best spark plugs to use??
2001,2001-(3.0) or 2002,2003 (3.5). max"s??

 

the factory oem NGK platnium plugs work fine for me. I'm at 98k miles, haven't replaced them yet, and still getting a good 26 mpg.

 

If you only care about pure performance than coppers give you the best spark. Platinum doesnt spark as well as copper but has MUCH MUCH greater life 15k vs 80k. Iridium plugs have nearly the sparking ability of coppers but offer the same life as Platinum tipped plugs. I run Denso Iridiums in my VR-4, but when i change i'll be going to NGK iridiums and i'll put them in my Maxima when i do a plug change on it here in the next 10k

 

I'd go with iridiums due to the long life and excellent performance.

 

i think he was asking which car had better plugs.. the 2k2-2k3 Spark plugs.. or the 2k-2k1 Sparkplugs.. lol..

They're the same on each car.. NGK Platinum

 

ummm NGK V-POWER FTMFW

I will never put in anything but those.

 

Denso Iridiums are very nice.....good performance and the engines run much smoother

 

If upgrading from OEM, I'd go with the NGK Laser Iridiums

 

Out of all i tested E3 Diamond Fire had the best performance. Out of Denso's, NGK's and Bosch.

 

just how exactly did you test them?

 

E3

 

Idk, the leaf blower at work has a diamond fire plug....

 

i've heard Pulstar Pulse Plugs are goodand bad. i saw test results in import tuner magazine and they seem to give significant power and mpg improvement over stock plugs, even new ones, but other forums and users claim gains, but it seems that the plugs fail prematurely....
http://www.importtuner.com/powerpage...lse_plugs.html

 

NGK Plats

 

part of the problem with 'testing' plugs is that the results normally fall within the margin of error that's acceptable in pretty much any test. The difference between plug a and plug b is usually a couple of percent at best. Some cars, such as the 3000GT VR-4, are more sensitive to plug choice. Many people who have tried bosch or champion plugs have had issues across the entire rev range... that however is not the norm.

A 'good' plug and a 'bad' plug is usually separated by "oh i heard..." or "my car ran so much better..." the reality is that simply replace the plug with the same new plug would have given similar results.

 

This is true and I agree that its not worth the trouble testing out a bunch of different plugs especially since it took like 3 hours to do all of mine (first time, the ones in the back were a pain).

But test conducted on dyno's usually are done 3 or so times and then the average is taken for each plug, and the average shows a better gain or loss. I know I've seen it somewhere on this forum when I was searching for plugs. But for reliability and performance, NGK Platinum/Iridium gets my vote

 

NGK coppers are where its at. Cheap and reliable.

 

++

Spark plugs take 10 minutes to change and NGK V-power coppers cost 1.50 each I change mine every summer.

 

Yup thats what most guys on 3si do with their 3000GT or Stealth.

 

From NGK website, it seems the iridium IV is the best iridium plug they got for regular cars, but it's funny how the laser iridium is more expensive. Just wondering if any of you know which one is the better of the two?

 

NGK or Denso are both good plugs

From most of my experience and research with plugs either for the car, jet ski, mower, the dune buggy etc. etc. It really seems to come down to what provides the spark i.e. the coils and the system that is timing the deliver of the spark. That seems to be the biggest difference when it comes to plug quality and reliability. Now of course if you are running race gas and/or boosted then a premiumn plug is warranted. Otherwise a spark is a spark is a spark. I personally just use the OEM's

 

NGK V-powers FTW. Heard bad things about Bosch and other brands in the Max, so when I changed them this summer, I didn't mess with that crap. When I pulled out the plugs in it, the electrodes had worn down a lot. When I first put them in, it was a night and day difference. The car ran like ****. It misfired, it didn't idle well, and it was pretty much terrible. Then I re-connected the plug to the cylinder 3 coilpack, because it had slipped off when I was putting everything back together. Then the car ran great.

It wasn't a 'night-and-day" difference. IDK, my engine runs the way it's supposed to, and gets better than rated gas mileage. Spark plugs are a maintenance item - keeping them properly maintained won't give you 20whp the same way the Turbonator will, but it keeps your car running well, and makes sure your coilpacks last.

