I was looking at the Pulstar Iridium Pulse Plug ... anyone know if these are just snake oil?
If so, what plugs are recommended? I'm looking for something better than the OEM ones.
and from reading on here...I take it OEM is the best way to go for Wires, Cap and rotor...Nothing out there that offers any benefit over OEM other than bleeding more $$ out of ya bank account?
simply look under the hood of your 5th gen and thewre will be a ngk part number for the plugs you need. Our plugs are quite pricey but worth it imo, they dont need to be changed that often if you dont cheap out. Get the ones from the part number under the hood, not the v powers or iridiums...
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1991 Honda Accord LX 5 speed - SOLD
1992 Nissan 240sx Hatch 5 speed - SOLD
1998 Honda Prelude Auto - Rear Ended By Drunk and TOTALED!
2000 Audi A6 2.7t - Traded
2000 Honda Accord EX V6 - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude BASE 5 speed - Current DD
I tried to get some of those to test along with my radiator setup from sparkplugs.com but they had already given them out to someone on preludepower.com. I have yet to see any results or discussion about it over there, but hopefully the guy will let us know sometime soon. I have read threads saying they make a big difference and I have read threads saying they do nothing. I think it is very car specific.
Iridium plugs will last a lot longer than copper plugs. That is about the only significant benefit. Spark plugs take 10 minutes to change...so I use NGK copper plugs. They are WAY cheaper.
Iridium plugs will last a lot longer than copper plugs. That is about the only significant benefit. Spark plugs take 10 minutes to change...so I use NGK copper plugs. They are WAY cheaper.
If your ignition system is in good shape (wires, coils) I don't think a plug will make a noticeable difference.
"Definition of electrical resistivity:
The electrical resistivity, or specific resistance, ρ, is the resistance between the opposite faces of a meter cube of a material.
Copper: 1.7
Platinum: 10.6
Iridium: 4.7
By those numbers Copper is the least resistive metal. HOWEVER, as mention above, heat is a factor in the ability to conduct electricity.
Here are the melting points of each element.
Copper: 1984 degrees F
Platinum: 3214 degrees F
Iridium: 4471 degrees F
Now, based on that you can obviously tell that an Iridium tipped plug is going to withstand any heat and a normal combustion engine with give. Same goes for platinum. Now, Copper, most likely will have issues with hot applications, especially in Forced Induction.
So, given Iridiums lower electrical resistance and higher melting point that Platinum, it surely possesses better qualities. But, I would be willing to bet that both of the specs are so high that you will not notice a difference in these plugs if you switched" Platinum Vs. Iridium Spark Plugs - Honda-Tech
copper plugs are better as they dissapate ehat better thatn the platinum or the iridium.
When it comes to plugs for me, i use the oem honda ones all the time. No sense changin as they are the top of the line int he plug world. Manty people will put in the platinum plugs and then after a while they start havign isssues as the heat degrades the plug node and then it fails to maintian the correct gap leading to misfires and bad starts and other issues.
Copper is the only way to go. Just make sure you monitor the recomneded shelf life of the oem plugs. You cannot expect them to last forever.
copper plugs are better as they dissapate ehat better thatn the platinum or the iridium.
When it comes to plugs for me, i use the oem honda ones all the time. No sense changin as they are the top of the line int he plug world. Manty people will put in the platinum plugs and then after a while they start havign isssues as the heat degrades the plug node and then it fails to maintian the correct gap leading to misfires and bad starts and other issues.
Copper is the only way to go. Just make sure you monitor the recomneded shelf life of the oem plugs. You cannot expect them to last forever.
Uhh you have no idea what you're talking about are you? None of what you said makes any sense or is correct in any way.
Honda put copper plugs in the Prelude because platinum plugs were very expensive 10-12 years ago and iridium was not yet in common use. The best spark comes from an iridium coated electrode, followed by platinum, and then lastly copper. Iridium is denser and stronger than platinum (Sparkplugs.com - Spark Plug 411 this is an independent source) and allows the finest electrode to be made. It has a higher melting point than either copper or platinum so your claims that it degrades faster are wrong.
The smaller the electrode the easier the plug can create a spark. Copper is the WORST material to use for an electrode because it needs to be thick. Copper plugs operate at hotter temperatures because of the thicker electrode. Making thinner electrodes from copper is impossible because copper is soft and loses structural integrity the smaller it gets.
Many people who put in platinum or iridium plugs suffer issues because their car already had issues to begin with. A spark plug is not rocket science, all it does is create a spark. The only difference is iridium plugs create a more stable spark that lasts LONGER than copper plugs. Each vehicle specific plug is designed to produce the correctly rated arc whether it be copper, platinum, or iridium. There's no difference in that sense.
