Given everything else equal, what would be better: an engine that has been driven aggressively? or an engine that was pampered? Why do most people say their engines make more power because they drive them hard.

Given I live in one hell of a hot country, what spark plugs should I consider for my 06 Z06, I am not asking for a specific brand/type, but is it not better to go with 1 or 2 degrees colder plugs? Temperatures over here in a typical summer day go all the way up to 45 degrees C, sometimes more. On the average winter day the temperatures are ~ 25 degrees C.

 

An engine that is driven aggressively isn't as likely to accumulate the varnish, gum, and carbon, that a "pampered" engine might. That could keep then running "sharper". Generally, an engine has a certain number of horsepower-hours built into it. The more power you extract per hour, the less hours it will last.

The heat range of the plug doesn't regulate the temperature of the engine. The heat range only refers to the temperature of the plug and how quickly it dissipates heat to the head. The plug has to run hot enough to burn off oil and other contaminants to prevent deposits and fouling, but not so hot as to become a source of pre-ignition. The ambient temperature shouldn't be a factor in spark plug selection.

RACE ON!!!

 

First of all, any engine that is properly broken in will make more power than a brand new engine. (If you read the new car reviews closely, most manufacturers deliver a new car with around 1K miles on the odometer to the car magazine for testing rather than one right off the assembly line.)

To answer your first question, it all depends upon what your definition of "aggressively" means. My definition of agressive use is an engine that is used both for competition events where the engine will experience sustained high rpm use. High rpm = more wear & tear on the engine than low rpm operation. You still should pamper your engine with timely preventative maintenance, e.g., routine oil/filter changes, new plugs, etc.; however, pampering merely prolongs the useful life of an engine while useage determines the rate of wear & tear experienced before a rebuild is required.

Spark plug heat ranges should be considered when subjecting engines to sustained high rpm use. Switching to a "colder" plug for an engine that sees frequent high rpm use is a good idea. However, if most of your driving is low rpm, stop & go traffic, stick with the recommended heat range. Although your engine will experience higher air inlet temperatures than most, the ECM will compensate for the higher temperatures automatically. There is no need to switch to a "colder" plug that might end up fouling/misfiring because that wasn't sufficient heat in the plug center electrode to burn off deposits. If you start to experience pinging in normal driving, check the quality of your gasoline first before changing to a slightly "colder" plug to remedyd the problem.

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks alot for the responses! sure helped me ALOT, I was way off track especially concerning the Sparkplug issue.

I will see what others have to say about this as well.