No it is not an optical trigger like pertronics etc. It has a feature called Spark balancing as used in Indy Car Racing that phases each pass of the rotor to fire exactly when it should as it passes the posts in the cap. A magnetic pick up drives the electronic pc board for superior timing w/o all the springs and weights that normally either fatigue or wear out in time. Pertronics still relies on the centrifugal advance mechanism as well as many others. This does not. All advance is managed electronically. Don't get me wrong Pertronics is a definite improvement over the old points system. This just takes everything to the next level for a classic points driven car. Hope this helps. Now there is a completely tuneable model that is programmed by you the end user. Very user friendly PC based software available as free download from the mfg website.
Available for B16, B18/B20, B18/B20-IE, B30-IE or Tune 4-R-V-V and Tune 6-R-V-V.
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Regards Ed Supplier of 123 Ignitions for all sorts of Classic Autos from Volvo to MG and anywhere in between. The latest in ignition management.