I hope you realize though that Honda's "top of the line int he plug world" is produced by either Denso or NGK. Honda does not produce it's own spark plugs. NGK is the world leader (NGK Iridium IX® Spark Plugs) and they themselves advocate the use of iridium plugs. There's plenty of info on their site making comparisons and debunking your nonsense.
Also, wtf are you talking about a shelf life with spark plugs? You could leave a brand new spark plug in a field for 30 years and still use perfectly fine. It's ceramic with a piece of metal sticking through it, not brake fluid or gasoline that can go foul.
Just so you know copper is a better conductor of electricity thatn platinum. The reason iridium and platinum are used is for longevity(this being that people dont want to change them at the corrcet service interval(shelf life so to speak)). The best spark plug out there is actually made with silver(highest electrical discharging that is). Now, copper ones, some of them are made of a poorer underlying metal(usually nickel alloy) that is then coated/covered in copper, but good ones are made with solid copper using ceramic insulators or even sometimes aluminum oxide insulators.
Now i understand you are trying to make it seem like you know what you are talking about but the reason that both iridium and platiunum are used is for longevity not performance. The platinum and iridium are very resilent and can last many more miles that the copper, this is due to a better temperature coefficient of resistance. Copper and silver are the materials you should be looking for when searching for performance. Platinum and iridium if you want them to last for miles and miles and miles.
And no i am nothing like robert taylor, but i would recomend you looking up your facts about this **** before you post as any person who has any knowledge of metallury knows that copper is a better conductor than both iridium and platinum.
and by the way, every oem plug i have bought for my prelude was an NGK(who is of the top of the line producers), and at no point did i ever claim honda made thier own. I buy then once a year minimum and trust me i know who makes them. hahaha
Last edited by bouckarooo; 07-07-2011 at 05:27 PM.
Originally Posted by bouckarooo (aka Robert Taylor Jr)
Just so you know copper is a better conductor of electricity thatn platinum. The reason iridium and platinum are used is for longevity(this being that people dont want to change them at the corrcet service interval(shelf life so to speak)). The best spark plug out there is actually made with silver(highest electrical discharging that is). Now, copper ones, some of them are made of a poorer underlying metal(usually nickel alloy) that is then coated/covered in copper, but good ones are made with solid copper using ceramic insulators or even sometimes aluminum oxide insulators.
Now i understand you are trying to make it seem like you know what you are talking about but the reason that both iridium and platiunum are used is for longevity not performance. The platinum and iridium are very resilent and can last many more miles that the copper, this is due to a better temperature coefficient of resistance. Copper and silver are the materials you should be looking for when searching for performance. Platinum and iridium if you want them to last for miles and miles and miles.
And no i am nothing like robert taylor, but i would recomend you looking up your facts about this **** before you post as any person who has any knowledge of metallury knows that copper is a better conductor than both iridium and platinum.
and by the way, every oem plug i have bought for my prelude was an NGK(who is of the top of the line producers), and at no point did i ever claim honda made thier own. I buy then once a year minimum and trust me i know who makes them. hahaha
You could just admit you're wrong and continue to be wrong. You didn't even address any points I made instead you made up your own and continued to discuss something I never talked about. You then continued to explain how spark plugs are made as if it would somehow justify your dumb claims.
No where did I mention ANYTHING about which metal is a better conductor, just the capabilities of each metal. I'd suggest you look up your facts yourself and stop looking like a fool.
To quote you, "any person who has any knowledge of metallurgy" knows that electrical conductance decreases with increasing temperature. Also the term isn't "thermal resistance" and you use it in a way that contradicts what you state, you're looking for "thermal conductivity." Copper is actually a greater thermal resistor than iridium due to it's lower melting point. A greater thermal resistor degrades quicker and loses conductivity faster.
But yes I know how conductivity works, I studied it and materials science for two semesters I also have a degree in Chemical Engineering; in terms of conductivity silver is first followed by copper like you said. Except its clear that you're repeating things you've heard and not what you actually learned since this hierarchy is very important in microelectronics, it's meaningless in the production of spark plugs. A stable arc that requires less energy is what is important in the production of spark plugs.
Iridium has a melting point almost 2x that of platinum and almost 3x that of copper. This allows iridium based plugs to create the SAME spark while requiring less of a driving voltage. While iridium has a greater electrical resistance than copper (it has a lower resistance than platinum), it is structurally stronger and can be made into a smaller tip than platinum, which reduces it's overall surface-area-to-electrical-resistance ratio, which in turn means a more stable spark for the life of the plug.
