I'm due to have my spark plugs replaced and I'm wondering if there's any benefit to the new iridium plugs over the regular platinum plugs which I have always used for 60,000 mile intervals in my 1995 Maxima. Thanks for any info/guidance.
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PLATINUM VS. IRIDIUM
- Thread starter MADMIKE
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Absolutely but only if there is an Iridium IX that matches your OEM plug. Best plug by far.
sprintman,
Iridium IX is the best plug? Why? Can you explain further? My vehicle has ND Iridium IX from the factory and now with 65,000 miles I wouldn't even consider changing them yet but, can you explain further!
Iridium IX is the best plug? Why? Can you explain further? My vehicle has ND Iridium IX from the factory and now with 65,000 miles I wouldn't even consider changing them yet but, can you explain further!
I thought NGK marketed the Iridium IX line, not Denso.
It's my understanding that the major (only?) benefit of running iridium plugs is increased useful life of the plugs. The OE NGK's in my car are actually scheduled for replacement at 105,000 miles.
It's my understanding that the major (only?) benefit of running iridium plugs is increased useful life of the plugs. The OE NGK's in my car are actually scheduled for replacement at 105,000 miles.
NO performance difference or if so negligible.
As far as I'm concerned I would swap out plugs more often regardless of what the manufacturer says. Why?
Who owns the vehicle?? YOU? Its your wallet if the plug decides to seize in the head or snap. Ask all the Ford F150 guys crying when plugs are siezing left right and center around the world. 2 days later you'll get your truck back and a hefty bill from a shop.
I use alot of Gpower NGK plugs in majority of my customers cars unless IR's are OE plugs. Keeping plugs in a long duration of time is a gamble regardless of what make you drive.
As far as I'm concerned I would swap out plugs more often regardless of what the manufacturer says. Why?
Who owns the vehicle?? YOU? Its your wallet if the plug decides to seize in the head or snap. Ask all the Ford F150 guys crying when plugs are siezing left right and center around the world. 2 days later you'll get your truck back and a hefty bill from a shop.
I use alot of Gpower NGK plugs in majority of my customers cars unless IR's are OE plugs. Keeping plugs in a long duration of time is a gamble regardless of what make you drive.
MADMIKE
Thread starter
I guess to refine my question, is there any significant difference between platinum and iridium as far as useful life goes? Does iridium hold the gap better/longer than platinum or are they pretty similar in that respect? Why were iridium plugs developed in the first place? Thanks!
Originally Posted By: alanu
...keeping plugs in a long duration of time is a gamble regardless of what make you drive.
I think that's very reasonable. Even if you pull the plugs early, decide they're still good, and reinstall them, at least you get a good look at what's happening. Kinda like finding problems before they find you.
I don't think plug core materials have changed much over the past decades, but Iridium is more resistant to corrosion/fouling than steel/nickel electrodes and all-around tougher than platinum.
...keeping plugs in a long duration of time is a gamble regardless of what make you drive.
I think that's very reasonable. Even if you pull the plugs early, decide they're still good, and reinstall them, at least you get a good look at what's happening. Kinda like finding problems before they find you.
I don't think plug core materials have changed much over the past decades, but Iridium is more resistant to corrosion/fouling than steel/nickel electrodes and all-around tougher than platinum.
Originally Posted By: MADMIKE
I guess to refine my question, is there any significant difference between platinum and iridium as far as useful life goes?
Conventional spark plugs generally last one year. Platinum or iridium can last, depending on manufacturer specifications, up to seven years. Why anyone would consider leaving plugs in for 7 years is beyond me though. A brand new copper plug will outperform a 6 month old PL or IR plug.
Originally Posted By: MADMIKE
Does iridium hold the gap better/longer than platinum or are they pretty similar in that respect?
IR and PL will both hold the gap longer than the copper plugs.
Originally Posted By: MADMIKE
Why were iridium plugs developed in the first place? Thanks!
Some will say IR and PL will increase power but copper spark plugs produce more power than the longer life platinum or the newer iridium. In the end, there really is no concrete evidence one way or the other as any dyno testing of spark plugs results in differences that are far less than the dyno tolerances from run to run.
With all that said, I use copper NGKs exclusively and change them every year or 12K miles. If I am going to be pulling the plugs anyway, why would I bother cleaning and gapping the old ones when a new set can be had for less than $8.00.
I guess to refine my question, is there any significant difference between platinum and iridium as far as useful life goes?
Conventional spark plugs generally last one year. Platinum or iridium can last, depending on manufacturer specifications, up to seven years. Why anyone would consider leaving plugs in for 7 years is beyond me though. A brand new copper plug will outperform a 6 month old PL or IR plug.
