Product Review - Progression Ignition

73pony · May 20, 2024

So I finally bit the bullet and ordered the distributor from Progression Ignition. First off, great quality and customer service. Install was easy. Just rotate the engine to be at 10 degrees BTDC. Stab the distributor with the rotor painting at #1. Wire and start and verify timing at 10 BTDC. Connect the phone app. Answer a few questions and it generates a custom timing table. You can store multiple tables and make infinite adjustments to the curve right from your phone while car is running. On to the good stuff. WOW all I can say is WOW. I was previously running a custom Davis Unified Ignition from Performance Distributors. After multiple "discussions" with them about the was the curved the distributor not being optimal and them refusing to make any changes, I opted for the Progression Ignition as I felt I was leaving a lot of performance on the table. I was 100% right. It is like a completely different car. Idle is so much smoother, no more dieseling when I shut the car off and a massive jump in power and throttle response. I am planning a dyno tune session this summer to dial in the tables but the generated table was an amazing difference. I highly recommend this as a great upgrade. Below is a snap of the initial timing table and the install.

https://progressionignition.com/

midlife · May 20, 2024

What's the vertical axis on the timing table?

73pony · May 21, 2024

midlife said:
What's the vertical axis on the timing table?

It is the MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) measured in kPa.

c9zx · May 21, 2024

73pony said:
So I finally bit the bullet and ordered the distributor from Progression Ignition. First off, great quality and customer service. Install was easy. Just rotate the engine to be at 10 degrees BTDC. Stab the distributor with the rotor painting at #1. Wire and start and verify timing at 10 BTDC. Connect the phone app. Answer a few questions and it generates a custom timing table. You can store multiple tables and make infinite adjustments to the curve right from your phone while car is running. On to the good stuff. WOW all I can say is WOW. I was previously running a custom Davis Unified Ignition from Performance Distributors. After multiple "discussions" with them about the was the curved the distributor not being optimal and them refusing to make any changes, I opted for the Progression Ignition as I felt I was leaving a lot of performance on the table. I was 100% right. It is like a completely different car. Idle is so much smoother, no more dieseling when I shut the car off and a massive jump in power and throttle response. I am planning a dyno tune session this summer to dial in the tables but the generated table was an amazing difference. I highly recommend this as a great upgrade. Below is a snap of the initial timing table and the install.

https://progressionignition.com/

thanks for posting the results. Chuck

giantpune · May 21, 2024

Cool idea. My concern from looking at it is it looks like the map sensor is permanently affixed to the main board. And the system seems to be built around the idea that everything is done electronically.

What happens when that sensor goes out? Are you stranded, or does it go into limp mode so you can at least get home? Once you get home, do you have to special order new distributor guts to get it back up and running?

mjlan · May 21, 2024

That is interesting. Thanks for posting!

73pony · May 21, 2024

It would go into a type of limp mode. It will lock the timing at 10 BTDC. As far as parts, I brought this up to them and they do stock parts and ship same day. Any part can go bad and need replaced on anything, new or old. The plus side is the car will still run and drive.