Technical What is the best choice in spark plugs

Well, we pretty much went through gasoline but, another weak spot in automotive discussions is,................,what is the best brand of plug out there?What has your experiences pro and con taught you.
Any one up for E3 and their BS hype, backed up by John Force? (Some people will endorse anything for money) (((and , I'm a big fan of Force)).

 

NGK, followed by Denso and then Autolite and Bosch.

Champion the worst, AC Delco is now up to second worst.

Gimmick plugs like E3 or SplitFire aren't even worth discussing.

 

Larry, all the best to you, keep on keepin' on!
My machinist builds race, street engines and anything that runs on fuel. NGK is the choice.

 

There are loads of specialty spark plugs out there that do exactly what they're designed to do: separate fools from their money. Other than that most of them have very little to offer.

Among plugs that really work we find the standard type that has been around forever. Relatively cheap and usually does the job.

There are the iridium and other plugs with a narrow center electrode of a much tougher metal. This tougher metal is not eroded as fast by the sparks, making the plug wear slower and last longer - 100 000km replacement interval is one example. Popular in modern cars, especially ones where a lot of disassembly is required to get to all plugs.
Another upside is that the narrower electrode has a slightly lower energy requirement to make a spark. Most of the time not important, but if you are racing in a class where rules only allow a slightly too weak (stock?) ignition system they may give you a slight advantage. People say these plugs are more sensitive to non-ideal running conditions, I don't know if that's true but if it is you may want to keep them away from your old carbureted engines, especially the one with a sticking choke and a bunch of blue oil smoke.

Spark plugs with multiple ground electrodes may offer a longer life than standard plugs as there's more metal to erode before the spark gap is too large, but other than that they don't have much to offer. They often claim to make sparks in multiple locations, but this is untrue - it takes a very high voltage to initiate a spark but a far lower voltage to maintain it, meaning that once you have a spark in one place the voltage is far too low to initiate another spark parallel to the first in a new location.


Standard plugs from any well known brand will probably work fine in most cases. For a stock engine following the manufacturers recommendations usually works well, for modified ones some experiments may be required to find the right heat range. I like NGK, but I've mostly used them in single cylinder twostrokes which may not translate to HAMB engines.

 

Chevrolet I use a c delco. Ford I use autolite. I also use Fram oil filters.

 

I like NGK generally. I had a dead one new out of the box in the last couple years. The replacement was fine.

I've tried iridium's on a couple of my vintage engines, and I think the engine tuned better with regular NGK v-powers.

 

Yeah. I also installed NGK in my Hemi last time around. very with them.!!

 

Great response G-son, you show/sound to be very educated on the subject matter.

 

IMO, with correct reach and correct heat range, one plug is as good as another.

 

I use NGK in everything. From antique Farmalls to Harleys and everything in between. I’ve always had good success with them.

 

Coke or Pepsi? Iridium’s are a waste of money for a point style ignition

 

If anyone cares, this is my list with exceptions below.

1. NGK
2. Champion/Autolite
3. AC delco/Motorcraft

NGK is basically denso also, so there is that exception.

I've found on my mopar stuff, Champions are better than them all for some dumb reason. Bangers is a toss up from Champion and NGK, Flatheads Autolite and NGK.

Stay away from Platinum, Iridium etc. Stay with good ole copper plugs. Watch out for resistor core wires on points systems, and lastly.

Stay away from are Accell, and the E3 junk!

 

The one brand I never buy is NGK. I'm an Autolite and Champion guy.

 

NGK
AC
Autolite

 

Champion
NGK
Dan

 

I have read of many Champion issues the last 10 years. IDN, maybe the dyno or the track is the real test?
That said, I have boxes of 70's vintage Champs & Autolites

 

NGK/Denso in most of my OT stuff.
AC in my 327.

 

Like most things here, that have been hammered to death, the placebo effect is strong.

 

What is AC delco R45 cross ref to NGK ?
(1970 sm blk chevy 441 or 186 cast# head)

 

Always Pepsi.

 

Wrong
Dan

 

The NGK were cheaper alternatives for headers.

 

My son, Little Truckdoctor would agree with you!

 

Run Bosch in my avatar. Haven't changed the plugs for about 2 years or 60 or 70 dragstrip runs. Gapped at 48 thou, clean them every couple of race meetings. Tried Champion once and the engine was so off song it wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Put the Bosch plugs back in and it took off.

 

Always NGK for the drag coupe. Just put a new set in yesterday.

 

Friday art material.....

 

NGK

 

Used NGK in motorcycles for years without any issues, now use them in my cars. Have also had good luck with Autolite over the years. Champion not so much.

 

NGK