platinum plugs [Merged 6-7]

[ALASKATALON WHI]

whats wrong with running platinum plugs?

 

[SetH]

Platinum is a catalyst for heat. There is a piece of platinum in a platinum spark plug (hence the name.) When the combustion chamber starts to heat up (such as in a turbocharged or nitrous application) that piece of platinum actually becomes the hottest spot in the chamber, and can ignite the air/fuel combo before the spark plug even fires. Obviously, if the spark plug hasn't fired yet, the piston is not in time to be forced back down the cylinder, and that my friend, is exactly what pre-ignition is. Platinum plugs heat up really quickly, and can help create a more intnse flame for normal cars, and that equates to better fuel economy. From a performance standpoint, platinum plugs are bad bad bad.

Just to give credit, this was originally posted by NosLaser, and I swooped it to help you out. Use NGK BPR7ES, they are the best for our cars.

 

[eXploitedGST]

really so platium +4 plugs are bad... when i bought the car thats what was in it... now i got split fires.

 

[espydur]

how bout for a nt? because i'm running platinum +4's and don't wanna damage anything............

 

[SetH]

espydur- I think its mainly turbo cars that they are bad for...I would suggest looking at the manual and seeing what came stock with the car. Or you could PM NosLaser....he seems to be knowledgeable on the subject.

 

[green95hrcgs]

espydur platinums are fine for an nt. Turbo cars are really the only ones that benefit from running the colder plugs.

 

[espydur]

aight, thanks. i assumed it just concerned turbo's...but i was just making sure.

 

[mavisky]

a little warning i originally posted on dsmtalk.com. there isn't a listing for the turbo cars, but there is for the nt's and some people in the past have used the nt plugs in their turbo cars to gain the supposed "advantage" of these plugs.


for those interested i found the original sport compact car article on these plugs today. here's the important part for us.

"Take an ultra-high output turbocharged engine for example. to operate safely at a high boost the engine requires colder plugs. these cold plugs don't reach sel-cleaning temeperature off-boost, however, so the plugs foul and the engine tends to run poorly whenever you aren't abusing it. the self-cleaning properties of the surface gap design should help preventmisfires under these conditions, correcting the engines masochistic split personality. at the other end of that engine's boost curve the surface gap design could again prove useful. as air pressure and fuel density increase in the plug gap, (both of which happen when you turn up the boost) the voltage required to initiate a spark increases, often to the point where even a strong ignition system can't consistently provide enough voltage. in this case the reduced voltage requirements of the surface gap could keep the engine running properly at high boost, making more power, and possibly allowing a higher boost limit.

of course all this is speculation. currently the coldest platinum +4 plugs have a 7 heat range, and no applications have been releasd for turbocharged vehicles. Trachte explains that applications were being released in stages. those for which there was little doubt that the plus would work, and where a minimum of testing would have to be done, have already been released. those applications where there was some possibility of a problem, such as turbocharged cars, are undergoing further testing and evaluation before the plugs are released. in teh case of turbos, trachte is concerned that the increased combustion temperature combined with the soark rcing across the surface of the insulator could overheat the insulator. this could make it more susceptible to pucnture failures when sparks try to jump through the insulator from the center electrode to the shell of the spark plug. remember though that he is looking for 100,000 mile reliability. nobody running the kind of boost that would require a colder plug or a stronger ignition system should haev any illusions about keeping their spark plugs nearly that long. overheating the insulator may not be a problem at all, but only further testing will tell.

one place the platinum +4 won't help is a rotary. while the multi electrode design is similar to many of the most effective rotary plugs, martin kasnowski, product manager for aftermarket parts, warned that their tests had shown a sttrange vibration peculiar to rotaries could occasionally cause the ground electrodes to break off. since demand for rotary plugs is low bosch didn't bother to solve the problem. with only that one caveat, though, the platinum +4 appears to be as close to a miracle cure-all spark plug that you're likely to find. ................"

reading this myself lead me to a few things i've already pointed out.

