Ok, guys, I admit the Pertronix looks really good from the pics and I understand you treat 'foreign products' with reserve. I do the same.
Nevertheless, in the unlikely event my 123ignition quits working, I have my original distributor in the trunk. I would have a spare unit 2-3 days later, owners in the US would have it 7-10 days later. And the 123ignition is definitively
not a far east product, manufactured completely in good old Europe.
As I understand the Pertronix distributor it still has the old-fashioned mechanical advance unit consisting of springs and bob weights, prone to wear and tear. You can only be sure of the correct advance curve when it's new, and even then manufacturing tolerances make it not really trustworthy (IMHO). 123ignition advance curves stay the same within less than 0.5 degrees (crankshaft) throughout its (and your) life.
If you have a (slightly) modified engine or are planning to modify it, it is most likely that your engine needs another advance curve. With 123ignition it's just a switch which you can select 16 advance curves from. No hassle with building your own springs and disassembling the dizzy to discover that the springs installed don't give the results you wished for.
The 123ignition has no vacuum advance unit like the Pertronix. What do you think how long this kind of advance unit will provide the advance originally intended?
What does the Pertronix dizzy do against rough running each engine has due to slight deviances in the energy each cylinder (slightly differing compression) contributes to the overall performance? 123ignition detects this and adjusts the timing of each cylinder individually. Plus it has an automatic dwell control (measures the amount of current flowing into the coil, in such a way that the strongest possible spark is guaranteed at all engine speeds, whilst keeping the coil cool) and cuts off the power to the coil when engine is not running (invaluable when working on the engine and you don't want to switch ignition on and off and on and off).
No offense intended, but I think Pertonix's distributor has no resources against the 123ignition.
Other opinions may vary. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif