thewal

Hey Everyone,

just wanted your opinion, what type of high performance plugs do you recommend,

NGK, BOSCH, DENSO.


thx

01_CiViC_CoUpE

im running ngk BKR7ES-11 but im sprayin also so everybody has their own preference

lowlife9

ngk good denso better get the iridium ones. bosch completely garbage stay away.

lightningslp77

NGK Iridiums FTMFW....they've never failed me.

also if you have money to burn you should try out the new "pulstar" energy plugs...been hearing good things about them lately. not only will you get reliable spark, but its been known to boost certain cars up a few horsies.

http://www.pulstar.com/

check em' out!

thewal

Even if I did have money to burn i won't spend $100 on plugs

01_CiViC_CoUpE

damn straight.. 99cents a plug baby haha

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

denso iridium are technically the best, and by best i mean it has the smallest electrode so that your electrical system does not have to work as hard to make the same spark. second best i would say NGK V-power copper plugs. i could not tell the difference between them performance-wise.

lightningslp77

i would probably spend the hundred bucks. D sport magazine did an actual cover story on them on a DC2 integra and they pulled out 2.7 whp from just the plugs alone...horsepower from a plug for only a hundred bucks? you pay twice more for some generic ebay header or intake which probably gives you less than that!!!

lowlife9

i dont no about those plugs they haven't been around that long so i can't really trust them enough to put on my ride.

lightningslp77

no its drivers like you and me that don't buy them that make everyone else feel the same way...lol. everyone is still skeptical of course because its like paying a hundred bucks for a roll of toilet paper...either way ur still just wiping ur ***.

i say give it another year and they'll be the standard in the import industry. they're really advertising hard at Hot Import Night events and now even at NOPI in vegas to get their name out there...but its just really shady to buy something like that you know?

kind of like the "turbonator" that was featured in the back of import magazines...35 horsepower for a whopping $69.95 simply by adding a metal cookie cutter in ur intake to create a vortex of air???? GTFO of here

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

whoa wait a minute i just saw the last few posts. pulstar plugs are SUCK and ive read alot of stories about how they screwed up motors before. i tried them out and after only an hour of testing (i could not notice any difference), all of a sudden when i went WOT the engine started to make very scary noises like a jet firing up. i immediately pulled over and the noise stopped at idle, but the engine was running very rough and loud. i limped the car home slowly and switched out the plugs immediately with the denso i had. horrible plug in fact when i put back the denso iridium i could feel a performance boost lol. i sent the plugs back the next day and it took over a month before i got my refund. they said they had to "test" the plugs for two weeks, then finally they said nothing was wrong with em and said i will get a refund, never did, finally had to call and threaten a chargeback from my CC company and i had the money the next day. also their customer service is worse than the product. usually they do not even answer the phone, prolly because its too busy with people complaining all the time. and when you get someone to talk, theyre getting attitude. the manager i talked to was a total douchebag. bottom line, horrible company and product i would never recommend to anyone. if you dont believe my story i suggest looking online on other car forums, theres alot of bad about em already. i strongly suggest stick with iridium if you can afford it, or copper. even if they do perfect that capacitor technology sometime in the distant future, theres no telling how long it would last before blowing up. its prolly the worst technology ive ever seen. their ad is right about one thing, "they're not spark plugs" so why put it in your engine?

lightningslp77

lol wow sorry you had to be the guinnea pig gearbox. i don't have any experience with them personally but was willing to try it out. apparently not anymore.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

lets see, pulstar plugs are made in china. thats not so good. that means they break easy. here are some reviews i just found. its a miracle these things are still on the market. our ignition system in the newer civic (and almost every car on the road made 2000+) is already very good. and who knows what kind of EMI/RF interference these things will cause and damage the expensive ecu. almost every normal spark plug available has a built in resistor so that you have clear radio reception and the ecu gets signals from all the sensors without interference. these pulse plugs do not. its pure junk plain and simple and theres a reason why theyve been out for so long yet not a single oem manufacturer uses them in a car at the factory.

great discussion on BITOG forums:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...955647&fpart=1

Tundra HQ

http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/bl...t-spark-plugs/

other random reviews

"These plugs seem to perform OK. No dramatic improvement in fuel economy, however; only a slight improvement. These plugs are extremely fragile when installing them. Be very careful; DO NOT use a spark plug socket - you must use a standard deep well socket or the ceramic will fracture."

"This product failed to work in my 2004 Honda Accord. The plugs gave a static sound over the radio and caused the radio to cut out at about 3000 rpm. I contacted the company to ask them what could be causing this and they suggested that the first set of plugs I got were faulty and that I should order a replacement set. Upon installation of the 2nd set, same results occurred. The fact is that these plugs have no resistance in them and are not designed for use in all Honda Accords. Do not order these plugs, they are a waist of money."

