(1.5T) Solid results from MSD Blaster Ignition Coils

[Feddy_Ace]

I decided to start a thread discussing my experience thus far running Holley MSD ignition coils since there doesn’t seem to be a ton of info about ignition systems for the 1.5L turbo. I made the choice to go with these because research and personal experience suggested a bit more spark could improve your engine performance if you’re running an upgraded intake. It was a cheap buy and easy install. I’ve been using them for about 3 weeks now and can finally reach a good conclusion on how they have affected my car.

So naturally, the whole point of improving the ignition system is to get more spark and improve the combustion of fuel. This makes sense if you gave a cold air intake because the vehicle is typically dumping more fuel into the cylinder to compensate for the increased airflow. Adding more spark to the equation should improve the burn

These MSD coils advertise 50k maximum volts. They’re intended for the NA 1.5L and 2.0L turbo, but some research revealed these should also fit the 1.5L turbo. As you can see, they fit with no problem. Car starts up immediately and hasn’t had the faintest signs of any issues.

With all that said, these have been a damn nice upgrade. Keep in mind that outside of my intake my eHere’s the improvements I’ve noticed so far:

• Smoother idle, especially after startup.
• Faster, more linear acceleration.
• Deeper more aggressive engine and exhaust note.
• Improved throttle response.

I made sure to drive a lot and make sure there was no placebo effect. I also cataloged my rpms prior to the install so I could observe any changes. These totally work, no question. My car is a definitely accelerating faster and smoother. It’s not a night and day difference, but rather a slight, but effective improvement you can feel.

Without a dyno it’s hard to say if these added any power, however my butt dyno tells me yes. I would wager 3-5 hp improvement. I’ve yet to check my 0-60 time, but my last best time was 6.5s. I’m eager to see if I can improve on that. For a sub $200 mod, I’m happy with the results thus far. I’ll definitely keep this thread updated should anything change.

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[jayy_swish]

I decided to start a thread discussing my experience thus far running Holley MSD ignition coils since there doesn’t seem to be a ton of info about ignition systems for the 1.5L turbo. I made the choice to go with these because research and personal experience suggested a bit more spark could improve your engine performance if you’re running an upgraded intake. It was a cheap buy and easy install. I’ve been using them for about 3 weeks now and can finally reach a good conclusion on how they have affected my car.

So naturally, the whole point of improving the ignition system is to get more spark and improve the combustion of fuel. This makes sense if you gave a cold air intake because the vehicle is typically dumping more fuel into the cylinder to compensate for the increased airflow. Adding more spark to the equation should improve the burn

These MSD coils advertise 50k maximum volts. They’re intended for the NA 1.5L and 2.0L turbo, but some research revealed these should also fit the 1.5L turbo. As you can see, they fit with no problem. Car starts up immediately and hasn’t had the faintest signs of any issues.

With all that said, these have been a damn nice upgrade. Keep in mind that outside of my intake my eHere’s the improvements I’ve noticed so far:

• Smoother idle, especially after startup.
• Faster, more linear acceleration.
• Deeper more aggressive engine and exhaust note.
• Improved throttle response.

I made sure to drive a lot and make sure there was no placebo effect. I also cataloged my rpms prior to the install so I could observe any changes. These totally work, no question. My car is a definitely accelerating faster and smoother. It’s not a night and day difference, but rather a slight, but effective improvement you can feel.

Without a dyno it’s hard to say if these added any power, however my butt dyno tells me yes. I would wager 3-5 hp improvement. I’ve yet to check my 0-60 time, but my last best time was 6.5s. I’m eager to see if I can improve on that. For a sub $200 mod, I’m happy with the results thus far. I’ll definitely keep this thread updated should anything change.

Interesting read, the struggle with most of these aftermarket coil packs is reliability down the road as they tend to fail prematurely compared to stock coil packs. You can also close the gap on your spark plugs to help even further. Smaller gap allows for an easier spark (as long as it’s in the spec window still)

 

[Feddy_Ace]

Interesting read, the struggle with most of these aftermarket coil packs is reliability down the road as they tend to fail prematurely compared to stock coil packs. You can also close the gap on your spark plugs to help even further. Smaller gap allows for an easier spark (as long as it’s in the spec window still)

Good info and I heard performance coil pack can fail prematurely. For that reason I’m keeping my stock coils handy.

