Hey I was just wodreing if the msd 6A ignition is worth it for my 91rs 305 tbi.

 

Im curious too, what gains will you get out of a beefed up ignition system?

 

For a mostly stock motor? IMO replace the stock coil with a hotter (lower impedance) aftermarket coil. That will give you a hotter spark, especially at redline. Make sure your plug wires are good (and cap/rotor). Adding a box seems like a waste of money unless you’re racing, supercharging, or adding laughing gas.

 

i would say get the 6AL with the rev limitor if yor tranny pops or you miss a gear it would suck if the motor over reved and poped too.
also you car will idel smoother becouse of multible spark and give more power becouse of a complete burn.

my page:
http://darcom.org

 

IMO I think its a good upgrade. I mean it helps with the air fuel combustion. You get alittle better mileage. It doesn't hurt to install. I have All MSD ignition compontents(wires, coil, 6A) on my truck, and soon on my IROC(6AL). you won't get significant gains, at least I didn't. but I did get like 1-2 more mpg. and better power at high RPM, and starting. JUST my 2 cents

Tyler

 

The MSD is a great idea.

 

You will see no benefit in your appplication.

 

I feel upgrades & mods of any kind must go hand & hand. So I agree with Ominous. Yes, it is a good upgrade for your ignition, but you will never see it's full potential without upgrading other aspects of your motor. (ex.- better cam, heads, chip tuning, etc.) Personally, I would get the box. Gives you more excuse to buy more goodies for your car to fully benefit from it. See what I'm saying

 

From what I found out from other people on this topic is that you will feel gains on the higher RPMs and in the gas mileage but only on a moded car.

 

I put the 6AL w/ HEI conversion on my 406 and noticed a BIG difference about 5000. I oringally thought the valve springs I had were the wrong springs because about 5K it would spurt, cut out and cough. The springs were new and were matched to cam so I leaned towards igntion. My car idles smoother now, revs easier and doesn't cut out above 5k.

My car is modded some and it was either the stock coil and/or module that was hurting me. MSD on a stock application IMO would not result in any performance gain's but "should" help fuel consumption and quicker starts. Oh yeah, my car does start quicker, actually it starts quicker than my 89 T/A w/ TBI

 

I know that my buddy has a 6al on his 68 chevelle and the MSD box completely changed his car...He had a good increase in power, especially at high RPM and a better idle. The car even sounds quite a bit different...but he is also running a 350 and 13:1 compression, about 400+HP. So i think the engine will have something to do with it.

 

the 6AL makes a very nice improvement at idle the most to be honest, it makes the idle dead on and very smooth.... once you get over about 2500 RPM the multiple spark switches off and you are left with just the single spark. The difference a good ignition contoller makes is nice, but to be honest I have had bad experiences with MSD. MY coild cracked, and I had two controlers crap out on me. The were both instaleld using the MSD harness and grounded correctly. summit was very helpful in replacing them, since apparently I wasnt the only one with the problem, but the week long down time sucked still.

 

i've heard so many mixed reviews over these for so long that my digital 6 has been sitting new in it's box for the last year. i would like to use it myself but i've just heard and personally seen way to many problems to justify any possible gain on a street car.

 

Ahhhh I guess you're gonna have to sell that digital 6 to me then

 

I like my 6AL and their blaster coil. Hard part is finding a place under the hood to stick it.

 

It is just like any other electronic componet you might buy including tv, vcr, dvd, computers, toaster ovens, vacums. 10 percent of all electronic Are defective directly out of the factory. The amount of voltage it takes to rub against someone and shock them is about 10 times more than needed to Kill a circut board, but it is very low amps so that is why it dosen't kill us. All Brands have problems, Accel, Mallory,Crane, MSD. Now with a msd 6 You will have a mpg or 2 better but also a cleaner buring engine, and better Response at High RPM's not quite as notiacable on a tune port because our long runners Hurt our RPM capibility any way. But With other mods later you will Be helping out a lot. Now If you just decied to buy a high power coil make sure to not pay attention to the Only the voltage because even a factory coil under lab test and the right conditions can reach a upwards of 50,000 volts the the milliamps they put out wont be close to a msd coil, or mallory. I would recomend at lest the MSD 6AL Because the rev limiter Is a great option. Digital 6Plus is a Excelent choice because ther is no need to replace rev chips and the rest of the added bonus it carries.

