Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I spoke to my mechanic about this and he is a good friend of mine since I've been going to him for close to 3 years and so has the rest of my family so I know that he isn't bullshiting me..

here is what he said..

The normal spark plugs that you can get from NGK or Champion with the normal copper tips will FLOW (if that's the word to use here) more electricity than the platinum and iridium ones.

He showed me some stats from tests that were done at some industry show that he attended.

The only good thing about the platinum or iridium plugs is that you don't need to change them for something like 50,000 kms or more.

The standard copper plugs are supposed to be good for 20,000kms.

And if you're car runs rich (lets face it, most skylines do) then you are going to have to change any plugs you have more frequently.

Don't know about you guys but I am not about to spend a shit load on spark plugs that are simply going to last Longer. I'd rather change them every 20,000kms and have brand new ones in there more frequently, that also FLOW better.

Also, he recommends that cleaning them to get more life out of them is a waste of time.

I still run NGK Copper plugs in my car with the standard 1.1mm gapping :)

Works fine. As GTST said, the NGK copper plugs actually do have a higher conductivity (if there is such a word) rate than the plats or iridium. Longevity is the benefit from not using coppers.

about $3-4 VS $18-$20

just go the coppers.

Also try doing a search as this has been posted many upon many of times...

the best copper plug i have tried so far is

NGK BCPR6E (WITHOUT the -11 on the end, meaning a 0.8 mm gap rather than 1.1) If you have boosted your car, the plugs will perform better longer at a gap of about 0.65 - 0.7.

im with zahos

i put coppers in last weekend NGK BCPR7E.11 though (i figured for $20 i would try) car rund fine, well better than it did on the old daggy platniums.

im not fussed about changing plugs more often if im getting a cleaner spark at a cheaper short term outlay.

next time i'll order in the colder heat range plugs

use copper plugs for sure, the others arent worth it because they will foul if your car runs rich and you just wasted a shit load of money.

and ALLLLWAYYYYSSS gap ur plugs before u install them, just because the packet says there gapped to 1.1 dosn't mean they are, gap em urself and u will see how off they are outa the pack.

Hey Pawley,

what kinda power figures you got? Reason I ask, is b/c if you go a colder heat range, the plugs will foul very quickly if your car is close to stock. I put a heat rating of 7 in mine (but I only had cat back and boost at the time), and with 2 weeks i had to change them.... (or clean em), so I went back to 6 which was a lot better for my car..

Zahos

  • 3 weeks later...

I just pulled mine out tonight and inspected and cleaned with some sandpaper and metho and seemed to look much cleaner. Not sure whether it will make a big difference but i haven't given it any stick on the road yet.

They were NGK-R code# BCPR6ES - looked pretty much copper to me. Today i did get some pricing on some platinum and irridium ones from Recpo - either $22 each for platinum or $28 for irridium (or was it vice versa?). When i heard that i just said thanx but no thanx. Now that i've checked them i should have just gone the coppers and installed when i had everything apart.

The thingo on the bottom of the bonnet says 1.1mm so that is how they must come out of the factory but anyway we'll ignore that.

Mine were gapped to 0.85 so just left 'em as is. Were fairly dark but i've seen worse. Interestingly noticed some whiteness on the plugs in cylinders #3 and #5 - would that indicate running to rich or lean? What is the firing order of the RB25DET ? I assume that has something to do with it.

Whiteness is very bad, it means you are running way too lean.

If you are not running with slightly dark plugs (a good indication that your engine is running rich enough) then this will cause some major internal damage if it's continued to be driven hard.

on the dyno day we had yesterday the mixtures were pretty sweet.. around 12.5:1

I think it could have been because the previous owner said he was having big troubles with the mixtures a while back. When he put the S-AFC in it fixed the problem.. So the plugs if they haven't been replaced since, the whiteness could be from then. I'm hoping that was the case anyway!

Anyway, i shouldn'a done half a job and just cleaned 'em -- i'm getting new ones.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • I'm normally copping my own abuse from neglecting my daily drivers. "Those suspension bushes will last a bit more", "Don't worry about the oil leak, just keep topping it up". The project cars I'm always doing things slowly on them as I'm wanting them to be done better, and neater, and nicer. Luckily I don't have to deal with 18 year old Matt's "Learning to wire" stuff in the project cars. And there's only one piece of wiring I'm displeased about in the Landcruiser, and it's about to be cut out... However, the box loads of parts that have been going through this place lately for the Landcruiser... Brake pads Brake Rotors Full handbrake overhaul Wheel Bearings Seals Swivel hubs Steering Boxes Half the suspension joints Shocks Air bags (Ones to go in the rear springs for towing) Water pump Timing kit Lower timing case Harmonic Balancer Radiator Lots of other little seals and shits Gas struts for the bonnet New power window switches And god knows what else I've forgotten... Ha ha ha I have my fingers crossed the pinion seals don't start leaking on the diffs, that the transfer case doesn't leak, and the gearbox input shaft doesn't leak, nor the rear main seal. As they're about the only seals I haven't replaced in the driveline! I'm seriously eyeing off buying new caliper rebuild kits front and rear brake calipers... I'll probably recheck all the valve clearances soon too, and hopefully, it should be all good and sweet to haul some long distance trips again!
    • Every time I pull my 3x gauges out of the console and see the crack-addict way that I did the wiring, and I just can't bring myself to tear it all apart and "make it nice", because it is currently working. In fact, the last time I was in there I probably made it worse.
    • The best part is when you own the car long enough that you look back and find your OWN ham fisted amateur shit!
    • The annoying part about neglect, is when you start to replace one thing, and find ten more broken things. Ham fisted monkey repairs you normally only find out about when trying to do something unrelated! Ha ha   Neglect you can kind of anticipate the huge costs to fix it all. Ham fistedness is normally a shock the first time your work on a new old car, as everything "looked" good before.
    • For DBA, check out their guide table here. https://dba.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Direct_Replacement-Guide-2021.2.pdf   Additionally they have some other guides and info on how to make sure you choose the right pad.
×
×
  • Create New...