well im watching horsepower as part of my weekend thing, and they were saying something about silver spark plugs from excel(i dont know if thats how you spell it) anybody ever use these? do they last as long as platinum? are they even any good cause i know they just advertise things cause they get paid to>

 

You've got a practically stock car- use stock plugs and forget about them for the next 100k miles. There is virtually no power gain to be made on these cars in the ignition system (wires, coils, plugs)- so there is no reason to spend extra money to try and make more power just to end up with a less reliable setup.

Also, take all the stuff they say on those shows with a grain of salt- their sponsors are paying them to advertise their product, so they do everything they can to try and promote it. You're best off just sticking to what our community already knows to work as far as performance mods go.

 

yeah exactly what i said (lol) they get paid to say its good.

 

those plugs i dont know what they do. the three plugs i usually get are the ngk platinum ac delco platinum wich are the same plugs identiculy the same if you look on the side of the sc delco you will see ngk. the third that is made by ngk is the e3 they have a bigger platform to burn all the fuel. i use the e3 in my mustang and in my silverado and in my monte. the ac delco has the best plug for the stock vehicle do to it is the ngk drivitive a.i. there the same plug same as the e3.

 

Please explain your thoughts behind that- you're still only getting 1 spark, its not like the spark is jumping all around the arc at one time- its going to take the path of least resistance, and jump there (although that doesn't mean it will be the same spot every time).

I have never really been a fan of the E3 plugs. First off is there is so much crap hanging out above the plug tip that it seems like it would impede flame travel. I understand they do this because they want a hole at the tip pointed towards the piston- but if you're worried about the flame front hitting the piston as quickly as possible- then you could just back cut a standard plug like a lot of racers do.

That also takes care of their theory for using a sharp edge for electron transfer- back cut a regular plug, and gap off the edge- same as racers have been doing for years.

I just don't see how any of their other technology would make for so much added power- and if it does, why GM wouldn't use it from the factory. I also question how long their nickel coated copper electrode will compare to platinum in terms of longevity.

I wish I could find an article somewhere with someone doing actual testing (pressure, etc) on an engine dyno that wasn't biased towards the plug via advertising money, etc.