Bosch 050 distributor with pertronix electronic ignition VS 123/tune programmable distributor with Bluetooth.
In motor from Porsche 914 1.8.

Recommendations please!


I think I've read everything I could about the 123/tune distributor and the pertronix ignition, but much of the information is very old. Here we are in November 2020 I was wondering what was the status of these products, and maybe more people have first-hand experience they could share?
Here's a few more details about my application.

The motor is a professionally rebuilt 914-4 1.8 from 1974.
( this is the story I got when I bought the motor and I have verified with the serial number stamped into motor) motor has been rebuilt 16 years ago, but been sitting unused for 15 years. ( low hours on rebuild)

I'm not sure of other details because the motor was purchased from a friend of a friend and I did not get many details at the time.

The original owner was not happy with the performance in his 914 and had the motor rebuilt supposedly with a different cam .

The original owner then drove car minimally and was still not happy with the performance and decided to switch to a V6 motor setup.

So this 914 motor was in his garage doing nothing.

I had a 65 Baja Bug with an extremely tired motor.

With the aid of a second friend purchased the 914 motor and installed on my Volkswagen.

At the time we installed a OLD 009 distributor on car.

Dual Weber 40idf's

And fabricated the exhaust to accommodate the large bug pack quiet type Muffler.

I've been driving the car and
recently I was trying to dial motor in and found it hard to get the dwell correct.

I decided to replace the distributor. for a variety of reasons.

I think there's two different ways
I might go

I found a New Old Stock Bosch 050 distributor . ( pricey) and was going to add the pertronix electronic ignition to it.

BUT

for about the same price I can get
123/tune with Bluetooth.

I like all the features of the 123tune but want to make sure it is reliable, and will run my motor as well as the Bosch 050 set up.

Since the price is about identical, that is not the issue.

Anybody that knows anything about these two products please share your knowledge.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give a clear picture of what I was doing.

Thank you, Stewart

I haven't used the Bluetooth model but i do have the 123dizzy that works with d-jet and it so far has been a nice part (though cant speak to long term reliability yet).

What I can speak to though are the advantages of having a fully programable advance curve and the increased timing accuracy of having fully digital ignition control. These things are both huge. Having been working with Megasquirt on 914s since before ignition control was even a feature I can say that having a fully programable ignition map is where the majority of improvements come from with the system. Given you are already not running a stock setup I think your path to achieve the best results is with the 123dizzy provided it is implemented/tuned properly.

Don't waste your money on a Bosch 050- you will never get it to idle properly. Great for a 356 but not a 914 (I've had them on both). I have had great luck with the Pertronix Flamethrower SVDA dizzy on my '74 2.0 L.

Ansbacher

I have an 050 distributers , not installed yet on my 1911, but from old literature I've read they are aa preferred set up. I would like some more info on this 050 on a 1911 with Raby cam ,big heads and 2 40s.

Also went this route - very happy with it.

I put the D jet specific 123 Dizzy on my bone stock 2.0 and it was awesome. way easier to set timing and never an issue. like it so much I put the tunable one in my 2056 hi compression race motor and it is even better. no need for my MSD, and it tunes so easily. Raby said he only uses 123 dizzy now.

Great upgrade for the 914. Previously, I had a Unilite, which was a major improvement. The 1-2-3 is trouble free, acceleration more even over the entire range of rpm, engine g to runs slightly cooler under load, and pinging is non-existent.
The customer service is live and terrific