 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'sLouis 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 |
