I decided to swap in some fresh spark plugs the other day and the guy at the auto parts store that is advanced tried to sell me these spark plugs.

Ive never seen em before. they look cool.

he said that especially since i am running an aftermarket ecu they could work well for me they ignite in a cluster rather than a single spark.

I told him i was going to see what you guys think before i get some.

I went and just got some NGK iridium single wire. But just from a glance on miatanet i was seeing things like " they worked for about 3 weeks" and "screwed up my idle" or "gained 3 hp"

-P.S. they are 7-9 bucks a pop

 

Seems like crap to me.

You can't set the gap, which is a big issue with our cylinder pressures and weak coils.

And I'm fairly certain if you watched one ignite in slow motion, you'd see a single spark jump to only one of the electrodes. Although my theory could be way off.

I'll stick to my $2 standard plugs.

 

I have these on my original miata engine. They work. That's all I know lol.

Protip: 99% of the idiots that work at auto parts stores know about the same amount about cars as the idiots that work for wal-mart and the like. Don't even bother talking to them. Like, at all. Just tell them to shut up and ring you up.

 

THIS.

Those plugs are like Lucas, Slick 50, generic metal "treatments".... Works great in the mind of someone who knows nothing about cars. Use a tiny amount of logic, and you find it's all marketing.



NGK coppers are doing just fine fore me, thanks.

 

Looks can be deciving. The idea is ok but in reality they are junk. I have sold thousands of them. The only cars that seem to like them are dodge minivans and sedans. Not sure why that is. I tried a set in my turbo VW they sucked. I had a set in my miata and they worked but it was stock anything works stock. I have tried lots and lots of spark plugs to this day I use NGK V powers set the gap and forget it. If it means anything at all the few guys I know running pro mod engines making 2000+ HP use standard ngk plugs they just get changed every other pass. The standard spark plug works great and is only $2 or so a piece they just need to be changed more often. If you really want something that is gonna last a little longer use an iridium plug and just a heads up they tend to run hot so go and extra heat range down.

 

I would like to add in a pinch if I cant find NKG plugs I use autolite copper they work they just wear out even faster.

 

Two words- marketing gimmick. Even iridium plugs have questionable positives.

 

If those spark plugs worked exactly as advertised, you would have four really weak sparks instead of one really strong one...

But in reality, they will most likely produce exactly one spark during each spark event, and 97% of those sparks produced will jump to whichever ONE electrode is a micometer closer to the center than the other 3, with the remaining 3% of the sparks going to the second closest electrode.

Occasionally the crusty old guys that have worked at NAPA since before I was born will provide a genious solution to a real problem that I just say "why didn't I think of that!?", but the autozone workers are generally what you get when you take a McDonalds employee and provide him with a 30 minute instructional video on warehousing/merchandising.

 

Depends, my old s/c motor used to kill a set of coppers in a couple weeks. Could at least get a set of iridiums to last over 3 months. iridiums undoubtedly last longer, thats why they're speced stock now on almost all cars with 100k miles spark plug intervals, and I'd certainly use them on any car that it sucked a dick to change the plugs on like a v6 chrysler, or a subaru. Heck the subaru I made sure to get the plugs that not only have iridium electrodes but a piece of iridium bonded to the ground strap because I really dont feel like changing them for at least another 60k.

But multiple ground strap plugs are stupid.

 

I just change my plugs every oil change, so **** it. Coppers all day.

 

I've had several buddies use these stupid 4 post plugs cause the parts guy thinks their are super special mad tyte yo. Don't. Don't. Everyone of them had issues when the car build decent boost. Buddies eclipse would go past 4k rpm u der load/boost. Off throttle would rev. Tossed the old ones back in and fine. Only think was the plugs. Sometimes old tech just works. One a side note never had an issue with iridium or resistorless ones.

 

Besides impaired radio reception and pissing off people with antennas on their TVs as you drove by.

 

These can only produce one spark at a time. I think the first time these were used was on the RX7 from the factory and that was to combat the common plug fouling issues in rotary engines. They will take turns jumping from ground terminal to ground terminal.

Electricity is going to take the path of least resistance, each time a spark is produced that specific ground path is going to be hotter and will resist electricity more than the next ground. This causes the spark to jump from terminal to terminal.

The pro with this design is that you are less likely to foul plugs and the con is that you'll have a weaker spark from the energy lost from using a larger electrode.