"Direct Hits" Spark Amplification System

by
Norm Lenhart
Senior Editor

We've all seen the ads for ....(ahem)......"200 mpg carbs",....(cough)....... magnetic fuel stabilizers, and ......(snicker)........superslick teflo-graphi-might as well use Vaseline™ "additives" that are (drum roll please) - "GUARANTEED" - to add amazing amounts of horsepower, and send our mileage soaring into the stratosphere, all while while curing the sick and helping the blind to see. Yea.......right.......PHULLLLEEEEEZZZZEEEEE!!!!!!! With that in mind, I was quite (to put it mildly) skeptical when Combustion Technology Products Corp's Louis Camilli contacted ORC to test "Direct Hits" spark amplifier on some of our project rigs. OK, I'll admit it publicly, the scam light went off brightly in my fevered brain. After several e-mails, Louis hooked us up with the product, and after spending a few thousand miles with "Direct Hits", the "scam light" went out in a hurry. They work! The little buggers actually work as advertised! What Are "Direct Hits"? Manufactured by Carrera Corporation Latrobe PA, and brought to market by of Combustion Technology Products Corp. of West Palm Beach FL, "Direct Hits" are a patented spark amplification device (bi-polar current peaking capacitor) that took over 10 years to perfect. Based on the principle of Hard Discharge Ignition, Direct Hits deliver 10,000 times more "peak" current, and an astounding 250 times the energy transfer efficiency of a conventional automotive ignition circuit - a figure verified by no less than the esteemed Sandia National Laboratories' High Power Electromagnetics Dept. The end result? Direct Hits deliver over 5,000,000 watts of power in every spark. Hard Discharge Ignition - The Direct Hits way The basic idea behind "HDI" is to fire an intensely hot spark over a short duration, resulting in a strong, stable combustion kernel. In a test of the prototype conducted by Chrysler Corp's. Advanced Powerplant Engineering, HDI showed shorter ignition delay times, faster air/fuel burn times, and very stable operation at very advanced timings. As implemented by Direct Hits, HDI is incorporated into conventional (point type), HEI (as used today in the production automotive industry, and performance ignition systems (MSD, Crane, Mallory, etc.). The one difference is that Direct Hits "MUST" be used in conjunction with non-resistor spark plugs. The claimed result of all this science and wonder is an increase in mileage, decreased emissions, easier starting, elimination of flat spots, improved throttle response, and increased performance throughout the RPM range. Guaranteed. From a product encased in ceramic, and measuring about 3 in. long, and an inch in diameter, that's one heck of a claim to make. Let's just see if it stands up, shall we? Oh yes, we shall. Installation - The Test Vehicles Installation of Direct Hits is a straightforward, and relatively painless process. On most vehicles, installation will involve a simple replacement of the standard "resistor" type plugs with their "non-resistor" equivalents, followed by simply screwing the product onto the plugs themselves and reattaching the wires. On certain vehicles (like the Ranger listed below), a change in boot type "may" be necessary to provide adequate clearance, as "Direct Hits" raise the effective plug height 2 inches. Direct Hits were installed on 3 vehicles with the following results.... 86 Ranger extended cab (Project PreRocker), 2.9L Fuel Injected V6 (60K), automatic trans, 4.10 gears, and 33in. tires. Test used 92 octane pump gas. With it's standard ignition, the Ranger idled poorly, and lacked power to pull the 33in. tires in without a lot of "hunting" between gears. Mileage was abysmal, getting 12 MPG in combined highway / city driving. Throttle response was fair to poor, with an occasional stutter between idle and 1/4 throttle. The Ford required a conversion of the passenger side rear plug boot, from a straight boot to a 90deg. version. Clearance on that rear cylinder is almost non existent, thanks to the design of the heater / air conditioning ducting. Even with the 90deg. boot, things are real tight. After installation, several things became immediately apparent. Upon starting the vehicle, the idle smoothed out considerably, with no skips or stutters present. Once underway, throttle response was improved subtly, but noticeably. Around town, the truck felt "smoother", requiring less pedal input than before to achieve a given speed. The real test came once on the highway, where the truck used to shift between drive and overdrive on even moderate hills. Much to our suprise, the "hunting" was greatly reduced, and the Ranger would pull several hills to the top which had previously caused the 3-4-3 shuffle. Another suprise came as speeds approached 75 mph. With the big tire / big gear / small motor combo and the aerodynamics of a barn door, the Ranger would often revert to Drive (3rd) at Arizona freeway speeds, and then get back to hunting all over again. The "Direct Hits" solved that problem, allowing a comfortable Overdrive cruise, resulting in.... Better mileage. Considerably better mileage. After several tank-fulls, we verified an actual 15 mpg combined (highway / city) average. Ranger Conclusions The 3 MPG boost is real, and the direct result of "Direct Hits", since no other mods were made. This mileage increase compares favorably with a combination of headers / free flowing exhaust, and a K&N air filter combo, at a fraction of the price. From a power standpoint, the performance increase could be felt throughout the RPM range. With overall driveability improved, it's hard not to like the changes this product made in our Ranger. 