HEI vs MSD comparison

Here's the concerns I'm reading on this thread.....
Voltage output.... The ignition system will only develop the amount of voltage it takes to find a ground. Ideally this will be from the electrode to the ground strap. If resistance is too high for example, it may find ground to some other location, it may jump to ground at the boot (If plug gap is too wide) arch to the block etc. A naturally aspirated 4 stroke engine will only require 12-18KV at idle with low cylinder pressure and maybe as high as 34-36KV at WOT at 6-7,000 RPM. My Small block with 14:1 compression under full load at 6800 RPM showed a draw of 34KV through the traps. So having a 60,000V coil doesn't mean much unless your building huge cylinder pressures in 3000-10,000 PSI range (naturally aspirated street engines are in the 2200-2800 range) . The HRR688 ECU can easily maintain a load of 44KV for 4 hours at 6800 RPM as tested.

Dependability.... Even a PTX 3 Module which is probably the best one available carry's a 30 Months (2.5 years) warranty, most carry 30-90 days, the HRR688 ECU has a 5 Year Warranty. We use probably 8-10 of the PTX modules a month in our shop. We experience about a 2% failure rate within the warranty period. The HRR688 ECU has a .0005% failure rate after 6 years of production. The new Chinese made MSD boxes warranty rate is not known for sure as won't tell you but from our experience I can only guess that it's one of the highest in this industry.

Wiring Issues.... None, the HRR688 is a plug and play 20 minute installation with the stock wiring harness. No wire cutting and splicing and mounts in the factory holes, direct replacement for a stock ECU.

Technology.... REV limiters are obviously important to protect your investment from catastrophic failures, the HRR688 ECU has an externally adjustable, algorithm, dead stop, dial type REV Limiter 5200 to 7000 in 200 RPM increments.
The HRR688 uses two microprocessors to insure absolute accurate timing events from crank to 7000 RPM with a minimal .8 Nanosecond slew rate. Transistorized ECU's have on average a 1.5 Millisecond slew rate which causes the timing to retard as the RPM and load builds. Most HEI modules have a slew rate of about 1 Millisecond which is better than any stock type transistorized Mopar ECU no matter what color it might be, what they claim or what they try and lead you to believe.

Multi-Spark.... If your engine combination is good and the motor is built correctly for the application a multi spark unit is probably not going to make any difference in how your engine performs. Race engines are obviously a different animal and will benefit from a multi spark controller. Inductive ignition systems have a longer burn time but are limited to about 7,000 rpm. Time is required to allow the coil to soak to give that one hit, longer burn time. This why we always state after 7000rpm you need to use a CD ignition, but CD Ignitions on a street car are really overkill and not needed.

Cost.... The HEI conversion, mounting plate, module, wiring adapters, coil and rev limiter will push you close to the $300 range, warranty? Tech support?. MSD 6al with coil will reduce your bank balance by about $350 with a 1 year warranty, and of course their super tech support? The HRR688 will set you back $219.00 with a 5 year warranty, includes the Advance limiter plate to set your distributor up correctly, and tech support that many here will tell you is unsurpassed.

You can spend thousands on some awesome ignition system with features that you will probably never use and it won't make you car run much better. The ignition system is a system and is made up several components, each one must be balanced and designed to work together as a System. The distributor is one of those major components, as much or more attention needs to be directed at it as the ignition controller itself for perfect results. A $2000 ignition box will never be able to overcome incorrect timing events. Don't just do 1/2 the job.