Fire! Fire! Fire!

The Performance Distributors...        read full caption The Performance Distributors Screamin' Demon coil features corrosion-resistant brass terminals and a spark that's too hot for normal plug wires.

The 10mm Livewires utilize...        read full caption The 10mm Livewires utilize a glass-braided sleeve for heat protection and feature a spiral-wound core to prevent radio interference. They're available in black, red, yellow or purple.

We removed the intake tube...        read full caption We removed the intake tube to make the coil more accessible.

If you have to remove the...        read full caption If you have to remove the coil bracket to cut the hole in it like we did, there are two torx bolts and one 10mm bolt that hold it in place.

High-performance ignition systems used to be one of the first modifications anyone made to their cars. These days, however, the technology in coil-on-plug and coil-pack applications generates a lot more current dependably. Many times there is still room for improvement, as we found out when we installed a Performance Distributors Firepower ignition kit on the Red Hot Chili Pepper.

We had just recently tested the Firepower ignition system on Superfly, our semi-retired '97 Cobra project car and picked up 5-wheel horsepower with the Livewires, and we hadn't upgraded our turbocharged Focus yet so we thought we should give Performance Distributors another call.

Chris Winter at Crazy Horse Racing handled the simple installation, although it is a task most anyone can handle in their driveway. Four bolts and one plug secure the coil pack and then there are just four spark plug wires to attach. That's it.

We did encounter a fitment problem with our Precision Turbo cast intake tube though. The Screamin' Demon coil is actually taller than the stock piece, and this interfered with the intake tube. Winter easily remedied this by cutting a hole in the bottom of the coil bracket to accommodate the coil and it fit perfectly. If your Focus does not have the turbo kit, chances are you're in good shape.

Was it worth it? Indeed it was. The Crazy Horse Racing DynoJet said we picked up 4 hp and 13 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. We may actually have gained more torque, but the Dynojet did not start reading the pull until 4,600 rpm and our torque peak is well beneath that. This was with the stock plug gap as well.

Performance Distributors claims you can open the gap to as much as .065 for even more power, but we wanted to play it safe with our boosted application. And at $145 for the coil and the wires, it's definitely an affordable mod.

Here you can see the difference...        read full caption Here you can see the difference in the bottoms of the coil packs. The Performance Distributors unit on the right stands about half an inch taller.	The coil bracket was easily...        read full caption The coil bracket was easily modified to suit our application.	Even if you lower the coil...        read full caption Even if you lower the coil in the bracket, you will still need to use the supplied hardware to fasten it to the bracket.
Four horsepower and 13 ft-lb...        read full caption Four horsepower and 13 ft-lb of torque later. If you don't have to modify the bracket, this is an easy 15-minute job.