Just my .02

 

I just put in a MSD Pro-Billet distributor, 6AL box and blaster 2 coil this past weekend. The difference was very noticable in my car driving around. Better throttle response, more power, runs a lot better above 5,000 rpm ( I shift at about 6,800 - 7,000). I must have picked up 20+ hp or so, it was that big a difference for me. Of course, my engine is far from stock

Now on the other end of the spectrum, a friend of mine did the same setup last year with his Firebird running a 454. Fairly mild build but does low 12's. He didn't notice one bit of change. Glad I had a better experience than him

 

there are better things to spend the cash on right now...

Thats my thoughts on it...

 

Mine did nothing for me, no improvement in gas mileage, start up or even making it run any differently. I also tested it at the track and guess what, no difference in times/mph either Hopefully now that I have this supercharger that it might actually do something for me.

So if you have a upgraded ignition system like good plugs, coil, wires, and cap that should be all you need and if you think your still having problems that's when I would get one of these boxes, that's probably why I saw no changes since I had all of this in place already.

 

Last week I added this to my 2.8:
------------------------------------------
-MSD 6A ignition box
-Accel 8.8mm wires
-AC Delco Rapid Fire Plugs
-MSD Blaster GM Coil

Definate change in:
------------------------
-starting
-idling
-need for speed acceleration(like getting on the highway)
-average RPMs for cruising reduced..i.e. the level of rpm i need to travel at 70 on the highway reduced by about 250.

Problems encountered:
----------------------------
-MSD box failed after 1 week, sending it in and getting a new one. No current was coming from the box.

Mods I have on my car: edelbrock cam and timing chain + power chip. I am thinking of going with the 6AL because my computer has been modded, atleast that is what the tech support guy from msd recommended for my application.

Dave M.
------------------
'89 Camaro RS 2.8L

 

GM blaster coil and MSD 6al on my stock TBI did nothing but take longer to start the car. I use to be able to flip the switch and the car would start. After the 6al it would take a few revolutions. However I did notice better gas mileage 2-4mpg, trip to AZ I literally got 5 mpg more. Not too shabby.

Now with the 355 I have a complete state III blaster coil, MSD billet distributer, and a 6al. For a non stock engine I wouldn't run anything less.

 

!!!???!! I think your tach was/is off. Your speed/rpm ratio will be the same with or with out ignition.


One of my first mods was the MSD 6A to an other wise stock lo3 at the time. I noticed:
-quicker starts
-2.5 mpg highway
-smoother idle
-cleaner plugs
-NO gain in power

Eventually, after some "breathing" mods, I added the MSD dual connector coil, which helped me pull to 5k with the stock intake, as opposed to the 4.5k prior.

When I swapped in the 383, I had a brain dump and connected the harness wrong to my coil, and fried it. So I used a new GM coil my buddy had as an extra for a while. Eventually, I got another MSD coil, and it made a huge difference past 4.5k or so.

 

you see the most gains in carbed cars. atleast thats whats been said. i have the 6a, blaster2, pro billet and wires. all MSD for me

 

you all installed the ignition in ur cars looking for major or even semi major gains but the point is a hotter spark helps a little if nothing is changed otherwise ie upgrade to the MSD and upgrade ur fuel system, you will be able to burn more fuel and grab the extra horses you want. think of it like a lighter or match: they do the smae thing but which would burn larger amounts of stuff more easily??

 

i actually installed the MSD because i rebuilt the whole car from the ground up and swapped in the 350 carbed. might as well if the whole damn car is apart. hence the reason i got more then just the box. which is actualy good because their distributers are designed to hook right up to the box. glad i did all of it