# Spark Plugs?



## NJG8GT (Nov 14, 2007)

Has anyone done any research on aftermarket "performance" spark plugs? I mean there are so many differnt plugs, gold, silver, platinum, titanium, kryptonyte. I was just wondering if it would be worth changing for any performance gain, and if so, what are the best plugs out there now? Or is this a question like the tornado fuel savor or turbonator? Thanks.


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

My C6 Vette was part of a dyno test for Pulstar Spark plugs. They are a spark plug that uses a capacitor to release a bunch more energy than a regular spark plug. 

Here's what the dyno told us. The stock LS2 spark plugs with 25,000 miles on them were the worst. The $25 per spark plug Pulstars were good for about 7 hp or about 2.5% increase in power. This was in a controlled enviroment with the temperature and humidity mostly constant, less than 2 degrees and 5% humidity variance. 

They then put in NGK TR55's that cost $2-$3 buck a plug and got a 5 hp increase over the Pulstar plugs. There was a lot less timing being pulled by the computer and it set up better and was more consistant over the full rpm range of the dyno pull.

The car after mine was a heads and cam car with a heavy cam. It had NGK's in it for the base test and it did the reverse of mine. It gained about 5 hp with the Pulstar plugs over the NGK's. The NGK's that were in the heads and cam car had about 15,000 miles on them so that might account for part of the difference, but the Pulstar plugs were better for that car and it's tune. The question you have to ask is, is it worth $200 to get a car that puts 415 hp to put an extra 5 hp to the ground. 

In my opinion, get NGK's and change them every 15,000 miles and you will be ahead of the game. You probably could go 30,000 on the NGK's and be ahead still but that would be the most I'd run the NGK's for. If you want to put a plug in and forget about it for a 100k keep the stock plugs in. 

They also did the same tests on a couple other cars and found that lower compression vehicles were help considerably with the Pulstar plug. A fox body 5.0 Mustang that was all stock gained 16 hp with the Pulstar plugs. A 4.3 V6 S-10 gained 19hp. 

The Pulstar plug is a more intense spark and that ignites more fuel quicker which causes a faster flame front travel. Basically it's the same thing as advancing your timing. The problem with higher compression vehicles is that the computer detects the faster flame front as pre ignition and retards the timing killing some or all of the benefit. 

They also got 7 hp on an Ecotech in a Malibu. 14 more hp on a Ford F-150 with the 5.4 V8. The 4.6 Mustang was a minimal gain, something like 2-3 hp.


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## NJG8GT (Nov 14, 2007)

*okay*



fergyflyer said:


> My C6 Vette was part of a dyno test for Pulstar Spark plugs. They are a spark plug that uses a capacitor to release a bunch more energy than a regular spark plug.
> 
> Here's what the dyno told us. The stock LS2 spark plugs with 25,000 miles on them were the worst. The $25 per spark plug Pulstars were good for about 7 hp or about 2.5% increase in power. This was in a controlled enviroment with the temperature and humidity mostly constant, less than 2 degrees and 5% humidity variance.
> 
> ...


okay. hopefully i'm gettin more than 15hp with my mods. Gonna get it dynoed after exhaust gets put on monday.


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

NJgoat said:


> okay. hopefully i'm gettin more than 15hp with my mods. Gonna get it dynoed after exhaust gets put on monday.


That 415 hp from the other Vette was at the wheels. More like 75-80 more hp than stock. He gained 5 hp with the Pulstar plugs.


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## NJG8GT (Nov 14, 2007)

*Plugs*



fergyflyer said:


> That 415 hp from the other Vette was at the wheels. More like 75-80 more hp than stock. He gained 5 hp with the Pulstar plugs.



So with my mods listed below, what plugs do you think I should try NGK or Pulstar. I'm guessin' NGK's. What kind of plugs come stock in the goat? Just plain GM plugs? I think this will be my next purchase, I just looking at power.:confused I've even noticed on Pfyc.com website they only list NGK's. What about bosch platinums?


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

I just saw a commercial for DENSO plugs and they claimed up to 20HP over the stock plugs.
DENSO iridium


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## NJG8GT (Nov 14, 2007)

I guess I'm gonna try the NGK TR55IX spark plugs. Any other imput from the peanut gallery on this. The link below is from pfyc.com about the NGK plugs TR6 and the TR55IX. What ya'll think?

http://www.pfyc.com/pc/GN3001/GTUNDER/NGK+Spark+Plugs.html


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