Racing Relays, Sensors & Switches

Mechanical components of an ignition distributor are prone to wear and tear as they age, which in turn leads to inaccurate ignition timing and reduces the overall performance of the engine. That’s why virtually all modern high-performance and race cars come with a distributorless ignition system, in which the ignition coil is replaced with a number of individual induction coils or a coil pack, and the distributor’s function is performed by the ICU or ECU that relies on the data provided by different sensors, and uses various relays and switches to fire the right spark plug at the right time.

To get the most out of each power stroke, the air-fuel mixture inside the combustion chamber must be ignited at the moment when the piston is in the very top position. To determine it, your ECU uses the crankshaft position and camshaft position sensors, which are attached to the triggering toothed wheel on the crankshaft and camshaft. Both wheels have a gap between the teeth which corresponds to the top dead center of the piston. The sensors continually send signals to the ICU or ECU, which analyzes them to determine the position of the piston, and controls ignition timing.

Your ECU performs plenty of tasks at the same time, so ignition timing control is just one of them. Without exaggeration, it is the brain of your vehicle that manages everything from preparing an air-fuel mixture to the work of your headlights. To help it keep everything under control, your vehicle has an army of different sensors, relays, and switches. Each of them does its piece of work to ensure proper operation of your car, so none of them can be neglected, especially taking into account that it is so easy to pick out the right part for your race car on our website.