Originally Posted By: MADMIKE
Does iridium hold the gap better/longer than platinum or are they pretty similar in that respect?
IR and PL will both hold the gap longer than the copper plugs.
Originally Posted By: MADMIKE
Why were iridium plugs developed in the first place? Thanks!
Some will say IR and PL will increase power but copper spark plugs produce more power than the longer life platinum or the newer iridium. In the end, there really is no concrete evidence one way or the other as any dyno testing of spark plugs results in differences that are far less than the dyno tolerances from run to run.
With all that said, I use copper NGKs exclusively and change them every year or 12K miles. If I am going to be pulling the plugs anyway, why would I bother cleaning and gapping the old ones when a new set can be had for less than $8.00.
Obviously your plugs are easy to get to.
In the last 10 years I have yet to have a plug die before 60,000 and like the OCI for many folks these days, changing oil every 3000 miles or plugs every year or less then 60,000 is a waste of resources.
In the last 10 years I have yet to have a plug die before 60,000 and like the OCI for many folks these days, changing oil every 3000 miles or plugs every year or less then 60,000 is a waste of resources.
Originally Posted By: Spector
Obviously your plugs are easy to get to.
In the last 10 years I have yet to have a plug die before 60,000 and like the OCI for many folks these days, changing oil every 3000 miles or plugs every year or less then 60,000 is a waste of resources.
Yes, plugs take almost the same time as an oil change - Ive never had plugs on any of my cars that were this easy to replace.
Since my car manufacturer recomends SP replacement every 30K and oil every 3K (severe service), I cant agree with either of your assessments.
I am very diligent in tracking my MPGs and I can say witout a doubt that my MPGs drop (every so slightly) after my plugs have been in for 1 year. As soon as I replace, MPGs go back up.
Gas is also a resource, and increasing MPG by one helps save resources as well. Since plugs cost less than $2, I cant see the amount of "waste" being very much.
Obviously your plugs are easy to get to.
In the last 10 years I have yet to have a plug die before 60,000 and like the OCI for many folks these days, changing oil every 3000 miles or plugs every year or less then 60,000 is a waste of resources.
Yes, plugs take almost the same time as an oil change - Ive never had plugs on any of my cars that were this easy to replace.
Since my car manufacturer recomends SP replacement every 30K and oil every 3K (severe service), I cant agree with either of your assessments.
I am very diligent in tracking my MPGs and I can say witout a doubt that my MPGs drop (every so slightly) after my plugs have been in for 1 year. As soon as I replace, MPGs go back up.
Gas is also a resource, and increasing MPG by one helps save resources as well. Since plugs cost less than $2, I cant see the amount of "waste" being very much.
Originally Posted By: heathenbrewing
Conventional spark plugs generally last one year. Platinum or iridium can last, depending on manufacturer specifications, up to seven years. Why anyone would consider leaving plugs in for 7 years is beyond me though. A brand new copper plug will outperform a 6 month old PL or IR plug.
Yap, you better take plugs out every few years and apply anti-seize compound.
Care to provide some reference material regarding all of your other statements?
Conventional spark plugs generally last one year. Platinum or iridium can last, depending on manufacturer specifications, up to seven years. Why anyone would consider leaving plugs in for 7 years is beyond me though. A brand new copper plug will outperform a 6 month old PL or IR plug.
Yap, you better take plugs out every few years and apply anti-seize compound.
Care to provide some reference material regarding all of your other statements?
Originally Posted By: heathenbrewing
A brand new copper plug will outperform a 6 month old PL or IR plug.
And a 4 year old PL or IR plug will out perform an old school 1 year old copper plug. And I would guess your mileage goes down after one year because you are using copper plugs that wear much much faster. But, I don't have a problem with it. I just don't like changing plugs every year.
As far as the original question, I thought IR is supposed to last longer than PL but not much different in performance.
FWIW, I just changed plugs on my accord after 5 years and 100,000 miles. Came out easy as could be and still looked good.
A brand new copper plug will outperform a 6 month old PL or IR plug.
And a 4 year old PL or IR plug will out perform an old school 1 year old copper plug. And I would guess your mileage goes down after one year because you are using copper plugs that wear much much faster. But, I don't have a problem with it. I just don't like changing plugs every year.
As far as the original question, I thought IR is supposed to last longer than PL but not much different in performance.
FWIW, I just changed plugs on my accord after 5 years and 100,000 miles. Came out easy as could be and still looked good.
Originally Posted By: Junior
And a 4 year old PL or IR plug will out perform an old school 1 year old copper plug....
I disagree. New plugs will always outperform old plugs, regardless of what metal they are covered with.
And a 4 year old PL or IR plug will out perform an old school 1 year old copper plug....
I disagree. New plugs will always outperform old plugs, regardless of what metal they are covered with.
