of the Aurora ignition utilizes their unique electronic switching circuit which ensures that the magnetic field collapses FASTER. The quicker the field collapse, the higher the energy output of the coil. Producing a hot spark is only part of the solution though. Modern engines, in particular, are designed to run lean for exhaust emission reduction. The HV70M produces a high amperage spark (i.e. FATTER) which is capable of igniting lean mixtures quickly. That is one reason this unit works so well on propane conversions. The installation of the Aurora unit requires that spark plug gaps be increased to .060 in. This is anywhere from  75-100% larger than stock gaps. The larger gap enables the spark to attain its full potential in order to burn the mixture LONGER in the cylinder, thereby promoting proper combustion.

The bottom line in attaining optimal engine performance is to ensure that the air/fuel mixture is properly burned in the engine. Simply put, properly burned fuel maximizes horsepower because each burn ensures that maximum cylinder pressure is developed to propel the piston. Secondly, fuel fully burned increases gas mileage because it creates useable horsepower to propel the vehicle forward, rather than being lost, unburned, out the tailpipe. With the proper burning of fuel, exhaust emissions can be reduced, which should be of particular interest to those subject to mandatory vehicle emission testing. Clean burns also result in less spark plug fouling so they maintain maximum performance longer.

13. What are the advantages of a hotter spark?

An ignition system, regardless of its output voltage potential, will only produce the energy required to bridge the electrode gap of the spark plugs. When the engine is running at low rpm, the required voltage may be only 4,000 to 10,000 volts. All ignitions are capable of producing this minimal output voltage under these light load conditions. However, as the load increases on the engine when towing heavy loads or under hard acceleration, cylinder pressure likewise increases. As pressure increases,     so must the voltage of the spark. Insufficient voltage may result in failure of the spark to jump the electrode gap, which leads to misfires and ultimately lack of power. The HV70M will provide, under high load conditions, voltages  up to 70,000 volts. You are assured of having a hot spark when you need it most.

14. With all that extra energy, will the Aurora ignition damage my engine?

Engines are designed to operate with various air and fuel mixtures, depending on the engine load. If the mixture is not burned properly, it will simply be discharged out the tailpipe unburned. The HV70M system does not affect how much air and fuel is provided. It only ensures that whatever amount is delivered to the cylinders, that the burn is as complete as possible. Misfires, premature detonation and the washing of cylinder walls by unburned fuel are far more detrimental to the health of an engine than a complete burn could ever be.

15. Is spark plug life shortened using a high energy ignition system?

There is no evidence to suggest the higher spark energy developed by high energy ignition systems such as the HV70M will reduce spark plug life. Aurora's observations of 25 years in the manufacture and testing of high energy ignitions suggest that spark plug life is actually enhanced with their ignition due to less carbon buildup.

16. Besides increasing performance, what are other benefits of the HV70M?

There are other manufacturers of high energy ignition systems, most of who require that the vehicle's stock ignition system be either removed completely or certain components such as the stock ignition coil be removed. The HV70M ignition was designed to simply bypass the stock ignition coil, without removal of key components or even cutting any of the stock wiring. This has two distinct advantages: (a)  installation is far quicker and easier, and (b) should the vehicle ever be sold, the stock ignition can be easily reconnected and the HV70M removed and placed on another vehicle.  We have a number of customers who use the ignition system on their car/truck for most of the year and then at holiday time, transfer it to their RV! Moving between vehicles is very easy and only requires an additional wiring harness to be ready for plugging in on the second vehicle.

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