Thread: Spark plug Reviews

What is the benefit of a colder plug is what I should have asked, Sorry.

i believe my plugs are the 104's .

Originally Posted by Blue03GTP

What is the benefit of a colder plug is what I should have asked, Sorry.

Reduction in KR if you have any. The downside is if you go too cold you might foul your plugs.

Edit: check out the link webracin added to his post.

i run AL 103's in the GTX and beat the **** out of that car.

I think I am going to use al104's when I get new spark plugs.

Didn't this thing of running a plug as cold as the AL 103 come from the days before the tuner/scanner suites? Kind of like the 160* thermostat. Eventhough I've been running 103's, it seems that the 104 may be cold enough or even too cold for the majority of modded Wbody's.

I ran 104's at someones suggestion I think early last year or something. They are definitely too cold for the average Wbody owner. Mine had serious signs of too much fuel and the scans at the track supported that.

I went to 605's and havent had that problem

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

I ran 104's at someones suggestion I think early last year or something. They are definitely too cold for the average Wbody owner. Mine had serious signs of too much fuel and the scans at the track supported that.

I went to 605's and havent had that problem

Good to know. I know the engine needs the perfect range of plugs. This may be why my car liked the TR6IX plugs since they were only 1 step colder as opposed to the 104 or 103's. I'm gapping my new set of TR6IX this weekend to replace the Racing Autolite 103's that's in there now.

We all speculate on how good a product is, many times without any real evidence. If I use a motor oil, spark plug, filter, etc. and it doesnt cause any noticeable harm, then we generally call it a good product and we often repeat purchase. I can testify to the fact that just because a product like a motor oil doesnt cause any noticeable harm doesnt mean its doing what its supposed to. I cant tell you the number of times Ive been told "Well my dad used X motor oil in his car and got 200k out of it". Well thats all well and good but it still doesnt mean its the best nor does it mean it offered the best protection.

The same goes with spark plugs among other products. If I put one in and it works until its time to put a new set in, most will say its a good plug. But by what standards of evaluation are you using? We also are subjected to the wild claims and supposed data that backs it up from the manufactures. But how much of that can be related to the everyday motorist? How do we substantiate their claims on a repeatable basis?

So my challenge to you is to discuss how you would compare one plug to another so that we first come up with the standards by which every tested plug will be judged. Then discuss how we can implement those tests in a safe and repeatable fashion.

I have seen other sites do a large product comparison. I think this would be good to do with plugs. Have a Spark Plug Shootout if you will. We dont even have to have a large scale test all at once either. If we can come up with a set of fair and reliable standards then maybe everyone, at the time they change their plugs can fill out the data and we can come up with an overall database that gives us a fair picture of how each plug compares.

Im not after conclusive evidence, Im more after application specific, real world experience. Let everyone else do what they will with the information.

So what say all of you? Sound like something we could work together on as a community?

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

I ran 104's at someones suggestion I think early last year or something. They are definitely too cold for the average Wbody owner. Mine had serious signs of too much fuel and the scans at the track supported that.

I went to 605's and havent had that problem

Lee is right that is good info, helps save a little money overall to buy cheaper plugs.

Since I've ran everything from the factory iridiums to the AR 103's and although the TR6IX seemed to idle better and got me a little better gas milage, I don't know that there was really enough difference to make any real judgements. All of the plugs looked the same when removed and none had any negative effects including a change in knock. I'm a little suspicious of the AR 103's, since being a racing plug, supposed to not last as long and is a colder plug than the AL 103.

There are things that are very difficult to judge w/o diagnostic or lab equipment. Oil, plugs, air and oil fliter...etc. So many variables. Where you live and how you drive may throw results all over the place.

If there is some sort of exacting standard, then I'm game.

Originally Posted by IndeedSS

There are things that are very difficult to judge w/o diagnostic or lab equipment. Oil, plugs, air and oil fliter...etc. So many variables. Where you live and how you drive may throw results all over the place.

If there is some sort of exacting standard, then I'm game.

Well this is true and why I wanted to discuss what could be done to set a playing field for more common people like us that dont have access to the specialized test equipment.

I dont have specialized test equipment to judge motor oil, but I do send in oil samples for testing and from that data I can determine how well the oil is working and protecting the car.

I dont think there are labs that you could do that for spark plugs, but there has to be a way to determine how well a particular plug stacks up against the others.

theres an idea....to make one.....

This may fall dead in the water, but I surely would love to find a way for the common person to judge how effective a sparkplug is. Statements like "I used x brand all my life and never had any problems" just dont sit well with me. You may have not had any problems, but was it the best choice. I hear the same blanket statement with regards to motor oil and then I'll run an oil analysis and give them visual and scientific proof that their blanket statement is not entirely accurate.

We already know some parameters:

1. Platinum and Iridium are good for longevity but fall way short on conductivity.
2. Copper are fantastic at conductivity and heat dissipation, but don't last very long.

So I think we would have to make that distinction in any testing because they are two different classes of spark plug. But the consumer in general groups them all together and they clearly should not be. They approach overall life and performance in different ways.

double posted

Here is the conductivity of the spark plug metals available

Material - Thermal( W/(m•K)and Electrical(MS/m)
Silver - 407 - 66
Copper - 383 - 57
Gold - 310 - 45
Iridium - 147 - 18
Platinum - 70 - 10
Nickel - 59 - 10

I think I ran across that before when I was doing some research.

I think you may be right on the double posting, but Im guilty of it as well. Maybe we should consolidate the testing information into a separate thread. I may look into that. Im not setting a very good example by continuing to double post.

consolitation of factual information would be great

Missing from the picture are the about 3 other sets including the originals removed at 9k miles, another set of TR6IX and iirc a set of 104's. And then there are these. I put in a new set of TR6IX's today.

Lee do you mail order the tr6ix ones? or do you pick them up somewhere local?