Originally Posted By: odessit
Originally Posted By: heathenbrewing
Conventional spark plugs generally last one year. Platinum or iridium can last, depending on manufacturer specifications, up to seven years. Why anyone would consider leaving plugs in for 7 years is beyond me though. A brand new copper plug will outperform a 6 month old PL or IR plug.
Yap, you better take plugs out every few years and apply anti-seize compound.
Care to provide some reference material regarding all of your other statements?
The seven years (they actually say 100K miles) statement is made by acdelco: http://www.acdelco.com/parts/sparkplugs/iridium.jsp
RE: new coppers vs. old iridiums - I belong to a car club and I have seen many many sets of used spark plugs (we tend to save them for a while to show others), some are coppers, some iridiums. Ive personally examined 3 sets of IR that had between 15K and 55K miles on 'em. Even at 15K, the build up is obvious on these "self-cleaning" plugs. You already know that spark plugs wear out. Well, "burn up" is more like it, because when a spark jumps the gap between two electrodes, it actually burns off (erodes) minute amounts of metal from each one. These two observation led me to my conclusion.
Originally Posted By: heathenbrewing
Conventional spark plugs generally last one year. Platinum or iridium can last, depending on manufacturer specifications, up to seven years. Why anyone would consider leaving plugs in for 7 years is beyond me though. A brand new copper plug will outperform a 6 month old PL or IR plug.
Yap, you better take plugs out every few years and apply anti-seize compound.
Care to provide some reference material regarding all of your other statements?
The seven years (they actually say 100K miles) statement is made by acdelco: http://www.acdelco.com/parts/sparkplugs/iridium.jsp
RE: new coppers vs. old iridiums - I belong to a car club and I have seen many many sets of used spark plugs (we tend to save them for a while to show others), some are coppers, some iridiums. Ive personally examined 3 sets of IR that had between 15K and 55K miles on 'em. Even at 15K, the build up is obvious on these "self-cleaning" plugs. You already know that spark plugs wear out. Well, "burn up" is more like it, because when a spark jumps the gap between two electrodes, it actually burns off (erodes) minute amounts of metal from each one. These two observation led me to my conclusion.
Platinum and iridium will last a long time. But iridium is better because it conducts better than platinum. Actually, plain steel plugs [when brand new and sharp] have less resistance at the tips than platinum.
The new precious metal tipped plugs have a benefit in that they are quite small, and let gas in and out of the critical area better.
Copper in plugs is for heat transfer - it is in the core and does not affect firing or life. There are a few odd plugs with a copper core in the electrode, but they are rare.
The new precious metal tipped plugs have a benefit in that they are quite small, and let gas in and out of the critical area better.
Copper in plugs is for heat transfer - it is in the core and does not affect firing or life. There are a few odd plugs with a copper core in the electrode
IR plug has a better burn pattern. You notice the difference as soon as you install them. Smoother idle and acceleration. Dyno owner installed IR in my Outback and Mazda and seeing results got them for his Subaru B4 and RS turbo. New NGk Iridium DFE available
http://www.ngkspark.com.au/pages/bulletins/T01-7.htm
http://www.ngkspark.com.au/pages/bulletins/T01-7.htm
Burn pattern?
I think it is called quench zone - or flame kernel -
The IR plugs are for coil on plug systems because they have the least ammount of resistance, and give the CP system longer life.
There is a reason why most major manufacturs are using IR as OEM - Go and do some internet digging - I have found IR to be superior
The IR is a much harder metal and provides a great balance of life vs electrical esistance.
But to each is own - I found using a copper plug in my Coil over plug system - the performance would degrade rather quickly vs years with IR.
The IR plugs are for coil on plug systems because they have the least ammount of resistance, and give the CP system longer life.
There is a reason why most major manufacturs are using IR as OEM - Go and do some internet digging - I have found IR to be superior
The IR is a much harder metal and provides a great balance of life vs electrical esistance.
But to each is own - I found using a copper plug in my Coil over plug system - the performance would degrade rather quickly vs years with IR.
Originally Posted By: heathenbrewing
Originally Posted By: Junior
And a 4 year old PL or IR plug will out perform an old school 1 year old copper plug....
I disagree. New plugs will always outperform old plugs, regardless of what metal they are covered with.
I think you misread what I wrote. I was comparing a 4 year old plug to a 1 year old plug. What you said is correct but that is not what I was saying.
Originally Posted By: Junior
And a 4 year old PL or IR plug will out perform an old school 1 year old copper plug....
I disagree. New plugs will always outperform old plugs, regardless of what metal they are covered with.
I think you misread what I wrote. I was comparing a 4 year old plug to a 1 year old plug. What you said is correct but that is not what I was saying.
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