Jacobs Electronics Pro-Street Ignition Upgrade

By James Hasler

Every four wheeler is looking for ways to improve their off-road performance. A lot of us, however, also use our rigs as daily drivers as well. This means we want our vehicles not only capable, but dependable and efficient. This is sometimes a contradiction...lockers don't exactly make your truck more enjoyable on the street. An ignition upgrade, however, is one of those modifications that will help both your on-road and off-road experience.

Andrew, and his 97 4-popper equipped TJ, was looking to gain back some of the mileage and power he lost when adding his suspension lift and 31" BFG's. Drooling over my straight-6 was getting him nowhere. So, he started off "Project 6-Cylinder Wanna Be" with a cat-back exhaust and a high-flow air filter. The sound of the new exhaust caused Andrew to have a new love affair with his "go-pedal." So, some power was gained, but his mileage was still less than desireable for a 2.5L motor...

So, he contacted Jacobs Electronics to see if a new ignition would help his fuel economy. After a half hour phone conversation with a knowledgeable salesman that guaranteed him a 2.5 mpg increase along with more power, Andrew bought their top-of-the-line ignition system...The Pro-Street Ultra Team "EZ", indexing washers and Pro-Street Accessory Pak.

The Pro-Street Ultra Team "EZ" includes the Pro-Street Energy Pak, variable magnetic Ultra Coil, and Energy Core spark plug cables. The Accessory Pak includes the Micro Throttle Sensing Switch, RPM limiter micro toggle switch, anti-theft system micro-toggle switch and Annunciator.

The "EZ" in the Ultra Team name pretty much stands for easy connection to your existing ignition. Thank goodness, because I didn't want Andrew to be around high voltage electronics any longer then he had to be. You simply mount the Pro-Street computer and Ultra Coil somewhere convenient in your engine compartment and then hook up the system. In this case, the hook-up simply means hook up the included cable from the Ultra coil to the center cap of your distributor, hook up the OEM coil to the Jacobs Secondary trigger and hook-up the Pro-Street computer to your battery. That's it! Of course, Andrew wanted to make an 8 minute job take many hours by agonizing over where to mount everything...

The next step involves getting new spark plugs and gapping them to take advantage of the new, hotter coil. The kit's instructions tell you what spark plugs to get and what to gap them to, although you can try to increase the gap further if you want to test the limits of your ignition system. The indexing washers also help here as they allow you to precisely position the ground electrode of the spark plug away from the intake valve, thus igniting the fuel/air mixture with an unshrouded spark. Remember to NOT overtighten your spark plugs...use a torque wrench to tighten them to factory specs...hear that Andrew??

The last stage is to hook up the components in the Accessory Pak. All of the accessories are bundled together in a single harness that you attach to the Pro-Street computer and route through the firewall as a single unit. It even comes with a rubber grommet if you do not have one available to use.

One of the micro toggle switches is used to set the rev limiter built in to the Pro-Street computer. In this case, Andrew drank a beer while Phil set the rev limiter once and tucked the switch away. If you think you'd be using this feature a lot, then mount the switch somewhere easily accessible.

The next switch is used as the anti-theft device. Hide this switch, but put it somewhere you can at least reach from your seat. Essentially, if you don't toggle the switch within a few seconds of starting the vehicle, the computer will make the vehicle seem as if it is running out of gas and eventually kill the engine all together. There is a "valet" mode as well, which should be handy. Andrew put the switch in a GREAT place, but if I told you, I'd have to kill you...

The next accessory is the Annunciator. Basically, it is a series of two LED's that keep you informed as to the health of your ignition system.

The final accessory is the Micro Throttle Sensing Switch. It is mounted behind the accelerator pedal such that it is engaged when the throttle is "floored." Usually, the computer is set to give you maximum efficiency, but when this switch is engaged, the computer kicks in to maximum power mode. I think Andrew mangled this switch when installing it as the Annunciator spells out "dumbass" when the accelerator is floored.

All in all, Andrew has been impressed with the quality of the components and the quality of Jacobs Electronics customer service. He's noticed a definite increase in throttle response and possibly a power increase, but it is too soon to tell if there is any fuel economy increases. Jacobs Electronics, however, has a 30 day money back guarantee if you feel you're not getting everything you hoped for.

I'll update this with some installation pictures and whether or not Andrew is seeing the mpg increases that he was promised...stay tuned...