Ballast resistors were prevalent during the days of points ignitions. The coil was designed to work at a lower voltage so it used a ballast resistor to limit current when the engine was running with at a full 12 volts. When the engine is cranking the 12 volt system could duck to as low as 6 volts. The ballast would then be bypassed to allow the full voltage to the coil even though that "full" voltage may only be 6 volts. The ignition switch did all of the work.
I like the no extra parts feature too.
Those parts that are limited to a 10 volt gate are meant to work at 5 volts. A voltage divider at the output of the driver would negate the advantage of using a driver. Putting the divider at the supply pin of the driver would be wasteful. Easiest way #1 is to use a 6 or 7.5 or 9 volt 3 terminal regulator. Easiest way #2 is to put 4 silicon diodes in series with the supply pin to the driver. Each diode drops about 0.7 volts. 4 would be a ~2.8 volt drop. They need to be at least 2 amp diodes. One 3.3 volt, 2+ amp zener would do the same thing with one part.
That 3040 part you found would work well.
I don't know if coil on plug (cop) or coil near plug (cnp) would help. Those coils are much smaller than a traditional coil so they don't pack the same wallop. COP/CNP was invented to eliminate the distributor and its drive mechanism.
A mosfet gate and an IGBT gate are identical.
I'm sure that Mouser, Newark and Digikey all sell mica insulators. Make sure you use thermal compound on every surface that conducts heat. Beside mica insulators you can buy silicone rubber insulators filled with some sort of heat conducting material. You won't need thermal compound then.
I like the no extra parts feature too.
Those parts that are limited to a 10 volt gate are meant to work at 5 volts. A voltage divider at the output of the driver would negate the advantage of using a driver. Putting the divider at the supply pin of the driver would be wasteful. Easiest way #1 is to use a 6 or 7.5 or 9 volt 3 terminal regulator. Easiest way #2 is to put 4 silicon diodes in series with the supply pin to the driver. Each diode drops about 0.7 volts. 4 would be a ~2.8 volt drop. They need to be at least 2 amp diodes. One 3.3 volt, 2+ amp zener would do the same thing with one part.
That 3040 part you found would work well.
I don't know if coil on plug (cop) or coil near plug (cnp) would help. Those coils are much smaller than a traditional coil so they don't pack the same wallop. COP/CNP was invented to eliminate the distributor and its drive mechanism.
A mosfet gate and an IGBT gate are identical.
I'm sure that Mouser, Newark and Digikey all sell mica insulators. Make sure you use thermal compound on every surface that conducts heat. Beside mica insulators you can buy silicone rubber insulators filled with some sort of heat conducting material. You won't need thermal compound then.