# spark plug upgrade



## thispecialk (Dec 22, 2008)

so looking for some spark plug upgrade any one know which is best to upgrade to? maybe pulse star? can i get ppls opinion


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

NGK TR55, thats what I run with good results.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

TR55. inexpensive, reliable and works well.


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## UdnUdnGTO (Jan 30, 2006)

Yeh, NGK is a good plug. Just put in TR55IX. I love the way this car is built. I had no trouble getting the plugs out and new ones in. Used anti-seize on the threads, dielectric on the boot. Had 90,000 on the originals. The left bank was badly worn. Should have changed them at 50,000 instead. I won't do that again. Anyway, NGK is excellent from my experience. Fergie has an interesting article on a test he got involved in. Might "search" and read the post.


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

Long and short of it, my first C6 was in a dyno test sponsored by Pulse Star. They baselined the car with stock plugs and then changed to the Pulse Star's. We got a hp gain with the Pulse Star's that was pretty close to what they said we would get. Then the owner of the speed shop put in NGK TR55 copper plugs, the $1.99 variety, not even the best NGK. The car made 3 more hp with the NGK's than it made with the Pulse Stars. 

NGK TR55's are the way to go. I'd get the iridium ones.


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## UdnUdnGTO (Jan 30, 2006)

fergyflyer said:


> Long and short of it, my first C6 was in a dyno test sponsored by Pulse Star. They baselined the car with stock plugs and then changed to the Pulse Star's. We got a hp gain with the Pulse Star's that was pretty close to what they said we would get. Then the owner of the speed shop put in NGK TR55 copper plugs, the $1.99 variety, not even the best NGK. The car made 3 more hp with the NGK's than it made with the Pulse Stars.
> 
> NGK TR55's are the way to go. I'd get the iridium ones.


Yep, agreed.


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## thispecialk (Dec 22, 2008)

hey im pretty new about upkeeps on a car i usually pay someone. but anyways i wanna start doing stuff on my own, for spark plugs if i change them out is it a simple unscrew old ones screw in new ones. do i need to buy anything else beside spark plugs when replacing them. when u guys are talking about gap wat do u guys mean by it


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## thispecialk (Dec 22, 2008)

yea im just doing simple changes to add little hp notin big. im trying to get exhaust done im probably gonna go with a borla anyone else think i should go with a different one


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## thispecialk (Dec 22, 2008)

can someone tell me how many spark plugs i need to buy and watever else i need to buy? o yea my car is at 26k miles about how often do u guys rotate tire im assuming the previous owner never did that on my car do u think its time for me to get it done


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

thispecialk said:


> hey im pretty new about upkeeps on a car i usually pay someone. but anyways i wanna start doing stuff on my own, for spark plugs if i change them out is it a simple unscrew old ones screw in new ones. do i need to buy anything else beside spark plugs when replacing them. when u guys are talking about gap wat do u guys mean by it


It's pretty basic, if you buy the platinum tipped plugs you don't gap them, as gapping will/could damage the tips. They come pre-gapped. The gap is the distance between the tip and the ground strap.


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

thispecialk said:


> can someone tell me how many spark plugs i need to buy and watever else i need to buy? o yea my car is at 26k miles about how often do u guys rotate tire im assuming the previous owner never did that on my car do u think its time for me to get it done


You need 8 spark plugs, and I rotate my tires every time I change my oil at 5000 miles. Some dielectric grease for the plug boots, and anti seze for the spark plugs.


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## nron (Jul 28, 2009)

What gap is the best, .04 or .055? I know it will depend on mods but when should you go with what?

I am planning on getting new plugs and am torn about which gap. I am stock now but am planning on headers, exhaust, otrcai, thermostat.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

fergyflyer said:


> Long and short of it, my first C6 was in a dyno test sponsored by Pulse Star. They baselined the car with stock plugs and then changed to the Pulse Star's. We got a hp gain with the Pulse Star's that was pretty close to what they said we would get. Then the owner of the speed shop put in NGK TR55 copper plugs, the $1.99 variety, not even the best NGK. The car made 3 more hp with the NGK's than it made with the Pulse Stars.
> 
> NGK TR55's are the way to go. I'd get the iridium ones.


There are so many variables that can go into that. I don't think 1-3 HP is accurate. I can't see any difference in plugs in any car I ever owned. Gap correctly and they work. I'm sure there is some % of error that needs to be accounted for. 1-3 HP on a 350/400 hp is within 1%...

I have always used NGK though. Not sure why, but they have been good to me so I guess why try anything else.


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## nron (Jul 28, 2009)

jpalamar said:


> Gap correctly and they work.QUOTE]
> 
> What gap do you use and why? Just trying to learn some more about gap differences.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

nron said:


> jpalamar said:
> 
> 
> > Gap correctly and they work.QUOTE]
> ...


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

jpalamar said:


> There are so many variables that can go into that. I don't think 1-3 HP is accurate. I can't see any difference in plugs in any car I ever owned. Gap correctly and they work. I'm sure there is some % of error that needs to be accounted for. 1-3 HP on a 350/400 hp is within 1%...
> 
> I have always used NGK though. Not sure why, but they have been good to me so I guess why try anything else.


You missed my point. 

We put the Pulse Star plugs in and got a gain in HP. We then put NGK's in and we did better than the Pulse Stars. What I'm saying is the $25 spark plugs work great, but didn't do any better than the $2 copper NGK plugs. 

