If you’re a gearhead and you haven’t heard of MSD Ignition, you’ve been living under a rock for the last four decades. The innovators of the capacitive discharge (CD) ignition system were actually a pair of engineers from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, who were in the middle of a project to create a lean burn fuel system to help fuel economy for automotive use. At the time, breaker points were the “state of the art” when it came to automotive ignition systems, but the CD design allowed a multiple spark discharge (MSD) to completely ignite the fuel mixture. See where we’re going with this? They produce great technical videos on a regular basis, and their YouTube channel has been updated recently with a couple of new ones.

The MSD Power Grid is their newest line of ignition products, evolved from their Programmable 7-Series Ignition Controls. In this video, MSD’s Joe Pando talks about how the Power Grid system can be used to incorporate data acquisition into your racing program. The Power Grid can control timing, launch RPM, and cylinder timing, along with the use as an acquisition tool. The system can record 17 channels of data, from driveshaft RPM to nitrous activation, and allows you to view and dissect the data on a laptop via the use of an SD card or through cabling to the unit. In addition, it will also send the data to a Racepak datalogger if the car if so equipped. Pando covers some of the potential issues that can crop up with the use of such technologies. Check out the video and see if the Power Grid can help you improve the performance of your car, both on the street and at the track.

MSD’s new line of DynaForce alternators and starters for under the hood of your hotrod come in a couple of different variants – they have both a street and race line of products geared towards the individual application. The street version of the DynaForce alternators are available in four different finishes and all provide 160 amps of output to ensure that your engine management system (whether stock or aftermarket) will have enough juice to operate properly regardless of additional equipment added to the vehicle. Alternators are blueprinted and come with a Proof of Performance card to show you just how much juice you’re getting.

The DynaForce starters are available for both street and strip use and will crank over the most difficult engine thanks to the high-torque motors and improved internals. Check out the video at the top of the post for more information.