 

I think i will try Iridium IX. Let you guys know how they run.

 

Well, instead of trying the iridium IX, I ran laser Iridium. I noticed the car responded better to throttle at mid rpm range. The start up seems to be similar.
Overall, I am glad I changed them especially after seeing how little life the old ones had left.

 

NGK but might have to try the E3 soon, I have been hearing great things.

 

they so do not take 10 minutes on a 5.5 gen. couple of hours at least.

 

Please tell me the exact number of the factory oem NGK platnium plugs for a 2003 Max.

 

Please tell me the exact number of the factory oem NGK platnium plugs for a 2003 Max. I would like to order them online.

thanks!

 

You dont need to order online, just go to kragen or autozone, they all have price matching. I've compared, they're actually cheaper than online stores. You can just go with the OEM, which are platinum from ngk. Or you can upgrade to their iridium IX or laser iridium, if i remember correctly. I'm running the latter. But you can't go wrong with any NGK.

 

Quick question guys.. are the NGK irrids pre gapped?

 

Always gap your plugs. Always.

 

If you order an NGK plug with a -11 after the part number they are pre-gapped. That 11 stands for 11mm gap however its always good practice to check the gap before installing even on pre-gapped plugs

 

Factory Platnium Plugs Now In!

thanks everyone for the advice. Mine had 103K miles on them and were white with age.

Slight difference in performance.. especially midrange pickup.

CV

 

They're only "where its at" if you enjoy changing plugs often.

Update: Just had a look at my NGK Iridiums installed just 10 years ago. After 105,000 miles they still look good with very little increase in gap. I was impressed! If anyone doesn't think these are worth the extra money (if you plan on keeping your vehicle for many miles) then you and I are from different planets my friend!

So today I replaced 'em with NGK G-Power (#7090, BKR5EGP) platinums - only $3 apiece (since I won't be keeping this car much longer).

I'll get back with ya in 6 years and let you know how they look.

 

Yeah I switch to coppers and its so much more powerful I can actually feel it
around mid range and alittle down low. probably 10hp for sure. Platinum they don't fire as strongly
so I get copper for my BEAST stock maxima.
Na, it's not stock really
MOD LIST:
iceman CAI
CAtman headers
catman catback
Gready throttle body spacer
nismo carbon fiber shift ****
MSD blaster coil
Limo tint
Wear a baseball cap backwards and lean to one side with tilt almost all the way down.
plastidip rims.

All this stuff adds up and it's at least 40hp in mods.

Hands down the best are copper plugs. You'll NEED them for the extra power.

 

A 6 yr old thread, but changing plugs will not increase any horsepower or performance unless there is a dead misfire, but zero on a perfectly running engine. Many think that simply supplying more spark to the firing tip can and will combust more fuel, but in reality, . most newer cars' engines are so efficient that they are already burning all of the available fuel. Simply adding more spark voltage can't burn more fuel because there is no more fuel to burn.

The daughter's Maxima has had one plug change (NGK stock) at 137,000 miles, still looked great, but will be due for another shortly as she's approaching 250,000.

I'd stick with the NGK's as one of other cars has NGK's that need to be replaced @ every 7,000 miles, so I thought I'd try the Denso's. After 670 miles one of the trailing plugs died, returned them and installed the NGK's, good to go.

 

Just FYI,

Thought I would throw a few pictures of my failed NGK Iridium spark plug that was in my 4th gen. for about 7-8 years. Thank god it didn't kill the engine.

I switched to Denso Iridiums after that and they ran fantastic. Better than the NGK plugs did.

 

This is scary.
Did all 6 plugs fail this way or just one of them?

 

That's nothing. I've seen a ford aerostar drive 2 hrs with THREE broken off plugs. Dude replaced plugs and it was fine. WTF...

 

Some places like ebay sell the plugs much less than the parts stores. I bought my platinum plugs from pep boys last year and paid $25 for all 6. Now i went to buy one spark plug and they tell me its $10 a plug?? for platinum? that I paid a little over $3 last year for the same plug.