"For the expensive price I was hoping to get some results. My gas mileage is the same. I can only hope when my smog check comes around they burn cleaner than last year. I was kind of close to failing"

"I bought 8 of these plugs for my Subarus since i had a coupon for them. The cars lost about 2mpg and had a much rougher idle, at times the cars would have small spasms, shakes at low idle. Not worth the money even if they operated properly. Went back to NKG and the cars love them."

"i have a 2009 scion xb and after installing these spark plugs i got less avg. mpg., 24 compared to 25.6. although i believe i did get a bit more power, but not much to sacrifice 1.4 gallons of gas."

"I have a 2003 VW Jetta 1.8t. I gapped these to specification and they ended up frying one of my coil packs. I tried several times to install and get them to work, but they never did.
Perhaps they need a different gapping, but if I'm spending $100 for spark plugs, I shouldn't have to try 3 times to install them.
I hope Pulstar compiles some sort of database that a consumer could look up and see what gapping the plugs need. I read anywhere from .25 to .32 works on my engine (w/ pulstar plugs).
I wish they would have worked."

"I put these plugs on an 03 Acura CL-S 6pd wit 78,000 miles on it. Didn't improve anything. I guess they think it helps gas mileage by making your wallet lighter. Har har har... Stick with OEM."

"anyways read the reviews took a chance yada yada. the plugs did increase hp, torque, mpg, hot chicks, etc. the car was an animal. then the computer got used to the plugs about a month later and everything returned to normal. oh well, i just pretended the plugs were still helping. then, like the m3 owner, got random misfire on cyl 2. cleared it. got it again. and again. after a while it would shut down vsc and everything else on my is350 and the car would shudder violently under acceleration (i think this is just an special effect that the computer runs to make you think it's really time to go to the shop). so i took it to the shop and told them to swap out the plugs. DING DING DING! what have we got for him johnny?

so i risked my cars life for a minimal gain of self esteem that was short lived. and i got sodomized in pricing in the process. i prob lost around 1k bucks in all due to this whole ordeal - plugs pulstars and densos, install x2, gas mpg went down to 10mpg during cel's, obdii scanner, time involved, tow truck after vsc shut down, humiliation, in fact the only thing that i saved money on was prob condoms because i didn't get laid at all while the car was throwing cel's.

oh but i've got great news! pulstar customer service was soo nice. they didn't even need two words out of my excuse for replacement plugs before they interrupted and said they would promptly send out 6 new ones! i tried to question the tech about misfiring cylinders, etc. and he just ushered me through the process like that stuttering pig paulson at a Fed Reserve conference (d d dollars fine, n n nothing to see here). put a freakin apple in his mouth that son.... oh sorry. uhh where was i, oh ya, customer service. ya they were great. took 3 days to get the new plugs. they don't even want the old ones!

look, do the math. if you want to be part of the impending class action suit, by all means buy these plugs. otherwise save yourself the time money pride and just get regular oem plugs. the oem plugs are designed to work with your car. aftermarket plugs do not increase anything but bills and troubleshooting and blood pressure. hard lesson for me, you're the big winner. and of course u can get my 6 brand new plugs on that unscrupulous auction site for 1 dollar off. i should just throw them away, you know, do my part to get them out of circulation> but, like i said before, i'm selfish and a liar. boo ya."

"It doesn't feel really out performing my Bosch Platinum +4 spark plugs. It doesn't justify to pay for Pulstar Pulse Plug at $24.99 a piece. My Bosch Platinum +4 spark plug is $5.99 a piece only. If you are using conventional spark plugs you might feel the performance difference."

"Put in Pulstars into Toyota Matrix at 60000 miles. At 68000 miles check engine light came on and I was running on 3 cyclinders, mechanic said it was probably my ignition coil. So we bought a new coil for $100. He did not think it was the Pulstar because he had just put these in a few months ago. After replacing the coil the car was still only firing on 3 cylinders. So he checked a cheap $3 plug in and the car ran great again. Now I have to return the coil and worse I am out $50 on these crapstars."

"I INSTALLED PULSTARS IN MY HONDA FIT(08 SPORT) 2,000 MILES AGO AND FUEL ECONOMY HAS ACTUALLY DROPPED 1 TO 2 MPG,THOUGH MIDRANGE ACCELERATION HAS
INCREASED ENOUGH TO NOTICE.I LIVE IN A VERY HILLY PART OF THE COUNTRY SO
WITH JUST OVER 100 HP I DO A LOT OF DOWNSHIFTING TO MAINTAIN SPEED.I'M GOING TO REINSTALL THE ORIGINAL PLUGS TO GET THE MPG INCREASE."

