Hello guys! I want to change my spark plugs in my 97 Max soon. I will go with NGK but I don't know which one to get. Standard, V-power, G-power, Laser platinum, OE laser iridium or Iridium ix? I want to get a good one since the price is not that big of a different. Thank you. =)

 

ther eis a big difference in price. and its OE laser platinum (not iridium). If changing them yourself, then coppers are fine. If paying for them to be changed, OE Plats.

 

Why would it matter if you do it yourself?

 

because there is no labor charge if doing it yourself. so doing it at least twice as often is only a matter of the cost of the plugs.

 

I just replaced my 12.5 year old laser platinum plugs last week with the same thing. They had 108,000 kms on them and were still good to go, but I have emissions testing coming up.

Stick with the OEM NGK laser platinum plugs.

 

I know this has been covered many times. the only difference between the plugs you mention is service life. iridium is the longest lasting (120 -150k), followed by platinum (60-100k), with copper the shortest life (25-50k). don't believe the marketing hype about increased performance, you will never notice it.

so if you detest working on your car, get the iridiums and forget about them for another 10 years. if you're like me and enjoy taking your plugs out once or twice a year just to see how the engine is doing, then get the coppers. if you don't mind a little car work every few years but would rather not mess around with plugs every 25k, get the Gpowers. simple as that.

 

Anyone can give me the part number for the oem NGK laser platinum plugs plz? 97 Max =)

 

you are better off getting the laser iridium. same cost as laser platinum, same laser welded electrode, but longer life. NGK part number is easily found online. do not buy plugs at the dealer.

 

i got iridiums at canadian tire 12.99 for 2 they were on sale!

 

yeah i got G-power Platinums at canadian tire on 20% off recently and i put them in myself, the rear plug on the driver side looked really hard to change, but once u actually get the two bolts off and lift the evap thingy its nothing.

The ones i took out were NGK laser plats, car was used and i duno excactly how long they been in there but from the limited amount of paperwork i received with the car i think around 90.000 KM thats not bad.

Majour difference i see so far is fuel economy, my baby eats less gas now
CHANGE THE PLUGS YOURSELF, if u dont have tools then buy them and return them after IT IS REALLY EASY if u take ur time and be careful, SAVE UR MONEY trust me

 

V-power copper. $1.89 each, regular price!

 

That's what I paid for them from Nissan, in a Nissan box. ^^

 

http://ngksparkplugs.com/

PFR5G-11 is the part number. No idea why NGK has the iridiums listed as original equipment. that is incorrect.

 

For those using G-Power platinums, the proper application would be part #BKR5EGP correct?

 

So should I go for oem laser platinum or laser iridium? The price is about the same but iridium seems to last longer. Which one has better quality? Thanks!

 

I persoanlly would never use plugs for 120k miles. regardless of what they specify. So my vote is platinum.

 

that's like saying you'd stick with conventional oil even if synthetic costs the same.

tirili -- if you're going to spend the big bucks on plugs, get the laser iridiums. personally I would save a few bucks on the coppers or Gpower plats, but it is your call. in any case, there really is no reason to spend the extra cash on laser platinums anymore -- a better plug exists for the same cost.

 

I just installed the NGK V-Power. Great price, and never let me down in the past.

 

i think what he means is, like me even when i use oem platinum plugs i change the more often than what it should in this case i change them once a year

 

oh I understand that. but why would someone spend the same $$ on a slightly inferior product. doesn't make sense, no matter how often you change them. but i think we're splitting hairs at this point. both are fine quality plugs.

you change your laser plats every year?? wow, I thought I was ****. you could probably resell the used ones on ebay for $5 apiece.

 

slightly inferior product? how so? If I am going ot pay the higher price (vs copper) why wouldnt I go with the plugs that the motor was originally designed to work with? not saying iridiums wont work, but if I am changing out every 60k anyhow, I may as well go for the proper design. And one can not ignore plug design since there is more that just a difference than material. if electrode coating was all that mattered there would be no diff between OE and G Power.

 

mizzax, read up on the technology. compared to platinum, iridium is a harder metal (lasts longer) so the electrode can be made smaller and the e-field is more concentrated - which in theory is easier on your coils (something we all should be concerned with). so, oem platinum is slightly inferior to laser iridium. but not by much.

as for "designed to work with" -- NGK designs the OEM plugs, and designed the laser iridium to exceed OEM specs. one of the key specs is the laser welded electrode for precise gap control. it is the same on both the plat and iridium. also, on both laser plugs the ground electrode is also coated in platinum -- "double plat" for extended life. laser iridium has this too. Gpower does not have this or the laser welded electrode, afaik, so it is a bit lesser quality and may not last quite as long.

so, again, if you want to spend the big bucks, go with laser iridium at the same price as oe plat. a smarter choice is to go with coppers or Gpowers, IMO, as you will not notice any difference in performance and you will save $$.

