Spark Plug Type?
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 4,230
Likes: 0
From: VA
Cruise-In II Veteran
Re: Spark Plug Type? (AlwaysWave)
Staying with the factory plug is good advice most of the time but does not apply all the time in every case.
In the case of going with the AC Rapid fires instead of stock plug. There is no way to really tell if you are getting a performance gain without doing some testing. Without going into details, i can tell you that it gave my 91 L98 slightly harder accelaration off the line and slightly smoother idle. Does that mean the car was outright faster in the 1/4? Not really. These plugs have been proven to work on corvette L98's by forum members. Don't know how well the work in other vehicles.
On to my 1996 LT4. Since some of you guys know so much about stock plugs then I'm sure you are aware of the issue with the tiny puck falling of the 41-943 plugs. These are stock plugs for the engine that have a 100,000 mile limited warranty. Guess what? They don't last that long at all. Depending on what type of driving you do, they may only last 20,000 miles or may go to 60,000. When the puck falls off the plug gap will change from .50 to .62. That's not good at all. The ignition system is strong enough on these cars that the car will run pretty good even with a few plugs missing the puck. Give me 30 50,000 mile vettes that us this plug and bet cha at least half these vettes will be missing a puck. That's why most will go with the NGK's or something other than the stock plug. Most have had good luck with Bosch plugs also for LT1/4's. My experience with Bosch plugs was bad. Installed them in a Dodge Colt. It totally killed the acceleration and gas mileage. Yes, they were the correct part number fro that vehicle. Does that mean they won't work in a vette? Of course not. :steering:
[Modified by ConeKLR, 12:57 PM 12/18/2002]
In the case of going with the AC Rapid fires instead of stock plug. There is no way to really tell if you are getting a performance gain without doing some testing. Without going into details, i can tell you that it gave my 91 L98 slightly harder accelaration off the line and slightly smoother idle. Does that mean the car was outright faster in the 1/4? Not really. These plugs have been proven to work on corvette L98's by forum members. Don't know how well the work in other vehicles.
On to my 1996 LT4. Since some of you guys know so much about stock plugs then I'm sure you are aware of the issue with the tiny puck falling of the 41-943 plugs. These are stock plugs for the engine that have a 100,000 mile limited warranty. Guess what? They don't last that long at all. Depending on what type of driving you do, they may only last 20,000 miles or may go to 60,000. When the puck falls off the plug gap will change from .50 to .62. That's not good at all. The ignition system is strong enough on these cars that the car will run pretty good even with a few plugs missing the puck. Give me 30 50,000 mile vettes that us this plug and bet cha at least half these vettes will be missing a puck. That's why most will go with the NGK's or something other than the stock plug. Most have had good luck with Bosch plugs also for LT1/4's. My experience with Bosch plugs was bad. Installed them in a Dodge Colt. It totally killed the acceleration and gas mileage. Yes, they were the correct part number fro that vehicle. Does that mean they won't work in a vette? Of course not. :steering:
[Modified by ConeKLR, 12:57 PM 12/18/2002]
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 3,054
Likes: 3
From: atlanta ga
Re: Spark Plug Type? (AlwaysWave)
From an email exchange I had with a tech guy at MSD. He said they see no real gains in the high priced spark plugs. He recommended staying with the factory issue plugs.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,997
Likes: 1
From: Lake Ozark MO
Re: Spark Plug Type? (My87)
The stock plugs on my '96 went 90K and looked/ran great. All pucks still in place. I ran the car up to a tick over 160mph before the change. The engine started and idled beautifully.
Replaced the plugs and wires with a set of Bosch +4's (just to check 'em out) and a set of Bosch wires. Noticed no change in performance. Still idled great and still honks on up to 160mph.
Platinum plugs are definitely worth it if you are running a close to stock engine and want your plugs to last for a long time. This is providing that your car was designed with these type of plugs in mind and that your engine is in good running tune.
I'm gonna give these Bosch +4's a fair shake in my LT1/LT4 Hotcam conversion (in progress) and see if they'll work. We'll see.
[Modified by Dan Parker '96, 6:34 PM 12/18/2002]
Replaced the plugs and wires with a set of Bosch +4's (just to check 'em out) and a set of Bosch wires. Noticed no change in performance. Still idled great and still honks on up to 160mph.
Platinum plugs are definitely worth it if you are running a close to stock engine and want your plugs to last for a long time. This is providing that your car was designed with these type of plugs in mind and that your engine is in good running tune.
I'm gonna give these Bosch +4's a fair shake in my LT1/LT4 Hotcam conversion (in progress) and see if they'll work. We'll see.
[Modified by Dan Parker '96, 6:34 PM 12/18/2002]