1. our cars don't like platinum plugs, this is one
2. over heating of the insulator since most of us run 7 range plugs at high boost
3. obviously they don't make these plugs for the turbo cars, but they do for the 2.0 nt and they do fit right in, just make sure not to confuse which car you're buying plugs for.
4. electrodes falling off under vibration in rotaries - i have a hard time believing that it is impossible for our cars to enter a state of pre-ignition in which the resulting "knock" won't simulate a very strong vibration at possibly even the same frequency that the rotaries were experiencing.


i think these plugs are great. used them in my nt for 2 years and loved em. but i would never ever install them on anyone's turbo car unless i wanted their motor to have issues.

god that sucked typing all that.

 

[rdrkt]

Denso spark plugs one or two ranges colder work great for me. However as you can imagine a spark plug two ranges colder does foul. I end up replacing them every month or so its not a huge deal. I would not want to put big dollars into a set of plugs only to accidentally foul it out while tuning.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

When you say denso do you mean the iridium ones?

 

[rdrkt]

Originally posted by L2RTSiAWD
When you say denso do you mean the iridium ones?

No just their plain jane plugs. Iridium plugs are too expensive to replace often. The denso part number for the 2 ranges colder than stock escapes me right now but they should be able to cross check it against the NGK BR8ES plugs. Most people wont need a plug two ranges colder than stock though. The Denso plug that is one range colder is W20EXRU. In my experience standard Denso plugs resist fouling a bit better than NGK plugs.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Huh Maybe I will try those. Where do you order them from?

 

[Grimace]

iridium plugs make extrememyl skinny sparks which are terrible for turbos and high RPMs...but good for going across country in your corsica

 

[blewbyu]

I used the +4's in my car and 2 of them lost the insulation off the electrode! This happened over a period of about 4 months. I think the plugs are junk.

 

[TRANNYKILLER]

NGK BPR7ES great up to 20lbs on a 900cfm turbo. gapped to .028 real cheap too..

 

[Silent2g]

platinum +nitrous/boost = BAD!!!!!!
don't say i didn't warn ya

 

[FastRthenU]

Platinukm will burn, and crack with nitrous. Just think of a piece of platinum chewing up your cyclinder walls. then hitting, and bending or brakeing your fins on the turbo. not nice at all

 

[KRAZYKOREAN]

yeah when I bought this car with it had the g@y platinum plugs and the car ran like sh$t. it felt like the car was running on 3 cylinders when i was flooring it, even when i was giving it like 40% throttle it wold just putt putt, yeah platinum plugs are g@y but platinum chain and a diamond ring are off the hizzy.

 

[candela]

 

[Tevenor]

Originally posted by KRAZYKOREAN
yeah when I bought this car with it had the g@y platinum plugs and the car ran like sh$t. it felt like the car was running on 3 cylinders when i was flooring it, even when i was giving it like 40% throttle it wold just putt putt, yeah platinum plugs are g@y but platinum chain and a diamond ring are off the hizzy.

This is your first warning. Post crap like this again, and I will simply delete your post.

 

[FastRthenU]

[Mod Edit: Edited for being trying to be a wiseass. By the way, it's THAN, not THEN]

 

[soulreclipse]

well my car makes a violent vibration at stops and when doing a full stop it feels like the car is burping almost or kinda hesitating..i know its not the transmission b/c mitsu rebuilt mine last month and it drives great..so i'm thinking its the spark plugs or wires so i might as well change the whole thing...my friend told me to get bosch platinum +4's ....i think they work great cause i had them on my last car...by i heard that platinum plugs are bad on the 420a engine...i really dunno...what kind of plugs and wires should i get? also have any of you experienced this problem that i'm having..thanks

 

[GSX90]

You should be just fine with what plugs the manual recommends. Make sure you have them gapped correctly.

 

[RetardedAWD]

I was checking http://www.extrememotorsports.com/plugfaq.htm
and I have a question.
I ordered some NGK's from the lovely Advanced Auto Parts. I asked for copper but they got me the VX (platinum) the code on the plug is BP7ESVX I went a step colder because I was going to step up the boost to about 17-18 psi for daily since I installed my FMIC and ND 660's.
I hear that platinum plugs make the 4g63 run like ass, but do you guys thing that these would work ok re-gapped to .026 or so? or should I take them back and get copper?
Thanks fellas.

 

[Black95GSX]

Take them back.....

Don't use plat. plugs in your car.... trust me on this one.