General information about the ignition system (Opel Vectra B)

On all models, the ignition system is combined with the fuel injection system and represents a unified engine management system from a single ECU unit.

The ignition unit consists of two ignition coils. Each ignition coil actually consists of two separate high-voltage windings that supply a spark to two cylinders each (one to cylinders N1 and 4, and one to cylinders N₂ and 3). The ignition pulse is supplied to two spark plugs for each cylinder of the engine at once, one on the compression stroke, one on the exhaust stroke. The ignition spark on the exhaust stroke does not affect the operation of the engine and is therefore wasted. The ECU uses inputs from various sensors to calculate the required ignition timing and the energy storage time on the ignition coil.