Leonard_85 - Trust me you will feel the difference with the NGK plugs...

 

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FYI - I have been on the internet looking for information relating to the one plug is better than another and what I came up with is a 50/50 on both sides of the issue. What I did find is that if you are in position of a performance car and you demand performance then the Pulstar plug had a horsepower advantage and the NGK was second I n the highest average horsepower and the Denso showed the highest peak torque. I also found is one of the oldest and most trusted names in automotive ignition system is Bosch Platinum +2 & +4. These plugs have several advancements that have been shown in independent tests to increase fuel efficiency above that of conventional plugs. One big key to these efficiency gains is a design that allows a more direct flame path from the ignition source into the cylinder. The choice is yours!

 

For me, it's a matter of only having to change the spark plugs once. If you use a quality iridium plug, you probably won't have to do it again in that vehicle. I've run a couple of sets of Denso iridium plugs for more than 150,000 miles with no issues, and I expect the NGK iridium plugs to be just as capable. I've read reports of iridium plugs doing more than 300,000 miles on some vehicles. Not sure if I would stay with a set of plugs that long, but I'm not surprised knowing how durable iridium plugs are....

 

Gus-

I'd be interested in reading up on the info you've found. Colour me skeptical about one brand of plug making any difference over another.

 

Well Mikey I thought you would chime in. My thrust behind this is all the hype that Bosch is bad for your car and that you should only purchase the one and only plug that will work in your car and that is not true. I also want to mention that not all cars are performance cars and need the high end plugs. A 2000 3.0 is not going to suffer from using a good quality moderately priced plug. This is a car we are talking about not a race car. I have Bosch on both my Jag and they both run fine with average gas mileage of 24 to 28 on the highway.

Link Geting The Best Spark Plug Fuel Economy

Link Sparkplugs.com - Spark Plug 411

 

Thanks but those links don't really provide any credible, meaningful or conclusive data. Here's an example:

"After testing, the NGK G-Power platinum plug showed a .27hp average decrease over the stock NGK nickel plug with a 1.76lb-ft average torque increase. The NGK Laser Platinum showed a 2.41hp average increase and a 3.39lb-ft average torque increase over the stock plug. The NGK IX Iridium showed a 2.76hp average increase and a 5.85lb-ft average torque increase over the stock plug, however, the IX Iridium also showed the most consistent and reliable horsepower figures".

This magnitude of variation can be seen on dynos from run to run with no changes whatsoever to the engine or it's components, and is usually dismissed as scatter rather than attributing it to an actual variation in performance.

In my early days as a dyno operator, we would run an engine that would have one or more parameters just slightly out of acceptance limits (aw sh*t!), shut down, go for lunch and then re-run the tests that afternoon. Miracle of miracles, everything was fine upon re-test. Yay! Then the opposite would happen the next day. Boo!

As I've said before- a spark is a spark is a spark. Either the fuel/air mix is ignited or it isn't. Throwing lit matches down the intake would work perfectly if a person could get the timing just right. High cost plugs do not work any better than any other price bracket, they just last longer.

I do agree with your comments about Bosch- nothing wrong with them in my experience.

 

Well keep up the essence of debate chaps this is what it's all about.

Jaguar, with true gravitas, explained they fit the NGK TR6AP 13E by default on my vehicle, so I made the purchase. Motorcraft's appear to be as rare as rocking horse sh*t in the British Isles.

I quickly realised I could spend another 40-50 years deciding the best spark plug.

 

I know nothing about sparkplugs except what works and does not. I have used Bosch plugs in all my Jags with positive results and will continue to support them.