Aldon Amethyst - mapped ignition
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi All,
At the recent NEC Classic car Show, I came across Aldon's new (just about hitting production) mapped ignition - it's designed as an add on for conventional igntion system (points or electronic) and allows ignition to be mapped on a laptop. All for £198: http://www.aldonamethyst.co.uk/

Initial thoughts were 'great - easier than Megajolt' - and it certainly would be (I am currently running an electronic dizzy & ancient Microdynamics boost retard box). Doesn't need trigger wheels and can be hidden away to keep a more classic look. Next thought was that the maximum boost of 1 bar would be a limitation.

I have now had some correspondance with Aldon, and it would be technically possible to accomodate more boost (the sensor goes to 7 bar - could be useful for tractor pulling guys!!) but it would need some recalibration (software change too) to accomodate more than 1 bar. I would suggest 2 bar would make it more universally useful.

I guess this won't be of interest to those already running Megajolt, but would be great for the rest of us...

Any thoughts?

(By the way, my only interest here is as a potential customer who would like to see Aldon offer a 2 bar version:)).

1971 Austin (Healey) Sprite - running turbocharged since 1993
My Car thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=448825

The question is would you take this over the new NODIZ system or megajolt? In theory its a good idea but I think it is a bit over priced considering the extra features you get with the other two systems. Granted with the Aldon you don't need a trigger wheel and its slightly easier to install, but thats where the benifits end pretty much, given that if you get in on a group buy you can get NODIZ for £180+VAT, or could get MJ second hand or from america for a similar price.
Also like you said having a 1 Bar limit isn't great.
I'm not bashing Aldon, I like the idea, but I personally think they need to price it a bit better.

I'd have one in a heartbeat, but then again I run 123s so am obviously a sucker for a gadget.

Easier install and the ability to swap back to a spare dizzy in minutes in the event of a problem are the big attractions.

Metric is for people who can't do fractions.

its probably more aimed at the n/a community, i'm using a 123 for that reason as it keeps with the standard look of the car, thing is now ive used a 123 i would rather invest in a 123 tune than an aldon product

I think that this is a nice easy solution to get mappable ignition. However then I thought of the packaging advantages of losing the dizzy and freeing up space for intercoolers/radiators and the like.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

seems an expensive option for what it is.

I was speaking to Alan Goodwin (Mr. Aldon) the other month, he was telling me all about it.

Originally he wanted it all inside the dizzy, but all the gubbins ended up in the box. Personally I think it is a great solution for lots of applications. One will be fitted to my nimbus in the new year. Compared to MJ, it's easier to fit and cheaper, and I have no issues requiring the dizzy to be moved.

For 90% of mini owners (and all other dizzy users) this is a great product. Most don't care about extra functionality.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

I dont think its that expensive.
One of the great things about it is if you were wanting a traditional looking engine bay you could then hide a mapped ignition in it.

sounds great

Means you don't have to use Ford parts! That's a good thing surely

OK, good feedback - any comments regarding boost level? Until now I have normally run my Sprite up to 1 bar - but plan to run more. (I have run with more, but my boost guage runs out of numbers at 1 bar so I am not sure how high I have gone. But it was 'noticably' quicker than with 1 bar!). I know many on here run 17,20 psi or more...

1971 Austin (Healey) Sprite - running turbocharged since 1993
My Car thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=448825

Well the maximum boost is not really governed by ignition advance. Ok it needs to be controlled, but once on boost the advance is pretty much fixed, whatever ignition control you use.

The advantage of mapped ignition is being able to add advance for cruise and retard it for boost.. dizzys struggle to be this variable.

Max boost is governed by CR, IC efficiency, turbo efficiency etc.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

Wil, this is pretty interesting...
So if I understand correctly, once the engine is properly on boost (1 bar should do!) then no further retard should be needed even as boost rises? Or to put it another way, for a given set up there will be a point where no further retardation is needed. What about retarding to stave off detonation? OR is this a sign that boost is too high for the spec of the engine, intercooler etc?

1971 Austin (Healey) Sprite - running turbocharged since 1993
My Car thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=448825

I'll get me coat

Well my maps have a maximum advance of 24psi from 8psi(ish) and above. I know others run more and others run less. But any det at 24 deg is IMO a non-ignition related issue. Or too much boost!

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

I quite like the look of this unit. Price doesnt look too bad to me. Im still unsure if i want to go injection or carb though. Even with the dizzy still in place surley a decent IC can still be fitted... somewhere.

If you add in the cost of an Aldon ignitor (about £85) then it begins to look a little less attractive.

I was considering selling all my Megajolt stuff acquired for the van and going this route, more for the possibility of carrying a spare distributor in case of trouble,as I plan an extended Continental trip next year and I dont know enough French to explain Megajolt to a French mechanic.

Just my opinion but it seams a bit strange to package it in a dizzy body with all the loses of timing accuracy in the skew gear drive and cam drive.

Far better to use a (many) toothed wheel on the crank, like MJ or any real EMS surely ?

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Interesting point about the aldon ignitor. Why would you need this? I presumed that the switching is done by a transistor in the unit. How could it alter the advance if you still had a set of points in there?

Hummmm?

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

The Amethyst can be triggered by points or electronic pick up (hall/magnetic sensor). The centrifugal advance mechanism has to be locked up, and the vac can just left disconnected (that pipe is needed to send manifold pressure to Amethyst). I assume it will just get triggered by the points opening, it calculates dwell for itself so the closing of the points is ignored. Yes, it will be more variable than a trigger wheel - due to scatter from the cam drive, skew gear & play in dizzy shaft. I am not so concerned as I have a belt drive for the cam (which should drive smoother than timing chain) and an electronic pick-up which will take out the effect of a sloppy dizzy (and points wobbling too). Admittedly it's not perfect, but a big step forward for me!

1971 Austin (Healey) Sprite - running turbocharged since 1993
My Car thread: http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=448825

wil, I guess I,m displaying my ignorance again with respect to my comment about the ignitor.I just thought that it would be a bit less than satisfactory to use the points as a switching system with all the wear and uncertainty that it entails.Is there a cheaper/easier way of switching than using the ignitor?(and getting rid of the points)

I have an MT electronic distributor but my poor experience in the past with the modules failing does not encourage me to use that.

I never realised that the crank position was being detected by the points. I assumed that any detector woule be supplied.

Still, points in this case would be fine I reckon. The peroblem with points is that they wear out switching high curent. In this case that won't be a problem. Once set they will last for ever.

I hope it'll work with the electronic dizzy I hace ATM.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

The site on which they advertise this product says it will work with anything.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???