Thread: The Best Spark Plug Out There

This thread is devoted to finding the best spark plug available on the market.

Update: After years of tinkering with spark plugs, I found the best combo for myself to be Iridium spark plugs, Side Gaped and Indexed. This gets me nice MPG gains, same WHP gains as side gaped coppers, but better longevity compared to coppers.

Siding Gaping
Cost - The price of some new plugs if you screw your current ones up
Power Gains - 7 WHP over stock when side gaped and indexed on a turbo motor.

Indexing Spark Plugs - To see the article scroll down to the "Keying your spark plugs" section.
Concept - By turning the open end of the spark plug ground electrode to the intake valves, the spark should be able to better combust the incoming fuel
Cost - Free, or How ever much the washers would cost.
Power Gains - 2WHP over stock non indexed plugs.

More about this:

User test 1

Sonic Spark Plugs
Concept - Using OEM spark plugs, NGK or Autolite. By drilling a little hole in the ground electrode, you can create a super sonic sound that will be sent with the spark to better combust the fuel.
Cost - $6.95 a plug for standard BKR5E-11's. $16.95 for Iridium IX BKR5EIX-11 plugs

I contacted Dave, he said that for my 1999 Nissan Sentra he has BKR5E-11 plugs and Iridium plugs. By the dyno results below, I think Super Sonic Iridium plugs could be the best available option!

Pulstar Plus Plugs at 1M Watts of power!
Concept - Bigger/brighter spark will help the fuel burn more efficiently.
Cost - $25 a plug, a bit steep but might be worth it.

NGK Iridium Plugs
Concept - More conductive then platinum, stronger then copper but not as strong as platinum: lasts ~40-50k miles.
Cost - About $6-11 a Plug

FireStorm SparkPlug
Concept - Please read the provided article about it. These plugs allow you to lean out your engine up to 24:1 A/F ratio!
Cost - N/A

that was some good reading.

alho i must say with the copper plugs i have never been able to gap mine with anything more than .28 without having the boost blow out the spark.

altho it doesnt say if the copper plugs gapped at .31-.35 are with naturally aspired or boosted

Hmm Interesting.... most likely those are not boosted, otherwise it would be wise for them to mention it...

Now reading about the spark plugs, it seems like the smaller the spark voltage the better?

more spark is always better right? different plugs have a diff resistor built in so they may claim more "spark" but the difference is negligible. Wires have a bigger effect on the spark that gets to the plugs as resistance along the wire will drop the voltage slightly. But the factory ignition system is plenty strong enough without changing coils and wires.

Most people like to run ngk plugs, just the copper core bkr6e or bkr7e. They are cheap and reliable for boosted applications. Though I hear of some racecar drivers running bosch and autolite plugs because they will melt before your pistons will from what I heard.

bigger spark will give you a better burn. but the smaller the gap the more chancges it will fire on all cylinders.

for some odd reason with my car, i can build boost in 1st slowly with .30 gap and then in second if i try to build boost fast it will blow out the spark and hesitate...i found the copper ngk 7es are the best for the price. i hear they have even colder like 8s and 9s

So bigger the gap the better spark you get?

I'm running the platinum's, and as said on SE-R.net it should be at least .039... I've ran the car at .032, .035, .044, and now at .039 on those plugs, all seemed to be the same, I think .032 might have been better actually...

if you are turbo you close the gap down. NA you can run .039-.042 with no issues. ON turbo, you typically have to be .032 or less. I am runnint .032 gap on copper NGK BKR711E's and no issues so far! I wanted to see how they would hold up.

I don't recommend trying all those fancy gimmick spark plugs, they usually cause more issues than actually help. I also don't recommend Iridiums as they don't seem to help on our motors either. I say stick to Platinum NGK's for NA applications and just run coppers for turbo applications and replace them every year. Coppers can be had for $1.15 a plug if needed.

Brent

i was running the ik24 denso iridium spark plugs and i had'nt had any problems with them , but accidently dropped them and they got messed up and i wasnt about to pay 14-25 a piece for them again... so i went with the 7es after that. but i have heard the iridiums werent the best..

Yeah thats what I'm doing, I wont spend more then $5 a plug, and thanks to Serban I got the NGK's for lower then that

Iridiums is money wasted! I bet you saw no difference in fuel mileage or performance with them.

Brent