At 7,000 rpm, a spark plug ignites the air/fuel mixture nearly 60 times per second. Any one of those 60 sparks going amiss can at best be mildly annoying, and at worst cost you a race or an engine.

If you're a follower of the "How It Works" series, you've been learning the principles of what makes a car run. You've boned up on the four-stroke cycle, valvetrains, cooling, lubrication, and ...

Heat initiates the internal combustion process. Diesel engines utilize the temperature buildup from extremely high compression (pressure) to ignite the air/fuel mixture, with a little help from glow ...

State-of-the-art electronic ignition systems can perform more reliably than old-fashioned breaker points systems, supplying the increased spark necessary to reliably fire today's modified engines.