Thread: Pulstar Iridium Spark Plugs

Has anyone used Pulstar Iridium Spark Plugs? I'm gonna get them for my car here in about 7,000 miles so I was wondering if anyone has installed them.

And for the ones I know that are gonna complain, I don't care if they cost more and aren't copper plugs. I want them cause they last 100,000 miles and they apparently help save gas and increase Horsepower a bit. If you don't like that, tough.

I'm looking for information from people that have either installed these plugs or have heard good/bad things about these plugs. If you don't fit in that category, please don't respond.

While I haven't used then, I understand your desires. There's nothing wrong with going with something for longevity etc, as long as it does what it should.

One issue that we commonly see with Iridiums/precious metal plugs is under boost conditions/modded situations the smaller pointed tip will get much hotter than say the copper crap plug and therefore more predetonation can occur from the heat retained in the finer tip plug.

Like I mentioned, if you don't see that issue... fantastic. If you aren't modded it's unlikely you'll see an increase in KR or issues. Please let us know how they work out.

All i got done with the vehicle right now is K&N Air Intake. When I get these plugs I'm gonna get MSD Wires as well. After that, most likely that only other mod will be a increased downpipe and High Flow Cat. I talked to my mechanic about the Pulstar plugs and he said that he installed some in his vechile and they noticibably increased his MPG. But that is also in a mostly stock vehicle. I don't think these plugs would work very well for highly modified vehicles. As for Iridium, since the Stock Plugs in my car are Iridiums, and they've been in there for 93,000 miles, I'd say they last/work pretty well for stock situations.

Yes, overall the Irids are a much tougher metal. That is part of why they heat up more. I pulled the Irids out of my truck and replaced them at about 90K miles. it's notable to mention that while the plug lasts that long, the gap still spreads over time. Gap on my pickup was about double stock gap at 90K.

That'll be something else to consider if over a good amount of mileage you start to have issues, being charged the spark can get blown out if the gap is too large.

Knowing you said MSD wires, that's cool. Don't get the MSD coils though. Too many guys find that after about a year, high rpms show misfires and issues from them. Stockers seem to do much better and outlast them.

If you dont plan on doing much to the car they will work great. I would run them for about 50k tho.

Only issue that will arise is when you get tired of stock boost and want more out of it with a pulley drop. Most of you '04+ guys go from the 3.8" to a 3.6"...and you'll want a colder range plug.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Yes, overall the Irids are a much tougher metal. That is part of why they heat up more. I pulled the Irids out of my truck and replaced them at about 90K miles. it's notable to mention that while the plug lasts that long, the gap still spreads over time. Gap on my pickup was about double stock gap at 90K.

That'll be something else to consider if over a good amount of mileage you start to have issues, being charged the spark can get blown out if the gap is too large.

Knowing you said MSD wires, that's cool. Don't get the MSD coils though. Too many guys find that after about a year, high rpms show misfires and issues from them. Stockers seem to do much better and outlast them.

Yeah, I've researched some about the MSD coils and found they apparently have less power to them than the stock coils. Plus, I've already painted my stock coils Red.

So I've had the MSD Wires & Pulstar Iridium Plugs for around 6,000 miles now. They work pretty good so far. At first, the engine had to crank over a few extra times to start, I think it was because the engine/computer wasn't used to the changes yet. I unplugged the battery and gave the computer a reset, within a few tanks of gas everything starts and performs very well. There seems to be a little bit of increase in HP, but the thing I've noticed the most is increase MPG, and decreased RPMs at cruising speed. Originally I had about 23.0 MPG average on the computer. Now it's about 23.7MPG and that number keeps increasing slowly as time goes on.

Lmao

So between November and July you only put 6k miles on your car? I put that much on since April.

No, since 4/26/2011 I put about 6K miles on. I average around 20K miles per year. I put all the info about the Plugs/Wires for everyone's information. I decided to go this route cause the plugs last 100K miles, and don't cost very much more than the stock plugs do, while giving some little increase in HP & MPG. I don't care if you guys would have done something else, I don't want to replace my plugs all the damn time, I don't have the time to do that.

Originally Posted by matt5112

in other words, not statistically significant.

That would depend on alot of things that I don't want to go into. Statistically significant would be basically based on what parameters I decided on. It's about a 3% increase in MPG, so it is what it is.

Originally Posted by FordMan77

For the .7 increase, I could just check the air in the tires, clean the MAF and install a new air filter and save the $12.99 per plug. I can't imagine spending $80 for a set of 6 plugs. Wires- yes, plugs- no.

I already do/have done all of those things, so this is only helping.

Using the DIC to calculate MPG is about as accurate as using a Gtech to calculate HP.

I always use :gasp: math to calculate my mileage and the true MPG always differs from the DIC by at least .5 mpg.

In other words you haven't seen an increase in fuel mileage and the only you are going to get improved horsepower from plugs is if you change out old used plugs for new ones. And thats not a horsepower gain, thats just restoring lost power.

Placebo effects help marketing so much.

Originally Posted by stealthee

Using the DIC to calculate MPG is about as accurate as using a Gtech to calculate HP.

I always use :gasp: math to calculate my mileage and the true MPG always differs from the DIC by at least .5 mpg.

In other words you haven't seen an increase in fuel mileage and the only you are going to get improved horsepower from plugs is if you change out old used plugs for new ones. And thats not a horsepower gain, thats just restoring lost power.

Placebo effects help marketing so much.

Actually I'm already in the process of doing the raw mathematics, but that takes long averages so I'm not going to release those #'s till it's done. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are kinda talking to an engineering student here. Hence why I know about statistical significance...

Originally Posted by Reefer82

Don't cost much more than stock plugs?? I recently bought a dozen 104s and after rebate I'm looking at about a dollar a plug, maybe less. I could buy 6 dozen plugs for what the pulstars cost. Even at 20k a year that'd last you at least as many miles and you'd know you have a consistent gap, regular interval changes that would alert you to potential issues, ect that and you'd be skilled enough to change plugs in 5min or less.

With your special rebate (everyone else pays $2/copper), you're looking at $42 to cover 100,000 miles, which is nothing to sneeze at. That's $84 for the rest of us that can't find a good deal. The pulstars are like $75 (?) for the same 100,000 miles and would require 6 less plug changes. Most of us take at least 20 minutes, so that's at least 2 hours of your life you could spend getting laid or kicking hobos or something like working overtime. Let's say you make $30/hr on overtime... that's ~$35 after taxes in your pocket, making the total price of iridiums only $40.

Say you get a 3% increase in mileage from these over stock. 100,000 miles ought to save you ~$375 in gas over 5 years, resulting in you actually getting paid $335 when coupled with that OT you put in, just to install these plugs. If that all goes to gas, it means he can drive ~2,700 miles farther than you with the same money. Did I math right?

Stock vehicles come with iridiums and he's got a stock vehicle. Perfect.

Personally, I'd check and re-gap an iridium plug at 50,000 miles - at 70k, mine were baaaarely out of gap, but my mileage was starting to hurt.