There are charts of this that you can look up. Even NGK supplies this information, the "world leader" in your terms.
I don't know how I can make this more blunt for you to understand. Iridium is a better thermal conductor, it has better structural integrity, it is a better electrical conductor, and it is better at resisting oxidation (breakdown) as you say. All in all it is BETTER than copper in spark plugs in performance, integrity, and efficiency.
You're also an idiot for changing out your spark plugs every year and proves you have no capacity on this subject. Even copper spark plugs are good for 90,000 miles or more, as long as your engine is operating properly. All the more so if you're as much of a fanboy as you claim about NGK plugs, since yes they are the best.
Oh and to paraphrase, you're wrong (again) and dumb (again).
All b!tching about metallurgy aside, the bottom line is that it doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of difference if you use copper, platinum, or iridium plugs. Just buy good plugs (NGK) and change them within their service interval. You won't be able to tell the difference except for the size of the hole in your wallet and the interval in which they will need to be replaced.
On a side note, there is a dyno graph posted somewhere that shows stock spark plug wires with over 100k miles on them outperformed a set of brand new NGK blues on back to back dyno pulls.
The two funtions of the spark plugs are to provide reliable, strong spark and to help dissapate heat from combustion area. Copper dissapates heat much better than both platinum and iridium( that is what "heat range" refers to), however they wear quicker and need to be changed at sooner intervals. Iridium plugs and platinum plugs yes can funtion at higher tempuratures but in high performance they can get so hot(due to not tranfering heat to cylinder head efficeintly enough) that they cause detonation (or preignition, if you dont know what that is). This can kill your engine quick, very quick as well as lead to misfires, bad starts, and a number of other things. If you think you are so F0cking smart why couldnt you see past the electrical capacity of a spark plug and realise the cooling importance of them??? where was you degree on that one jackoff?.
Shimme, i think you got your fuicking degree from the creators of playshool.
as for how often i service my car, i obviously do much more work on it than you do on yours as i am always changin parts, comparing brands, trying new things to see how i can make my car drive better. Sometimes it is waste of money , but everytime i do something major i use new plugs. Just to make sure i am getting a truer result. And often, i come across guys like you who drive and break your **** then complain when a mechanic charges you money to fix it, and you know what, i will send them lighlty used parts for cheap, so it does have its own merit. The fact that i do my own work, and inspect and repair my own ****, has led me to the concluision that i will use the oem plugs.
Heres why: 1999, i had bought an integra, 94, with a non vtec engine. I would bag on it to see what the nonvtec could take, as i had a b18c for it already. After a few months opf winter bagggin i decide to swpa the engine. After 6 months of havign the engine i switch to ngk iridium plug. I drove for about 3000km, some hard some not so hard. Then one day i took my car to budweiser park edmonton (now castrol race way) and did some passes. After the fifthe one i had a catostrophic failure. Shortly after hitting vtec in third gear the engine made a massive noise and i almost crashed. There was detonation in the second cylinder and sheared the rod causing the leftover peice to smash against the block on rotation and break massive chunks off. after we towed my car home and dug into we seen that the all the sparks plugs were cooked to all hell, hence the detonation.
so, you can you take your degree, and stuff it in your mothers ass, as i have seen with my own eyes.
by the way im no fan boy of ngk, but i do know when a company makes good **** and when they dont. and i will also say that i have been tempted to use the Nology or Perrin Silver plugs but have been getting steady good results out of the stock ones. Perhaps when i boost i will look into it further and see.
Last edited by bouckarooo; 07-08-2011 at 12:41 AM.
Can we please just state facts here and leave out all the derogatory comments? I understand people are passionate, but lets all be civilized and discuss this professionally.
There appears to be a lot of contradictory information out there. All I wanted to know was were those pulse plugs a gimmick or not.
As for Copper, Platinum, Silver, Iridium... It appears the differences are not SO much as it would affect my day to day driving.
The differences in plugs will onlY be really seen in a high performance, heavy duty/heavy load application. A day to day driver car isnt really going to gain or lose anything. However if you have major modifications done to your car and you havnt tuned the ecm(i use a aem series2) to correctly work with the sparkplugs you hav,e then you may have issues. But that is where shopping for the right plug comes in. This is where you would analyze the 00heat range of the plug you will need.
They also make a coil on plug system, its made by aem and uses a pencil coil to replace teh dizzy and then the plugs are replaced by the coil on plug setup. From the people i have talked to that have used it, they all claim it is better than the regular plug setup.
to each thier own, but somethign that you can look into if you are interested.
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