LT5

I have been Studying spark plugs for my new 1994 Lt1 t56 i just acquired. Anyways to make a long story short....i have been doing a ton of research on spark plugs and have found some seriously better options then the stock crap.

1. CONTACT | PowerSTAR Performance Spark Plugs

2.
3. e3s........check there site to they actually have a decent video that shows proven performance.
4. These are brisk.

5. These are pulstars.
6. Any aftermarkt decent plug like ngk or other


The reason am am writing this post is for simple opinion. I have been studying this stuff and my main winner is number 2. But im not sure they make some for a 1994 z28.....will have to call them. Number to for me would definitly be the power stars.....But i have called there customer service twice and have had no luck even speaking to a person and im scared that to star will actually create a pre ignition.

Any thoughts would be nice and i love good conversation or ideas on this. :Chris

shoebox

Gimmick plugs are just that. Don't wast your time or money.

Fatdog2

NGK TR55 1GP-----------Plat plug.Some members use the Iridium plugs but I'm still in the old camp.I use to run the regular NGK's tr55 but got tired of changing the plugs often.Hope this helps.

Injuneer

When I had my 800 HP nitrous LT1 built, I told the shop to use the absolute best plug, based on their experience building 1,000+ HP (and lesser) LT1 engines. Because of the nitrous, they did not recommend a precious metal plug, and since the primary advantage of a precious metal (platinum, iridium) plug is resistance to electrode erosion, making for a long (up to 100,000 miles) life, there would be no reason to use them. I was only driving 1/4-mile at a time . I ended up with conventional, copper core Autolite plugs, one heat range for running 500 HP normally aspirated, a colder Autolite conventional plug for running a 125 shot of nitrous, and a very cold Champion conventional racing plug for the full 300-shot. They wrote off the gimmick plugs you posted as just that - an overpriced gimmick that provided no advantage, and in many cases caused problems. This is a shop that has the ability to test anything they want. My engine spent a lot of time on the engine dyno, and then on the chassis dyno.

Before I had the engine built, with the stock(ish) LT1, I ran stock AC Delco platinum plugs. They had a problem with losing the little platinum pucks off the electrodes, so I switched to an NGK TR55 platinum. No problems with those. NGK has since upgraded to iridium.

For you basically stock LT1, use the TR55 iridium plugs. 100,000+ miles. That's all you need. Use the factory recommended gap - it is large, because the electrode does not erode over time, and give the spark good exposure to the swirling A/F mixture. Do not waste your money on what you posted. #2 looks like a disaster... the cover seems to shroud the spark from the air/fuel mixture - the last thing you want. Nice light show, but no "go".

We have a member here who actually works with spark plugs and tests them. Hopefully he will respond. He will tell you exactly what I told you. There is no "miracle" spark plug.

al 96 Ram Air T/A

You can't get much better than a copper plug...the fine wire and precious metal plugs are superior in longevity, but still have a hard time competing with a good copper plug for conductivity. As others have stated, the other "magic" plugs are snake oil. All gimmick at three times the price.

bw_hunter

It's interesting that we talk about the conductivity difference between copper and platinum and then run high resistance plug wires. As Injuneer stated, Iridium plugs are a great choice because they don't erode in use and will last at least 100,000 miles under a pretty tough set of conditions. Longevity is a great choice for cars that are a pain in the wrench to change plugs on...

As stated, don't bother with the magic as a good conventional design plug with do the job reliably and for years.....

LT5

Wow thank you for the responses you guys. Yeah nice write up Injuneer, that is very interesting. I still think there is power to be gained with a different plug. Im still doing some research....but its funny how when i call or e-mail all of these people and companies all i got is an answering machine and no customer service at all LOL.

bw_hunter

Why would you think more power is available with other plugs? If a plug ignites the mixture it has done all it can do...it has no power to add.

timnfxr

That should be your cue to stay clear...

Injuneer

What do you expect these "people and companies" to tell you when they finally answer the phone, beyond repeating all the sales BS you have already found? Do you suddenly expect them to confess they lied to you to sell you their overpriced products, and they really don't perform as advertised?

shoebox

You're chasing a unicorn.

LT5

Well i would expect them to be legit with there claims on there website. I know there is more power to be had with a better plug.....if you can ignite the fuel at multiple points at one time you will have a more complete burn. :P

shoebox

If there were magic plugs out there, all the car manufacturers would be using them to help them cheaply meet federally mandated gas mileage numbers. They don't. These plugs come and go and none of them ever seem to be magic.

Injuneer

You can't be serious - because they post these claims on their website, they have to be true? So, you believe any claim made on the Internet is "legit"? If so, why aren't you buying a "performance chip"... adds 60 HP and 4 to 7 MPG. Only $69.99 why spend over $100 on miracle spark plugs?

Chevy Camaro Performance Chips - Amazing Chevy Camaro Chips


Just curious... what engineering school or auto technology school told you that?

bw_hunter

Huh, well that's a novel view. People lie to you all the time....I hope you grow to see that.

Anyway, if there is performance to be had with these 'special' plugs, where is the data? Is the HP gain greater that the error of the test equipment? What I mean here is that I wonder if the increase is statistically significant. Back when I got my car dynoed the first time, they told me the dyno had an accuracy to +/- 3%. On a 300 horsepower engine, that works out to be 9 horsepower. So, if the power increase or decrease is within 3% of the baseline reading, it is NOT statistically different. now, unscrupulous people (read advertising departments) will bend that information around...they have data that shows an increase and they conveniently leave out the statistics to sell the product. Is it fraud, no, but it is misleading.

By the way, multple flame fronts are exactly what you don't want going on in the combustion chamber. That used to be common with deposits on the piston getting hot and igniting the mixture. It had a bunch of names but the result was usually less power and the potential for damage. As Rob mentions, if you could gain a power increase an emissions decrease and a mileage ncrease with a plug change, why wouldn't all the oem's be doing it already?