i am curious as to why they are used> Do they allow elimination of the distributor?
Is there any performance advantage.
Seems distributors have worked pretty well for a lot of years.
Was it a manufacturing economy (cheaper to build?)?

i think some V6 Toyotos have them too.

 

I'm gonna guess less moving parts. Electronic ignition has been around since 1974-75, but on those cars there was still a rotor and distributor cap that needed replacement. FWD was something that was a manufacturing economy of scale, doesn't make it bad, because for the masses and average joe, they think FWD is better. POWER ON OVERSTEER just isn't something John Q. Public worries about!

 

They eliminate the distributor. They allow the ECU to control the ignition of each cylinder individually.

 

somewhat OT but even my '87 olds toronado had a coil pack, but this one was one big, heavy rectangular block w/ the spark plug wires connected to it (one of the older 3800 V6 motors at the time)

 

They are vastly superior to a distributor for this reason and because they allow a much higher voltage without the problem of insulation breakdown and variation in inductance that you get with ignition wires.