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Old 05-28-08, 07:04 PM   #12 (permalink)
GrumpySteelMan
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Greensboro, NC
Posts: 983


Car 1: 2004 Nighthawk RL
Car 2: 2005 Nighthawk TL
Car 3: 2002 525i Sport Wag



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The 'pulsed' plugs are more of the same nonsense. Honestly you're better of changing copper core plugs twice as often and pocketing the $30-100 difference in price. All the pulse plug is, really, is a secondary coil inside the plug...it's like those 'booster' plug wires they used to sell. If you want better ignition performance, buy an MSD, run regular copper core plugs, and skip the Pulstar plugs.

MOST platinum plugs at the auto parts stores (i.e. bosch) have tiny electrodes, which is counterproductive IMO...but they're cheaper to manufacture. Platinum is harder to foul, but with such a small amount of surface area, when they start to foul, performance decreases significantly. Also I've had a lot of the insulators on the bosch plugs break...inside of motors. I wouldn't put them in anything...in fact if I know they're in something I'm working on, I insist of changing them.

I've found that in high horsepower applications that spark blowout is actually more common with the Iridium plugs. Once again it's a small electrode.

Multi-ground plugs, like platinum +4 and Zex nitrous plugs are more of the same nonsense. The spark is going to travel the path of least resistance, every single time, so it is likely the plug will favor one firing path. What does this mean? More metal hanging around in the combustion chamber to create hotspots and possibly detonation.

I like the NGK V-power plugs. They have designed the ground strap with a recess to allow for a fuller spark upon discharge. Also unlike many of the other more modern (yipee) plugs, you can gap them...a big plus in my book.
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