new spark plugs

[RedShark]

i recently went out and bought the bosch platinum 4 spark plugs and i put them in the other day and i actually noticed a bit more power. how much power do you think i got out of these babies?

[beppomarx]

possibly 2hp at the crank if your old ones were fouling or had buildup on them. the real diference would be a faster burn and a smoother idle.

[Acid7711]

Bah.... +4's. With the way electrons naturally flow there should be really no difference because they will choose the single best path of flow. But I'm sure this has been discussed thousands of times.

[Edited by Acid7711 on Sep 25, 2003 3:04 PM]

[rbuecker]

it's not necessarily the type of plug that matters. new plugs will always perform better than what's been in the engine for awhile. that's one reason you see plugs all over the ground at the track, people change them more often than a diaper on a newborn.

myself, i use bosch +4 because i don't want to gap the plug. darn expensive though

[section-8]

from a very informative site.[body]The compromise of the Platinum plugs is that they do fire at a lower voltage which inherently means a less intense spark which does not ignite the fuel well. Although the ignition kernel may be larger, the intensity is lower which makes it propagate slower. You get less HP from the fuel consumed.

It is well known that steel tipped plugs produce the most intense spark. Think of it as conductivity. The lower the conductivity, the lower the spark voltage for a given gap. How conductive is steel vs. Platinum? Before Platinum, I recall ads in Popular Mechanics about new and innovative copper core spark plugs. These worked well for a short time but unfortunately the copper couldn't withstand the spark and burned up fairly quickly. Coating steel with platinum counters this effect. Ideally, you want a spark plug with low conductivity combined with a coil large enough to fire it over a relatively wide gap.
[/body]

http://www.fierofocus.com/articles/R...%20Systems.htm
interesting stuff...one could argue for days, but the fact is, platinum plugs were created for longevity and not performance.

happy tuning

[RedShark]

Originally posted by rbuecker
[body]
myself, i use bosch +4 because i don't want to gap the plug. darn expensive though
[/body]

lol i know, so easy to install

[dweet]

my 2 step colder NGK's didnt need to be gapped..

[BlackedOutTib]

I don't know about anybody else within this forum, but I run the shit out of my Tib and have always used NGK V-power plugs. I'm just not sold on platinum, irridium, uranium or whatever the fuck else is out there. I don't care how you spit it, I'd rather replace my spark plugs every 10K for 8 bucks than spend $16 on some platinum ones that will supposedly last forever. BRAND NEW plugs are better period. BTW, copper IS a better conductor than anything platinum.

[itsbrad]

I got the NGK Iridiums and new wires from HP shop Ill be installing them today I hope I dont have to gap them.

[dweet]

brad take your happy butt up to pep boys and make sure you get i think its a 5/8" socket with the foam thing in it thats made just for spark plugs

[Edited by dweet on Sep 27, 2003 6:13 AM]