 

[jayy_swish]

Good info and I heard performance coil pack can fail prematurely. For that reason I’m keeping my stock coils handy.

Smart choice lol, I’d keep 1 in your car as a “just in case”. Should be fine right now though as they’re relatively new

 

[Bunhyung]

Smart choice lol, I’d keep 1 in your car as a “just in case”. Should be fine right now though as they’re relatively new

Extremely sage advice. Just replaced the MSD coils I bought on this forum after less than a thousand miles. Thankfully, I had all four factory coils and a socket and ratchet in the trunk.

 

[Feddy_Ace]

Extremely sage advice. Just replaced the MSD coils I bought on this forum after less than a thousand miles. Thankfully, I had all four factory coils and a socket and ratchet in the trunk.

That’s super concerning since I’m the guy that sold these to you and I’m still running them on my car with almost the exact same mileage. I haven’t had any issues as of yet and I’ve been driving hard as of late.

 

[Bunhyung]

That’s super concerning since I’m the guy that sold these to you and I’m still running them on my car with almost the exact same mileage. I haven’t had any issues as of yet and I’ve been driving hard as of late.

Just be careful out there Feddy, contexts and quality always vary. I have not been driving super hard just a fluke thing I simply attribute to either poor or rushed QC at the factory.

I will say that many of the driving qualities you described are right on. I was really enjoying the bark at start-up and the dead smooth idle.

 

[MichaelB450]

I got mine today and installed them to check if any are defective, so far so good. Would these cause any long term problems if I ran them with the stock airbox installed? Only other performance mod I have installed is a Mishimoto intercooler for Civic 1.5T.

One thing I did notice is the electrical connectors are a little harder to slide onto the MSD coils. It does fit good though.

 

[Civii]

I got mine today and installed them to check if any are defective, so far so good. Would these cause any long term problems if I ran them with the stock airbox installed? Only other performance mod I have installed is a Mishimoto intercooler for Civic 1.5T.

One thing I did notice is the electrical connectors are a little harder to slide onto the MSD coils. It does fit good though.

I’d be more concerned with how long they last. Make sure to keep your stock ones with you and some tools just incase they decide to go 6ft under.

 

[Feddy_Ace]

I got mine today and installed them to check if any are defective, so far so good. Would these cause any long term problems if I ran them with the stock airbox installed? Only other performance mod I have installed is a Mishimoto intercooler for Civic 1.5T.

One thing I did notice is the electrical connectors are a little harder to slide onto the MSD coils. It does fit good though.

Doesn’t seem like they will cause any long term issues. I scan my car pretty regularly and all of my data shows everything is in great working order. Knock never goes over .49. My fuel trims are good. Idle is good. Temps are good. I haven’t found any signs of anything remotely off. If you can, you should get your car scanned to make sure they’re working good for your set up. I’m running a pretty basic cold air set up, so I doubt you’d see anything different from what I have. For me it seems like everything worked best when I ran about a gallon of E-85 mixed in the tank (trying to get the equivalent of 91 octane).

I agree that you should probably keep the stock coils just in case. The QC is spotty. I have driven over 3k miles with no issues, but as stated in this thread, there have been some premature failures for someone else. Never hurts to have piece of mind.

 

[hondabandit]

I dont see any tangible proof of improvement.

 

[ebatr24]

I think any improvement you're seeing is just a placebo. A simple intake would hardly be a cause for concern when it comes to the ignition system, unless you were seeing some type of misfire.

 

[websitesdown]

Where's the logs to verify? Just saying you monitored as per your opening statement, where's the logs?

 

[Feddy_Ace]

Where's the logs to verify? Just saying you monitored as per your opening statement, where's the logs?

Wasn’t able to get my logs from my SD card, so I just had to rely on the live data from my MaxiDiag. I’ve got not skin in the game and as someone that used to work in automotive, I’d be the first person screaming these are a bullshit waste of money if that was the case. My main goals were just to see if they made any improvement to my idle while not screwing anything up, especially my fuel trims. But they’re in tolerance as you can see below, and this was with running just a little too much E-85. My LTFT is lower and closer to 1.0 now.

 

[websitesdown]

I sit at zero ltft with my custom tune from drob without these after market packs. I'm again not trying to be a douche here mind you, just saying I want proof. I can provide logs / proof. We need proof and that's it really. I'll buy it with proof.

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