Spitfire Multispark

[KevW]

Over the past few weeks I've been experimenting with a Spitfire (not SpLitfire) Multispark kindly lent to me by my mate.

For anyone who hasn't heard of this before it consists of a long HT lead which passes through a small plastic container roughly the size of a 35mm film cannister and replaces the standard king lead from the coil to the distributor. They sell for between £10 and £20.

When I first fitted it I thought I could detect that the Excel was running slightly more smoothly and was impressed enough to think I should buy one of my own. However when I took it off and drove the same test route I'll admit I was a little disappointed to find the car was still running as well as it had been with the device fitted. I then serviced the car which included fitting new sparks plugs. I re-fitted the Spitfire and ran it for 130 miles before taking it off again. I've come to the conclusion that the Spitfire makes no difference to the running of my car although it did cause a crackling sound to be heard through the speakers when the radio was switched on.

I've been doing some research (a.k.a. surfing the web) and it appears the Spitfire unit contains two ferrite washers and a gap to create a break in the HT lead. This forces the current from the coil to jump the gap and supposedly enhances the spark at the spark plug. Apparently it's an idea from the 1950s and may have a beneficial effect on cars where a component such as an HT lead is not working as it should be. This would imply that if all is well with the car then Spitfire will have no effect and this certainly squares with my own recent experience. Maybe this is why the vendor never gives any clue as to how the Spitfire works and answers the question we all must have asked ourselves - why have Lotus and all other car makers never fitted this gizmo from new?

[hodders]

why have Lotus and all other car makers never fitted this gizmo from new?

Because it's c p ?
They do a terrific demo at motor shows, really impressive. If I was looking for a product to demo at motor shows, it would be top of my list.