NGK vs Autolite Platimum Plugs: My impressions
#1
NGK vs Autolite Platimum Plugs: My impressions
When my Max hit 59K miles last year, I went down to Santa Monica Nissan to buy a set of plugs for it, having heard that OEM plugs were the thing to get. When they rang me up $70 for six plugs, I thought they meant they were putting them in for me! I'd never spent more that a couple of bucks for a spark plug and suspected that the dealer was just trying to rip me off.
So, I went to Kragen and bought 6 Autolite Platinum plugs and put them in. Engine ran fine, that is, just like it had before the new plugs. "Hah!", I said, "these $2 plugs are just as good!"
Since then I've become educated by this board (Maintenence Items FAQ, R.I.P.!!), and picked up a set of NGK plats from Courtesy Nissan and put them in over the weekend (I'm at 79k now)
WOW!! Ok, for all you disbelievers out there, take it from a former disbeliever: These plugs really do make all the difference! Worth every penny.
What it comes down to is this: Brand new $2 Autolite Platinum plugs performed just as well as a set of completely worn out NGK plugs. It took the real deal plug to get my car to run like it had back when I bought it. Don't cheap out, get the right thing!
So, I went to Kragen and bought 6 Autolite Platinum plugs and put them in. Engine ran fine, that is, just like it had before the new plugs. "Hah!", I said, "these $2 plugs are just as good!"
Since then I've become educated by this board (Maintenence Items FAQ, R.I.P.!!), and picked up a set of NGK plats from Courtesy Nissan and put them in over the weekend (I'm at 79k now)
WOW!! Ok, for all you disbelievers out there, take it from a former disbeliever: These plugs really do make all the difference! Worth every penny.
What it comes down to is this: Brand new $2 Autolite Platinum plugs performed just as well as a set of completely worn out NGK plugs. It took the real deal plug to get my car to run like it had back when I bought it. Don't cheap out, get the right thing!
#3
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Re: NGK vs Autolite Platimum Plugs: My impressions
Originally posted by Chuck Vaughan
When my Max hit 59K miles last year, I went down to Santa Monica Nissan to buy a set of plugs for it, having heard that OEM plugs were the thing to get. When they rang me up $70 for six plugs, I thought they meant they were putting them in for me! I'd never spent more that a couple of bucks for a spark plug and suspected that the dealer was just trying to rip me off.
So, I went to Kragen and bought 6 Autolite Platinum plugs and put them in. Engine ran fine, that is, just like it had before the new plugs. "Hah!", I said, "these $2 plugs are just as good!"
Since then I've become educated by this board (Maintenence Items FAQ, R.I.P.!!), and picked up a set of NGK plats from Courtesy Nissan and put them in over the weekend (I'm at 79k now)
WOW!! Ok, for all you disbelievers out there, take it from a former disbeliever: These plugs really do make all the difference! Worth every penny.
What it comes down to is this: Brand new $2 Autolite Platinum plugs performed just as well as a set of completely worn out NGK plugs. It took the real deal plug to get my car to run like it had back when I bought it. Don't cheap out, get the right thing!
When my Max hit 59K miles last year, I went down to Santa Monica Nissan to buy a set of plugs for it, having heard that OEM plugs were the thing to get. When they rang me up $70 for six plugs, I thought they meant they were putting them in for me! I'd never spent more that a couple of bucks for a spark plug and suspected that the dealer was just trying to rip me off.
So, I went to Kragen and bought 6 Autolite Platinum plugs and put them in. Engine ran fine, that is, just like it had before the new plugs. "Hah!", I said, "these $2 plugs are just as good!"
Since then I've become educated by this board (Maintenence Items FAQ, R.I.P.!!), and picked up a set of NGK plats from Courtesy Nissan and put them in over the weekend (I'm at 79k now)
WOW!! Ok, for all you disbelievers out there, take it from a former disbeliever: These plugs really do make all the difference! Worth every penny.
What it comes down to is this: Brand new $2 Autolite Platinum plugs performed just as well as a set of completely worn out NGK plugs. It took the real deal plug to get my car to run like it had back when I bought it. Don't cheap out, get the right thing!
Thanks for sharing Chuck.
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#5
I notice the change most prominently in the power available upon accelleration; both from a stop and when passing on the highway. The engine just seems to be smoother and more powerful throughout.
I used to have a 1971 Mercedes Benz 280SE that I put Bosch platinums into. It ran horribly after that! I was talking to an elderly man in a parking lot who had the same car and asked him about what plugs he used and he said the only ones worth trying in that car were $0.98 Bosch Copper plugs, and he was right. IT seems like the budget manufacturers use a very tiny amount of platinum in their plugs. If you 've seen a Bosch platinum plug, there is a little tiny spot on the end of the ceramic insulator that is your center electrode. It's like 1/32" or something. In a high mileage (300k) car like my old Benz, that little platinum spot was easily fouled. Look at the center electrode in an NGK plug. It's nice and thick and isn't completely surrounded by ceramic. That's why it's so expensive- it contains a lot more platinum than the cheapies do.
I used to have a 1971 Mercedes Benz 280SE that I put Bosch platinums into. It ran horribly after that! I was talking to an elderly man in a parking lot who had the same car and asked him about what plugs he used and he said the only ones worth trying in that car were $0.98 Bosch Copper plugs, and he was right. IT seems like the budget manufacturers use a very tiny amount of platinum in their plugs. If you 've seen a Bosch platinum plug, there is a little tiny spot on the end of the ceramic insulator that is your center electrode. It's like 1/32" or something. In a high mileage (300k) car like my old Benz, that little platinum spot was easily fouled. Look at the center electrode in an NGK plug. It's nice and thick and isn't completely surrounded by ceramic. That's why it's so expensive- it contains a lot more platinum than the cheapies do.
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