Quote Originally Posted by Al Fernandez View Post
I think Mike is spot on in everything he has said. OE parts is not a goal, rather a tactic to achieve a goal of cars being safe, cheap, reliable, and good for competition. Sometimes OE wins, sometimes it doesn't. However, I do recognize that when the ignition rule was created, all aftermarket ignition coils, distributors, bla bla bla were more expensive than boring looking black OE replacements. If that is no longer the case and therefore the balance shifts...great, lets get the facts together using real data across the platforms and change the rules.
Yes, probably a good time for a review.

I've been researching this heavily over the past few days. Condensing everything down... ...and with zero ability to control timing from a fancy distributor and with our engines at the level of performance they operate... ...it seems the only "performance" benefit to be had from a hotter coil (higher voltage output) is possibly a smoother idle. Basically, it seems if you don't have super high compression, or power adder, or super high RPMs, there is actually no "performance" advantage to be seen. The only potential advantage may be with better longevity and durability if the manufacturer uses higher quality components. And from what folks have already posted, that may also be questionable. If the quality is the same, the benefit may then only be a cheaper price than the OEM brand, as the OEM brand (Motorcraft/Autolite in our specific case) seems to now have a higher price tag attached to it, even though it may only be a rebranded part from a specific no-name manufacturer.

And now I'm even seeing other threads that claim the aluminum terminals on caps may actually have a performance advantage because the conduct electricity better than brass. If that's the case, the only benefit to brass is possibility they wear better/oxidize differently than aluminum.