 

ha ha well i may start doing that

 

never use them before and some some turbo guys claim plugs fouling vey often but here is the info

Iridium is a precious metal that is 6 times harder and 8 times stronger than platinum, it has a 1,200=F higher melting point than platinum and conducts electricity better. This makes it possible to create the finest wire center electrode ever. Prior till now, spark plug manufacturers have favored platinum for their long life or performance spark plugs due to its high melting point, also the technology did not exist to machine and bond iridium on a spark plug electrode (at least in a cost effective manner). Champion spark plugs have produced iridium industrial and aviation spark plugs since the 1960's, but they still sell for over a hundred dollars per plug. Just now is the technology cost effective to use iridium in a spark plug for automotive applications. The strength, hardness and high melting point of iridium make it very well suited for a fine wire plug. The primary iridium plug manufacturers at this time are Denso with a 0.4mm center electrode, while Champion and NGK have 0.7mm center electrodes. These are the best performance plugs on the market for traditional automotive use and many racing applications. Autolite has introduced an iridium-enhanced plug (the iridium content is too low to call it an iridium plug) we do not consider this in the same class as Denso, NGK or Champion.
SIDENOTE: Thus far the tech's we have spoken with report no problems using iridium plugs with Nitrous.


info from http://www.sparkplugs.com

 

What about guys like me with the fuel system upgrades that are looking to a slightly hotter spark? does anyone know the plug # of the next step up in the ngk line-up?

 

interesting link maximus. i haven't seen that one before, but it pretty much agrees with what I have read elsewhere.

a little side note on the importance of plug gap -- back in the late '70s or early '80s GM made a V8 truck engine, I think it was a 400 small block, that had a ridiculously huge .090" plug gap. here's the thing about big plug gaps -- the ionization potential of air is constant (something like 15,000 V/cm) so the wider the gap the more voltage it takes to create a spark across it. so that .090" gap took 2x the voltage of a .045" gap. that extra voltage caused transient voltage spikes further back in the ignition system, and quite often fried the electronic ignition module (the electronic replacement for mechanical distributor "points"). my dad had one of these trucks and the EIM fried almost yearly. then he put in plugs with a smaller gap and never had another problem.

now here's the neat thing about iridium electrodes -- since they are smaller, they concentrate the e-field in a smaller area, which means it takes less "line voltage" in the coil's secondary winding to ionize the plug gap. this helps alleviate some of the harmful effects of high voltage that cause bad coils and misfires. I believe in practice there is little difference here vs platinum, but it makes a nice marketing story. the longer life of iridium is real, however.

 

click on the link there you will find that info

http://www.sparkplugs.com

 

Based off this info, I just ordered some G-Powers.. Thanks for the info and to the OP for posting the question...

 

Well i myself was planning on spending the money for the iridium plugs but now i think ill stick with the g-powers cause the difference seems to be to small to spend the extra cash, thanks for the info guys

whats the deal with the iridium ix?

 

Is Champion considered a good brand? That's what I replaced mine with. Wondering if I need to put in NGK to be safe. Thanks!

 

Everyone here is going to say go NGK including me.

 

i heard that NGK is the brand you NEVER get for maximas!

 

I really hope that's sarcasm. People hear all the time and post i ehard this from this person... . Why would the car come w/ NGK's.

You heard wrong obviously.

 

Made In Japan!!!

 

well said.. i went with the copper and you really do save!

 

So I found that 6 Ngk Iridium IX spark plugs on Ebay for 38 dollars shipped. It's cheaper than OE Platinum. Should I go for it on my 97 Max? Thanks!

 

EDITED!

After reading the posts bleow, I realized that the IR IX plugs are NOT the Laser IR, so the posts below are better advice than what I had posted.

Either way, ebay can be a good source for NGK plugs. I have bought them from there several times w/o problems.

 

the IR IX plugs do not have the laser welded center electrode or the plat coated ground electrode, so they may be a very tiny bit it lesser quality OE plat (not that you would EVER notice it). and you can get them for $7 apiece in a parts store (murrays, AAP, checkers, etc).

the Laser IR plugs are the top quality with plat coated ground, laser welded IR center, etc. same price as OE Plat ($10 ea). usually it is the center electrode that wears out, so I'm not sure how much the plat coated ground will help in terms of service life (vs. the cheaper IR IX plug).

personally, I say go with V-power or G-power, but that's just me.

 

i rather pay $40 for oems http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/6-NGK...spagenameZWDVW have the peace of mind that i may not have to change them again for a long time

theres just one thing i don't understand usually when you use oem platinums you don't have to worry for the next 50k+ miles so why not use them and instead use coppers that who knows how long they will last because coppers erodes much faster even more to consider when changing plugs is such a big task for those not mechanically inclined

 

here's the deal -- on a $/mile basis, V-powers and G-powers cost about 1/2 OE Plat, give or take a few pennies. this assumes V-power = 30k miles, G-power=60k, OE Plat=90k -- all of which are conservative estimates. I've seen coppers go 50k+, and OEM plats will go longer than 90k, *so long as the engine is healthy*.

but aside from cost, here's the real reason -- plugs are one of the best indicators of engine health. it's a good idea to inspect them often. guys like me inspect their plugs once a year. so it makes no sense to pay more for platinum when you're going to be taking the things out every 20k miles anyway to inspect them. just use Vpowers and replace them if needed, they're cheap enough.

we are lucky in that our plugs are very easy to remove. others (5th gen), and many domestic cars the plugs are very difficult to get at --- for those people, and for those who are truly mechanically inept, or just don't want to f#ck around with taking plugs out every 25-30k then YES, get the expensive OE Laser Iridium and forget about them for 120k miles. or get the OE plat if you don't trust Iridium or if you can get the plats cheaper. nothing wrong with that -- but if you were to ask my advice I'd say take advantage of a good engine design and get to know your plugs, and save some cash on coppers.