PDA

View Full Version : Who makes the best ignition wire set?



JustJohn
12-30-2025, 06:21 AM
Going to answer this question unequivocally: Standard Motor Products.
A few years ago, the company purchased the only other U.S. wire and cable facility that produced ignition wire and consolidated production in Independence, Kansas. Every single U.S.-produced set of ignition wires—regardless of brand—comes out of the same facility. Holley, Accel, et al. included.
I was recently working on my car and found some pretty significant corrosion on a set of Taylor ignition terminals that hadn’t seen much use (though they may have been purchased prior to the consolidation). Looking for something better, I ordered a PerTronix set and realized—after checking their website—that it’s the same company that produces Taylor.
At that point I actually used my brain, looked up the ignition cable design engineer, and sent him a simple question:

“Which of our universal ignition cable sets is built with the best components, regardless of brand?”
He’s on vacation until the 5th, so we’ll see what comes back.

- disclaimer (and how I got my information), I work for Standard Motor Products.

dontlifttoshift
12-30-2025, 08:12 AM
Pertronix bought Taylor/Vertex quite awhile ago. All owned by Aeromotive/Roadster Shop.

***Edit to add, looking forward to the answer from the design engineer.

dhutton
12-30-2025, 10:12 AM
Damn I didn’t know Aeromotive and Roadster Shop merged.

JustJohn
12-30-2025, 11:19 AM
Yes but all the spark plug wires come from the same faucet. It's entirely possible that some of the price differences will just be marketing. I should have thought of this sooner.


Pertronix bought Taylor/Vertex quite awhile ago. All owned by Aeromotive/Roadster Shop.

***Edit to add, looking forward to the answer from the design engineer.

JustJohn
01-06-2026, 09:46 AM
Getting closer to the answer for this but in reality it's "no one." Most US produced wire sets (at the retail customer's request) have degraded several components to reduce cost. Think galvanized terminals instead of stainless steel, lower cost (less durable and/or heat tolerant) polymer compounds, and less expensive alloys for spiral conductor material. A little sad considering this is the same place NASCAR wires come out of (for some, not all).

I'll be getting a US made Standard Motor Products wire set but it's components will be a mix from several different customer spec parts.

There you have it.