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 318CI, Fuel Injected V8 (55K), automatic trans, Quadratrac, and 30x9.5 tires. Test used 89 octane pump gas. Generally speaking, the Jeep ran great to begin with, with very good power, and respectable (20 MPG average) mileage. There were no flat spots, erratic idle, skipping, or other ignition maladies to improve upon, so the results of our test reflect a mileage / power perspective. Installation was straightforward, with no major clearance issues to contend with. The Grand Cherokee has a suprising amount of underhood room, considering the relatively large 318 stuffed into it's confines. Upon first glance, the exhaust manifold / spark plug heat shield appeared to require removal prior to installation, but this was not the case. However, because of the spark plug "angle" (I.E.; toward each other), and the added height of the "Direct Hits", there is some contact between the large rubber plug boots. If you intend to replace your wires as part of a tune up, 90 deg ends would be preferable to avoid potential cross-firing of the cylinders. As it went, our Jeep displayed no problems, and we set out on the road to put the little spark demons to the test. As above, around town driving showed an improvement in throttle response. "Snappier" would be a subjective, but good term to describe it. Out on the highway, it was again obvious that there has been a slight increase in power, as the Jeep required less pedal effort to achieve and maintain a given speed. Since the 318 had an abundance of power to begin with, no difference in "hunting" was noted. Finally, as with the Ranger, mileage again increased. Whereas the Jeep was getting a solid 20 MPG average before "Direct Hits", the figure increased to a 22 MPG highway / city average. Jeep Grand Cherokee Conclusions The 318 responded well to the addition of "Direct Hits", and as with the Ranger before it, improved it's performance, mileage, and driveability. Additionally, no other mods were performed, confirming the improvement as a result of the product. VW Rail (tube chassis) 2110cc, Fuel Injected 4cyl. (2K), 4 speed "bus" trans, and 31x10.5 tires. Test used 100 octane AV Gas Being an open engine vehicle, installation was extremely easy, with no clearance issues. It was a simple 5 min. job to remove the old plugs, and install the new plugs with "Direct Hits". The test of the VW based Rail was considerably more subjective than the previous 2 vehicles, since being a dirt vehicle, any hope of solid mileage figures gets lost in a haze of wheelspin induced dust. This isn't to say that we couldn't get a good feel for the difference made by the product, for in fact we did. The 2110cc engine is far from stock, with 510 cc's more displacement, full circle crankshaft, Engle "110" cam, fuel injection, and a hot ignition. The CB Performance "Magnaspark" uses a high output Ford coil , providing many thousands of volts more than the standard Bosch coil / point ignition. Needless to say, the well tuned engine is quite responsive at all RPM levels. As the rail sees mostly desert in the course of it's travels, RPM will drop below 1000 into the "lugging" range while boulder crawling in a ravine, as well as screaming it's little Supertrapp off at 6500+ RPM down sand washes, dry lakes, and fire roads. After installing "Direct Hits", we noticed that there was a marked improvement in the engines "lugability" at ultra low RPM's. The increase in low end power is a boon in boulder / hill climbing work, but the already snappy throttle response will take some getting used to. Midrange and upper RPM did not experience the improvement of the lower end of the powerband, however, the engine "felt like it had a little more". In the mileage department, we can't be sure. With no repeatably accurate way to measure distance (due to abundant wheelspin), and the Hi-Po engine drinking AV Gas like water, It would be unfair to both the product and the reader, to venture any kind of a guess. VW Based Rail Conclusions As stated, low end performance was surely improved, with the "feel" of the mid-upper RPM range seeing a small improvement as well. Are "Direct Hits" worth buying for this application? In my opinion, yes. Considering the slight cost, versus the increase in power exactly where a relatively small engine needs it most (low RPM), the old adage holds true. "Every little bit helps" Environmentally Correct Combustion While we didn't bring any of the vehicles in for a smog check, John Perry of Amoco Polymers Inc. did a before and after comparison on his own. His 79 Ford Bronco with a thoroughly de-smogged 351M, Failed the test miserably in "stock" form with a 917ppm (out of 400 allowable) on the hydrocarbon portion of the test. After adding the Direct Hits spark amplifiers to the noxious Bronc, he returned to post a score of 276. That's a 641 point drop in HC. He also realized a 19% increase in fuel economy to boot. Take that Sierra Club! Overall Conclusions We ran'em on the road, We ran'em off the road. We ran'em in over 110 deg. F, we ran'em down to 40 deg. F. We ran'em on 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines, we ran'em on both stock and high performance engines. We ran'em on the highway, through towns, and cities. We ran'em fast, and cruised'em slow. Short of running 'em in below freezing temps (not usually found in AZ in mid-late summer), theres not a lot that we missed. And that's the heck of it. "Direct Hits" exceeded our expectations by a wide margin. Measurably better performance on 3 completely different vehicles, in a wide variety of driving conditions. The bottom line is that they work. There's no scam here. There's sound science, solid engineering, and a product that delivers what it promises. Oh...and the heck of it? We were unable to test "Direct Hits" in the one element that it would likely make the most dramatic difference of all. Sub zero temps like those encountered in more northerly climes. The kind of temps that turn oil to molasses, and make make starting a cold engine all but impossible. So until Off-Road.com's Snowmobile editors hit Louis up for a set of "Direct Hits" for their sleds and prove me right or wrong, take our word for it. More power, Better mileage, Cleaner Emissions. This product is a "must have" for the off-roader. Louis, I'm sorry I ever doubted you. For more information about Direct Hits, contact... Combustion Technology Products Corp 8280 Bob-O-Link Drive West Palm Beach FL 33412 Phone: 1- 888- 800- 6700 Or visit the Direct Hits website at http://www.directhits.com

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