JohnnyDiablo

Was shoping for the G35 and saw that the double platium was stock on my car and cost more than the Iridium. Based on all my early experience with bosch platium and the cores being used out of them I have been avoiding them.

Anyone done any research? My feelings are to go Iridium. I remember however that the slightest bit of platium introduced into a combustion engine helps it to burn cleaner. Cleaner is really something I am not to concerned with however setting off idiot lights or the computer compensating for something would be ideal to avoid.

Opinions?

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ND4SPD

Stick to OEM.

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08silvercbr

I ran irridium in my 98'. I just kept it that way because the bike ran unbelieveibly well. It probaly wasn't the hotter plug, but the jetting and air/fuel being dialed in. I'm with ND4SPD. Stay with stock.

slickwill

Are the plugs easy to get to? The real selling point for iridium is longer life. If the plugs are really easy to get to then it really isn't a big deal. On my bike they are a nightmare to change so I want them to last as long as possible so iridium is the easy choice. On my car changing them is a 4 minute job so it doesn't really matter what I put in there.

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JohnnyDiablo

I dont think anything is really easy to get to on that car. I found out today that there is a big panel under the car, I imagine to aid in aerodynamics. I can see how it was possible to change the oil filter and leave it there but I didnt want to drip onto it so I took it off. There is a cut out to drain the oil through it. I was impressed that it had a nice crush washer on the oil drain plug.

When the time comes I will likely go with the double plats.

What is really intriguing is this which looks like snake oil.

PulstarTM Pulse Plugs - OFFICIAL SITE - Fight back against the high cost of fuel, improve your car’s performance, and help reduce greenhouse gas!

Is this like MSD or additional CDI just relocated to the plug?

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SomeStrangeGuy

I could be wrong but I thought the thing with the iridiums was that they were a needlepoint so it was a more powerful spark for better combustion? (they do last a long time, but I don't think their service life was as long as the others)

Then the bosch platinum +4's were the longest lasting...essentially because there was more surface area to 'wear' before they become out of spec?


Again...I know nothing, just that I run Iridiums in stuff that is high compression

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CBR929RE

my service manual for my bike says replace the plugs every 8k miles and they are iridium. don't regular plugs last longer than that?

back when I worked at autozone all I heard about the Bosch platinum plugs (all numbers of electrodes) was that they were junk. especially the +4 because they shroud the spark from the air/fuel a lot more than lesser electrode plugs.

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JohnnyDiablo

Back in 92 I had bosche platium on my 88 300Z along with a msd. After maybe 4k miles I was wonder where my steady idle went. I pulled the plugs and found this pin hole where the platium was supposed to be. Perhaps the 6 additional sparks from the MSD made the plugs wear out that much faster?

On plugs the center electrode gets transferred to the ground electrode. The iridium plugs have a nice thin center electrode exposed to arc from. I would stay away from anything like those old BP plugs that had a flush pin edge of an electrode.

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08silvercbr

When I built my Trans Am the factory plugs were platinum. When I was talking to the company that made my supercharger they told me I need to remove the platinum plugs and put in regular conventional champion (or whatever) plugs. Of course they don't last as long but they have a bigger electrode and have a bigger spark. The deal with the iridium’s vs. the same plug only non-iridium is the material they are made of. The iridium is just suppose to last longer, but when it comes to performance things like bikes we end up changing them long before they actually need it anyway. On a dyno I'm sure it would make zero difference....only make them last a little longer.

SomeStrangeGuy

In your bike? probably not. I believe the selling feature of the Iridium is you can get a clean, more repeatable firing cycle out of them no matter what you're doing, and it's designed to last for N amount of cycles before degrading. I think if you used a traditional style plug (and ran the bike at 10/10ths alot) you'd see performance degradation sooner.

I guess this conversation would depend on where the plug is in the respective chamber, because I would think that design would affect this more than a plug would IMO. Also if this were the case I would expect the opening on the top of the plug to promote any flow negated by it's 4 prong design. Also, hearing that they are junk...well, I have heard alot of things from the people at AutoZone (on both sides of the counter). I thought the guy at the one in Nashua was going to start a fist fight with me when I asked him how platinum was a better conductor than copper.
Harder - yep, more conductive? well...more conductive than tin.

He must have looked here:
Best conductor of electricity? - Yahoo! Answers



I'm going back to my high school years here but I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to run platinum with MSD or enhanced ignition systems because of the higher voltage would equal higher temp of the plug and faster degradation. Copper was recommended for use because it was a better conductor and didn't have as much resistance when establishing the spark IIRC.

The thin center electrode serves for keeping the heat of the spark between point a and point b. The thicker pin center electrode offered a greater area for heat dissipation back into the plug body.


Yep, you'd just have to change them more often and run a colder plug I believe.

Well it's typically design moreso than just material. The iridium will perform more consistently in high performance applications for longer. It may not make a difference on a dyno back to back, but depending on how long you run on that dyno for it might. It would also affect the throttle response in the long run.



Disclaimer: The above is just my contribution to internet lore. But hopefully someone in the know can comment soon.

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CBR929RE

see red

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SomeStrangeGuy

Oh, yeah, I think so. Though my ridgeline has ngk platinums in it that I have to change at 100k, I think my last GM wanted them at 30k or so.

I was just relating my experiences

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Repeater

LOL the dewds talking about a G35 car. I would stick with stock or go with an equivlant NGK.

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JohnnyDiablo

I am too lazy to go out the trunk and pull the manual. I think its some insane interval at which they get changed. I am at 20k miles right now. Guess I have at least a year to get into that manual.

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