Just curious as to what everyone runs in their vehicles and why.
I personally have two top choices for my car...The AC Delco Rapidfire and the NGK V-power.
I can't really say that one is a whole lot better than the other, especially in terms of performance since that part seems to be about equal. I do like the NGK for their somewhat cool-ish heat range for my application which seems to quell a little of the Knock Retard when flogging it in the hot summer months. The Rapidfires work great too, and they sold me after installing a set in my 17HP Kohler twin garden tractor engine...It was the only plug that didn't foul out horribly after one season, or at best become "2-sided" with the intake side clean and the exhaust side all black. Of course this was with the old style Rapidfire (P/N 2 same as a Chevy V8). I can't say whether or not the new platinum version will work as good. These have been fine and there's no reason to change them yet.
I of course use nothing but Champion in any Mopar...They don't seem to run right on any other brand of plug, so my dad's Dakota and mom's Jeep get Champion Truck Plugs.
I tend not to use Champions in any other application, especially Fords...They get Autolite or NGK.
I will never, ever use a Bosch Platinum plug. The failure rate of these plugs is exponential. Nearly every vehicle that comes into our shop with a misfire and/or driveability concern has these POS plugs in it. They've also been responsible for at least one case of piston meltdown in a (modded) supercharged 3800 V6.
Favorite spark plugs?
- Thread starter GT Mike
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Ford Ranger 3.0 NGK Iridium
Feels no different from the Motorcraft but might last longer.
The Rapidfire Plugs claim to have a platinum pad. Where are these on the plug. I cannot see them.
I can't remember the last time I ever changed a spark plug. The only gasser I now own is an old Infiniti Q45, and changing plugs on that thing is now a 100K mile thing, and is done as part of a major, major service.
About the only reason you change them is a preventive measure against seal leakage, and, to keep them from freezing solid in their threads.
I am close to a 100K change and they have worked flawlessly. The ones in there are some kind of NGK platinums I think.
quote:You're not alone, but I was told it's integrated (?) into the tapered firing tip.
Originally posted by jmlangeveld: The Rapidfire Plugs claim to have a platinum pad. Where are these on the plug. I cannot see them.
Man, I don't know why sooo many people seem to have problems with Bosch Platinum plugs. My brother had a set of Platinum +4's in a Cavalier with the 3.1, and he never had a problem. My dad had a set of regular Platinums in a 4 liter Grand Cherokee, no problem there. I had a set in an old 89 Pontiac 6000, no problems there either. Were we just lucky or something?
I have Bosch Platinums in my car and they are doing awesome... but I want something cheaper so I am using NGK V-power plugs..
If I want a single platnium I go for Bosch! If I want a regular plug or douple platnium NGK is hard to beat. If I want OEM iridiums I do with Denso!
The only plugs I have tried that I will not go near with a 20' pole is Autolite's!!!! I tried them in an old Ford and they would foul out really quick. I tried two different sets just to make sure. THey were platnium or double platnium. I tried a set of BOsch and never had a problem after that! Both sets had less then 3000 miles on them when I gave one set away and threw the other set in the trash a few years later.
I used Autolite Double Platinums on my Mountaineer and they work great.
Champion coppers or Champion Truck plugs in the '88 Jeep Cherokee. No reason to run anything else...
Stock Motorcraft Platinums in the '99 F150 4.6 - they work, why not?
Plain old NGK plugs for my Suzuki bikes. My VW diesel uses Bosch Duraterm glowplugs.
Steve
I just put in the black Champion truck plugs in my 95 chevy truck and 83 Ford truck. Both seem to run better, but then any plug may have helped. They run and idle smoother. Will check mpg to see if any difference over time. I wanted to put in the new E3 plugs, but they are only available through JC Whitney, and I didnt want the hassle and wait to get them mailorder. Heres the link:
http://www.e3sparkplugs.com/
Anyone ever try these?
I use NGK. It's actually been OEM on all teh vehicles I've serviced so far. NGK has a pretty big market in spark plugs.
I run NGK in most all my cars nowadays. I like NGK because they seem to have more plugs available for a given heat range than Champions or Autolite. Probably more so because I can get them pretty easily by mail order.
My Honda powered mower gets NGK. My string trimmer gets Champion as does the Ducati motorcycle.
I'll also use AC when (IF!) I can find them at the store.
I avoid Bosch not because of personal experience, but because of the negative stories I hear about their multi-electrode plugs. I've also heard of the porcelain cores getting ejected leaving the shells in the cyliner heads.
I don't think Bosch is bad for all the cars; but some certain car models do seem to perform very poorly with those, for ex. in 4.6L T-birds!
I'm running oem style Motorcraft AWSF-32PP double platinum now, and they perform long and good, but after seeing a chart about electrical conductivity of different metals, I'm going with Motorcraft Copper plugs next time; although they might last only 30k miles, compared to about 80k with Pt, people report having much better performance with the Coppers(T-bird people with 4.6L).
It seems that Copper has the best conductivity; Pt and Iridium, though better in longevity, have a lot less conducting capablities, compared to good ole Cu.
Wifey's '03 Hyundai Elantra runs Champions, I think(oem). Her 30k service is coming up, where they change sp.plugs...should I ask for NGK this time? ![[Roll Eyes]](images/icons/rolleyes.gif)
I use AC-delcos on my cars and NGK on anything else. I take any champion that I see and throw it as far as I can. Every single time I see a fouled plug it is a Champion. I've seen brand new ones not work. Bosch Platinums wear very fast in many applications, and I avoid them as well.
A little info on the ACs
The Rapidfires used to be a non-platinum plug with a tapered, splined electrode. Now they are simply a single platinum plug. These and the double platinums are my favorite, and I've had nothing but good luck with them.
-T
I like OEM platinum plugs.
Autolite Platinums. 4.0L engines were designed for copper plugs but I have a MSD Blaster Coil, 8.5mm Magnecor plug wires and a brass tipped cap and rotor. It's part of a package that is sold by a Grand Cherokee accessory company called Multitronics. It's about the same price as buying the plugs, cap, rotor and wires from Autozone, except you get the MSD ignition coil.
Other ones I used and liked :Bosch Super Copper, Splitfire, Champion Copper Plus and Champion truck plugs.
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