"I ordered a set of 4 spark plugs from Pulstar for my Mitsubishi Lancer. Immediately after putting them in, my engine was skipping badly and my check engine light went on. After investigating, I discovered that it was cylinder 3, and no, it was not my wires or coils.

I removed the plug from cylinder 3 and put in one of the old plugs, and m engine was running smoothly again. I emailed Pulstar, and they were very helpful, sending me a replacement.

Three days after I installed the replacement my engine started skipping badly on my way home from work. With another 3-4 blocks t ogo, I just stuck it out. After I got home, I pulled the pulstar spark plugs and put my old ones in. My catalytic converter was shot.

I Emailed Pulstar, and recieved no response. I called and offered to ship the plugs back to them if they didn't believe me. They said they would call me back.

Thank you Pulstar. You damaged my car, you charged me a hundred dollars for a set of spark plugs, and you ignored me when it was time for repercussions."

one more horror story

http://www.amazon.com/review/RBMWUVI...#RBMWUVIKP14N6

NOW IM DONE

01_CiViC_CoUpE

theres no way in hell id pay 100 for 2.7whp.. Thats ****ing ridiculous. I payed 220 for my nitrous kit and that got me 65 to the ground

thewal

Well from i read and what was said here in the forum i think i will go with the Denso Iridium.

if I need 2 additional WHP i can always remove the back seats. Ha.

lowlife9

hay doesn't the company say if the pulse plugs destroy your engine they will pay for it . scary

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

haha sure they will. they never even got back to that guy with the destroyed cat. these plugs are a ticking time bomb and im betting they get slapped with a class action suit pretty soon and have to close down the company. its the biggest scam since the ebay speed chip, only much worse.

lowlife9

it sounded so nice and legitimate i think the technology is there they just need to take it back to the drawing board and do severe real world testing .

lightningslp77

Wow that sure is alot of heat towards pulstar. It really does frustrate me because like I said before, they made cover story on a March 2008 issue of D-Sport with a 2 page exclusive foldout with the dyno-graphs and everything...i'm going to guess they changed the plugs at the dyno and didn't test drive it...or even worse...pulstar paid Dsport to lie to their loyal readers and fans.

Modified Mag also did the same testing with a 350z and came out with decent results for a spark plug as well in their april 2008 issue. I personally had bought both magazines and after reading the special info on both i was half tempted to go out and buy them.

It sure does make me sick to see professional companies throw sugar pills to the horsepower hungry fans and readers for the little money we make in todays economy. i can't tell you how many friends i had that bought the "turbonator" and SWORE that it increased their gas mileage and horsepower

Anyways glad somebody finally squashed that rumor for good.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

never believe everything you read in magazines. and the technology is already there. remember this old product called the nology hotwire? aside from being a superior manufactured plug wire, it also contained a capacitor in each wire to boost spark plug voltage 300% over stock. and all the dynos are there to prove the difference is real. they even have separate ground straps for each wire. thats the proper way to implement the technology, inside the wire (where any radio interference will be completely shielded) and away from the engine where the spark actually happens. the best thing about them is you can use any plug you want and still get the effect. sounds like pulstar just ripped off the idea and did the worst thing possible by building a capacitor into the plug and doing a really crappy job in the process. modern ignition systems using a coil on plug design without wires (like our 01+ civics) are so efficient that they do not even need any extra voltage. but for older cars, the nology wires are a great upgrade.

Alexander21

what u guys think about bosch platinum+4 spark plugs for a stock civic 02 lx with intake and synthetic oil (sorry i know those facts should not be important but i trully am a newbie at the forum and at having a civic just got mine last summer) and do you recomend the denso iridium ones for it. Im not planing to make any hardcore mods to my engine just a header and magnaflow exhaust system. thanks for your help.

lowlife9

bosch is crap

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

agreed. civics like denso and ngk only.

Alexander21

thanks. will buy some denso then. just to know the price is like $13 bucks rigth?(some price i found on the net)

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

for denso iridium? should be around $50 for a set of 4. they expensive but good.

lightningslp77

Yeah I sure as hell do remember the hot wires lol. Either way its been said before on these forums many times, if the product was a reliable upgrade and boosted gas mileage...wouldn't be in our cars already?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the thing that scares me about the pulstar is its already appearing in reputable websites like sparkplugs.com as an "ultra/premium" plug, and also in auto parts stores which is even scarier. just goes to show what advertising can do. hopefully most people will stay away from the hefty price tag.

thewal

its funny cause i went to a local store near me to pick up some Denso iridium and i was talking to the guy that works there and he told me that they are crap. he has had so many complaints about them that they are actualy removing them from their store.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

haha awesome. the suck-ness is catching on already.