Platinum spark plugs

[coolcarz]

Has anyone heard that Platinum plugs are Not good for motors running nitrous? and has anyone tried the bosch 4 prong plugs? or the splitfire? if so, notice any difference? what kinda plugs are we running out there? hummmm?

thanks

[MY340]

I use the autolite platinums in all our vehicles new and old. I like them cause they work good, last long and don't cost that much. I haven't tried any others since I'm happy with them.

[obsessed]

I have 80,000 miles on a set of splitfires in my 97..3.9 dakota ,also just passed a clean air test. So far they have been worth the money !!

[ehostler]

Even though platinum is a better conductor than copper, the cross sectional diameter is so small that you actually have no improvement of spark.

A proper ignition system using copper will out perform the same ignition system using platinum or split-fires.

[Rug_Trucker]

EH YOU GOT IT RIGHT! Platinum you don't need unless the factory had 'em. Toyota's etc. The four prong? Gimmicks that are really stupid!! Electricity goes where? To the shortest gap! Split Farts? Junk again!

[3404speed]

electricity goes through the path of least resistance. So if you have a dirty electrode then the spark will go to the other one. That is the only good thing about the +4's. You do get a noticeable power change with the plus 4's in 4 cylinder engines....
You won't necessarily get more spark, you'll just have a better chance of always having a good spark. The Bosch plugs seem to clean better then most. Most DIS require or recommend the use of platinum plugs.

[74sport]

Originally posted by MY340
I use the autolite platinums in all our vehicles new and old. I like them cause they work good, last long and don't cost that much. I haven't tried any others since I'm happy with them.

I use them too. The Autolite platinum plugs are good and reliable. I have used Bosch platinums with disapointment in the past. They fouled all the time due to the small surface fora spark to jump to.

[MoparMarcIdaho]

Back when my Harley was getting tired,I put a set of splitfires in it and it helped a bunch to fire through the oil I was losing past the wore out rings.When I rebuilt it they wernt worth a shit,kept detonating no matter what I did.So I went back to tried and true Autolites,the same plug number for slant 6 is just right for a shovelhead with Wisco 12to 1s and hot Crane cam.Bosch Platinum plus 4s work extremly well in any hemi head engine for the same reason described in previous post,spark automaticaly goes to point of least resistance.Remember old tuners trick of indexing electrodes to the top of combustion chamber for better,even burn?Well if you got 4 of them,its already done.Anything hemi I have put them in has ran better.Especially 22r Toyota,which has side plug instead of center plug.Just put a set in a Isuzu V6 Trooper with center location and It woke up too.On a good tight mill its usually the last set you ever buy for the life of the vehicle.

[fastmopars .inc]

yeah, anyone who wants to go spend 100 dollars changing their spark plugs and than thinking they got a performance improvement can do so. as said before, you could stick 1000 prongs onto a plutonium spark plug and charge 1000 bucks for it but there is still only going to be one spark, whichever is the path of least resistance. there is a reason that we have things like plug gap, so that there is a sizable amount of spark with which to light our mixture from. if you have 4 gaps at .018, .023 and two at .040, the larger ones are never gonna get used no matter how long you let those plugs sit there for. i used to sell the plat +4's to the import crowd when i worked at a parts store and always told them it would give them a gain. of course it will, your sticking a new set of plugs in their! go to the race track with a used set of plugs, even less than 100 hours, make a pass change to new plugs BAM, 1/10 of a second right there.

platinum plugs burn hotter for a given temp range, a regular copper resistor plug is better for an engine living 'on the edge' because its heat range will be one (1), a platinum plug could span 4-8 heat ranges.

i have a family member in ngk and i have tried every spark plug under the sun. i currently and have always run copper xr5 plugs. keep in mind i don't pay anything for any spark plug i want and ngk has the iridiums that are over 100 bucks for 8. xr5s retail at about 1.50 each.

a spark is a spark, let the honda boys mess with how many they can get happening inside one cylinder.

[mtrv8n]

Um, a spark is a spark...ever heard of MSD???

I was checking for spark on a Bosch, and at idle observed the multi spark..almost looks like an umbrella of sparks!..I don't KNOW that this affects combustion, but, it SEEMS to run cleaner.

As for power, you are probably right, as the first spark will hopefully light things off.

[d.friction]

arn't platinum plugs bad on MSD style ingnitions? And not recomended?

[Rug_Trucker]

Jacobs didn't reccommend them. Don't know about MSD.

[dusterrcr]

I tried some Bosch Platinums in my 440,cause they were short,gave me little more room.But they didnt live very long.Not even a season------BACK TO AUTOLITES

[SubLime440]

I like the good 'ol Champions... They are cheap and I've never had a problem.... Tried Autolites and NGK's... I did not see any difference so why not save a few bucks....

[jslikness]

You do get a noticeable power change with the plus 4's in 4 cylinder engines....

Ummm, when I ran a Pure Stock 4 Cylinder (circle track car) we tried several sets of spark plugs, including the Plus 4's, and no advantage at all, in fact, maybe a slight disadvantage. The best setup we found was side-gapped and indexed NGK's, and changed them about every 4 races.

of course it will, your sticking a new set of plugs in their! go to the race track with a used set of plugs, even less than 100 hours, make a pass change to new plugs BAM, 1/10 of a second right there.

BINGO! Take an old set of plugs, put in news, no matter how many prongs they have, it's gonna run better.

I've had good luck with Autolites, which is what we run in the race car, and what I run in all my street cars as well. Don't waste money on the gimmicks. Yes, an MSD will give you a hotter spark as well as a longer spark, and multiple sparks, but the plugs are pretty much all the same. It's basically just personal preference.

And as far as platinums go, they're good for emissions and lasting a long time. That's it. They're not designed to pick up your performance.

[coolcarz]

if all 4 prongs are gapped the same wont it throw sparks to all prongs? and would 4 prongs give you a center line like indexing your spark plugs with single prong? at least really close without accually doing the indexing?

[dwc43]

No! It wont. Electricuty follows the path of least resistance, so it will still only create one spark to one terminal. Four ground straps are no better than one. Just a waste of your money that's all. Plugs are pretty simple, they create a gap for a spark to jump too and that's it. It's not rocket science. So just pick the proper heat range that cost the least and use them and move on. I still use Champions though, just because they were stock in all Mopars.

[Stoga]

Just put a set of Autolite Platinums and new plug wires in my 4x4 beater truck. That took care partially of a rough idle situation the truck had. As I beat on this truck some more, I'll report back how these lasted. I'd have never bought them cause I've always used standard Autolites for years, but it just so happened that the Walmart I bought the plugs in didnt have the right kind for the truck. It was a bit pricer than standard plugs, but I had to get the job done, it was really needing the plugs to be replaced.
Had a friend who tried the Splitfires in a 2.2 4 banger early Dakota. It made a large improvement in performance, but he found that the electrodes kept falling off!
He switched back to regular plugs after having to drive home a few times on 3 cylinders, which is never no fun in a 4 banger.