As plugs age they become less efficient and then don't ignite fuel as well. It takes more than 50,000 miles with modern spark plugs in a modern motor to see a large difference when you change them. 

We are both saying the same thing. Don't worry about the brand, just get new ones that are the correct heat range and gap them properly. 

Oh, and for the variables, they were pretty much eliminated. They strapped my car on a dyno. They did three pulls recording outside temperature and humidity as well as coolant temperature. They averaged those pulls. 

They then changed the plugs while the car was strapped to the dyno and did 3 more pulls with Pulse Stars. They averaged those pulls. 

They then changed the plugs leaving the car strapped to the dyno and did 3 more pulls with NGK's. My car had 23,000 or so miles and it beneitted from new plugs. Not enough that it would be worth changing them, but it did benefit. 

The temperature and humidty were held within 2 degrees and the humidity was within 5% of the baseline. It was the same car with the same fuel in the tank, strapped to the same indoor climate controlled dyno on the same day. All pulls and plug changes were done within a 4 hour period from 9 am till about 1 pm.


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## Mongoose6.0 (Jan 14, 2008)

*Plug gaps*

Prior to 2005 GM used .055 GAP spark plugs on all LSx motors (this size). Starting in 2005, they switched to .040 GAP plugs to provide a better idle when things like cheap gas are encountered. Either a .060, or .040 GAP plug will work in any LSX motor with the smaller GAP being best for daily driven, mildly modded cars.


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## Belnick (Mar 24, 2011)

svede1212 said:


> TR55. inexpensive, reliable and works well.


Hi

new to the forum 

I have googled and googled, but i still have not received a good answer

the TR55 is 0.040, right ?
is it not 0.060 i should have in the LS2 ?
I dont have the manual to the car, was not in it when i bought my GTO and i tried to search for the gap that is original with the car but i get no real answer, only more questions


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

It should say in the spark plug catalog. Either way, yes, get copper plugs, iridium plugs are a snake oil product. They last longer, but have a higher resistance, whereas copper wears faster, and has a very low resistance.

I think next time I'll get some plain old Champions. Oh, and never trust that a plug is "pre-gapped". They're close at best.


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

Belnick said:


> I dont have the manual to the car, was not in it when i bought my GTO and i tried to search for the gap that is original with the car but i get no real answer, only more questions


You didn't say whether you had an 05 or an 06 but here are links to both manuals. Both say the gap is .040" (Page 5-90 in both).
2005 Owner's Manual
2006 Owner's Manual


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## Belnick (Mar 24, 2011)

HP11 said:


> You didn't say whether you had an 05 or an 06 but here are links to both manuals. Both say the gap is .040" (Page 5-90 in both).
> 2005 Owner's Manual
> 2006 Owner's Manual


Well I said LS2 so i thought they(2005-2006) were about the same car

Thx to both of you then, getting the mentioned spark plugs + corsa sport + k/n cold air NeXT week arty:


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## HP11 (Apr 11, 2009)

They (05-06) are basically the same; only slight differences. My comment about the years was based on you saying you didn't have an owners manual.


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## Belnick (Mar 24, 2011)

Ahh ok, thx


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## KyleGT05usmc (Feb 28, 2009)

tl;dr 

Go with the NGK's with the copper core. think its the "v-power" version

platinum isn't as conductive as copper and the plugs are easy as hell to change.


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## silversport (Mar 23, 2007)

aren't platinum marked plugs just platinum *tipped* copper core plugs???...
Bill


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

I pulled one of my plugs out.

25k miles on them.

They look pretty good to me, considering that I flog my Maggie about 25x per day.

If someone else sees something unusual about the plugs please lemme know.

I just hit 100k miles and was wondering how many more miles I can get outta these plugs.


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## boogs2335 (Mar 9, 2011)

so what about the wires, suggestions?


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

batmans said:


> I pulled one of my plugs out.
> 
> 25k miles on them.
> 
> ...


Those already look pretty worn, I'd replace them.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

boogs2335 said:


> so what about the wires, suggestions?


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## SWGOAT (Nov 9, 2010)

I installed NGK TR55 plugs and Taylor Thunder 50 wires, just got the car out today and by seat of the pants you could feel a difference. The install was easy, the OEM plug shields did not fit in the Taylor plug boots, so I used insulating sleeves. No clearance issues with my shorty headers either. I changed plugs at 40,000, inexpensive upgrade, routine maintenance.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

I just got off the phone with a technical rep at NGK and he said for my boosted application he recommends the NGK 7348 iridium plug. This is based off a current boost of 8.5psi and a future plan for 13psi on pump gas.

He's heard that a few people claim a 2-3% increase of power on the dyno for boosted applications.

Any thoughts?


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

I'm replacing my plugs on my GTO with the MP112 running 8.5psi on 91 octane gas.

Anyone know what the ideal plug gap should be for my application?


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

batmans said:


> I just got off the phone with a technical rep at NGK and he said for my boosted application he recommends the NGK 7348 iridium plug. This is based off a current boost of 8.5psi and a future plan for 13psi on pump gas.
> 
> *He's heard that a few people claim a 2-3% increase of power on the dyno for boosted applications.*
> 
> Any thoughts?


I seriously doubt it. I'd use a TR6 and just change them every 20k.


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## batmans (Aug 16, 2007)

I heard that the C6 Z06 is running the TR6IX (3689).

I'm going to go with that one.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

svede1212 said:


> I'd use a TR6


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