Thread: What spark plugs do you use?

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Hello, I am new to this forum. I have been reading new and old post and just got to wondering what others are using for spark plugs. I know there will be different choices if you are using nitrous or not but with BBC has anyone done dyno test. Anyway which brand do you like and why?

.................Anything but Champions!

It's funny that Pope would say "anything but Champions"

In 1969 and 70, I used J8 Champions in both of my Z28 Camaros
with excellent results. With the relatively high rpm engines, they
worked well but you could detect a slight difference when they got
a few miles on them.

Somewhere in the 80's, Champions seemed to turn to junk while
other brands seemed to be of higher quality....maybe it was the
technology shifting but there is a difference. In my opinion, buying
a brand because of low price is a mistake...like buying anything just
because of price. Experiment and ask to find a brand that suits your
requirements and then try to find the best deal on that particular
brand.....

I think Pope was a counter guy at one time and got tired of hearing me tell him that . Robot I don't know where Champion started declining, but they have not been the plug for my apps for a long time. As I've grown with the trade and hobby, I find every manufacturer has a plug for the condition in which you have chosen to use. I do prefer NGK for most if not all apps because of extensive Drag racing with exotic fuels and forced pressures. They have never let me down. I have been "Spanked" with my hard headed attitude against Champions before, but they got me home from Lincoln, Nebraska to Fort Collins, Co. No other plug would burn in the conditions the Honda put me in when the number 3 auxillary intake valve blew up and I had to patch it to get home from the bracket nationals in St Louis. So I don't bad mouth product manufacturers but rather
cautious and go with what my app takes to make it consistant and burn properly.

I use either Autolites or NGK's, Autolite on the street, NGK for racing. No complaints on either. Just got done indexing 4 sets for the 460's in the drag cars.... I've ran the NGK's for about 5 years in racers (circle burners and drag cars) with no complaints.....

I like NGK too. In fact, at the marina that is all we would install when we did a service job. I've also run Autolite's with good results.

Don

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

I use either Autolites or NGK's, Autolite on the street, NGK for racing. No complaints on either. Just got done indexing 4 sets for the 460's in the drag cars.... I've ran the NGK's for about 5 years in racers (circle burners and drag cars) with no complaints.....

this is scary i a agee with a ford guy i have used the bosch plugs and denso to. i do not care much for AC any thing but AC

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

I use either Autolites or NGK's, Autolite on the street, NGK for racing. No complaints on either. Just got done indexing 4 sets for the 460's in the drag cars.... I've ran the NGK's for about 5 years in racers (circle burners and drag cars) with no complaints.....

DING,DING,DING we have a winner.
Walk through any pits with an engine that costs a few bucks and 8 out of 10 guys have the NGK plugs at least the guys that win do.
We run the plugs that cost $1.89 and can't tell any difference in the dyno room or on the track over all the other hi dollar plugs.

Indexed split fire, been using then since they came out with good results, back em with a 6AL.

Originally Posted by DennyW

We run the plugs that cost $1.89 and can't tell any difference in the dyno room or on the track over all the other hi dollar plugs.
That 1.89 spark plug comes up as Saab NGK 2.0 liter.

I don't believe the 8 out of 10 guy thing either.

At the track here, that number refers to Autolites.

O.K,maybe it was only 7 out of 10 guys run the NGK plugs.
I will say some of the plugs that use the "trick" materials may last longer but I doubt they make any more power.
The hi-dollar plugs will actually make your ignition system work that much harder when you try to lite it all off.
Keep in mind electricity always tries to follow the path with the least resistance which might mean with a cheap or stock ignition system you might loose hp in the higher rpm area do to the ignition system having to work that much harder.
The Split-Fire plug is nothing but a clever marketing scheme.
I showed one of these to my Dad when the first came out and he dug around in the top of the old tool box and found a plug from the early 60's that looked much like the Split Fire's.
Denny we really need to work on your sense of humor I think it might be starting to slip again.

Originally Posted by DennyW

You want power on the top end, you run good old straight through wire wires. And, non resister plugs. It's like driving a Cadillac, or or wanting to go fast, you leave the Caddy parked, and take the Nova instead.
System working harder ? You mean faster don't you ? That's why with high rpm's, you buy the beefy high output coils.
The split fires, do give more power. This I know from my own testing. Yes, it is a marketing scheme. So is everything else. Except, a lot of them don't work. My self, I like the 5-6 neg electrode style. There are a few things you can do to plugs to help out. Not just the name.
What's wrong with my sense of Humor? I thought I was doing quit well.

And, don't forget, you can always run the Super Sonic Plugs !!

Denny,if you don't have a chassis dyno or an engine dyno how do you know the Split fires are making more power?
You are not going to tell me you can feel it in the seat of your pants now are you?

Originally Posted by DennyW

Raced the same guy, same day, twice with another brand, and the third and forth with split fires. The first races (quarter mile mark off here), I lost. You could hear the miss fires at 6 grand, I switched plugs, and beat him the other 2 races. Yes, both sets were new plugs. Yes, I could feel the difference. Response was more solid. No, I don't have any fancy stuff anymore for testing. Only the street.

This was a well known, marked off back road, with guys at both ends to regulate traffic.

Besides, does that dyno have a set climate ? Sunny day dry, cloudy day, wet ?

Well yes,we can control the temp and the humidity .
If you say you can feel the difference the I will have to take your word for it.
I have only done this for 20+ years you have done this for more than 30 years and I could never tell any difference by the seat of the pants by trying different plugs un-less we had the totally wrong ones in there.
I.M.O.,this is something only a dyno could tell.
For all you new guys to engine building there is no such thing as a "magic spark-plug".
The gains are a very small amount and the guy on the street does not need to go out there and spend $7.00 a piece on spark -plugs.

Don, Dave, I would like someone on this forum to bring back an old "trick" as it were. So all those here do not feel I'm hogging the spotlight....Would you or anybody else wanna explain "indexing" the plugs? If not, I can do it. Just don't wanna pee on another preson's campfire.

It's pretty well accepted in the dirt bike world that Champions hole pistons. So, everybody runs NGK which are great. Are they the best? Nobody ever tries AC Delco or Bosch in the bikes. They are so sensitive to the heat range, nobody wants to risk cross-referencing. Some do run Denso plugs, but I think NGK and Denso are the same plugs. I personally am running Champions in my truck for no reason other than the price was right. Autolites kind of scare me, but I have no foundation for this.

Indexing isn't just for racers, it's also for direct injection engines :P

Indexing isn't just for racers, it's also for direct injection engines :P


Now that you mention that, I remember our Techs at the marina saying some outboard engines had to have the plugs indexed when we serviced them.

Don