extremecorvette

Do ignition plug wires and spark plugs add any hp? What have you guys been seeing for RWHP and what brands have you guys been running?

harleyguy

i just changed to borg warner wires and bosch plus4 plugsafter having my valve guides replaced. The car is much faster now, i cant wait till i get my so3 tires this week.

Chris@East Coast Supercharging

As long as the stock wires are in good shape and the plugs are gapped correctly I cant imaging any real difference in performance. I still have the stock wires in my car. :seeya

wwashing

:iagree: Only if your stock ones are deteriorated. Going to a heftier wire might keep you at optimum performance longer though!

dragerty

:iagree: Your old wires may cost you hp if not in good condition :cheers:

nmbis2k

I upgraded as part of a normal tune up to NGK and MSD. Hell, the car runs great all of the time, and I never drive much above 115 MPH.

I suspect on a dyno that other factors (weather) would be more of a factor.

One should change plugs in aluminum heads routinely to avoid the dreaded seizing.

Intake and exhaust mods do make horsepower.

NMBIS 2000

kewlbrz

Absoultely not. Wires, and plugs inherently do not in any form way or fashion develop horsepower, as long as your igniting the air/fuel mixture. If you get any increase in power, its simply because your existing plugs/wires are worn, or damaged.

With that said, you want a plug wire that will resist heat, not break down, and last a long time, and minimize EMI electromagnetic interference.

I have found the magnecor wires to be superior in that regard.

Also, do no ever beleive the marketing tactic that a plug wire having low resistance is a better performer than one that has higher resistance. This is a scam. This test simply uses a volt/ohm meter using hardly any voltage to measure its resistance. In the real world when you fire 40,000 volts down the wire, another principle of physics takes place, known as skin effect, where the electrons shear out to the outside of the wire and tend to ride in an electrically induced magnetic field. This is where a quality wire like magnecor shines, because cheaper wires use less windings around the core. To make up for the cheap construction, and to reduce emi, and give the impression of low resistance, they coat these windings. These windings/coatings break down, and cause arching, and other problems. Magnecor uses 200 microscopically wound windings per inch. (for example taylor used 80 per inch with coatings). magnecor does not need to use coatings since they wind so tight.

Another example of marketing hype, are the capacitive plug wires. avoid those at all cost.

A cheap plug like the NGK TR55 copper plug will perform better than any other plug, because copper disappates heat the best, and is the best conductor (next to silver, but silver is too soft and tarnishes to easily). Platinum is used for longevity only, and does not provide any enhancement to heat dissapation or spark delivery. Iridium, is a comprimise in longevity between copper and platinum. It is such a hard material, that the electrode can be made thin enough to produce a nice spark, while maintaining good life. Again, tho, if you want the best performance overall, and dont mind changing your plugs a little more often, a copper plug like the NKG TR55 is the best performer.

A good reason to change the factory plugs out is because the majority of C5's were shipped with platinum plugs that have pucks on the outer electrode. These pucks fall off in nearly every case, and increase the gap greatly. As far as I have seen the later model C5's (around 02 model up) dont use the pucks any more.



[Modified by kewlbrz, 10:34 AM 2/26/2003]

AC54ME

Quote:
One should change plugs in aluminum heads routinely to avoid the dreaded seizing.


:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

2KVetteMan

I pulled out my stock plugs and wires at 59,000 miles, as I started to barely yank on them they pulled apart. Talking to my from Rhyan he did the same thing at 42,000 miles and his wires just came apart as well.

The stock wires are really a POS in my opinion. Get some MSD and NGK plugs its worth the cost. I got my from Mike Morgan. :cheers:

RskyBns

Just picked up a set of MSD's and NGK Iridium plugs that I am going to put in this weekend after a decarb. I'm assuming everything should run a bit smoother.

2KVetteMan

Hey buddy do you have the correct socket to get the #8 out? I bought my at NAPA when we were at MOD day. If not let me know, I can help out. I am not that far from you. :cheers:

RskyBns

You know, I haven't even looked yet....just picked everything up last night from LAPD. Thanks for the offer....I'll let you know. :thumbs:

C5 StockSwap

Number 7 is the real bear, furthest back on driver's side. I use the Snap-On double swivel socket for that one!

vette.se

I have said it before and I'm saying it again, remove the coilpack on the drivers side(5 small bolts) takes 1 minute and you get a lot of space to change plugs without any special tools :D

Lone Ranger

I removed a new set of OEM AC 41-906 platinum plugs (LT1) after 6000 miles on them and put in a set of NGK TR55ix iridium plugs, no other changes. I noticed an increase in throttle response. Nothing major, but enough to be noticeable. My idle improved as well. These changes cannot be attributed to the plugs I removed being worn, because they only had 6000 miles on them, and each still had both platinum pucks in place. They looked remarkably clean, fwiw. I only removed them for peace of mind due to the puck-falling-off issue that has been previously mentioned.

It should be noted, however, that the increased responsiveness I have noticed could be due to the NGK's ending up with better indexing after install than how the AC's were situated in the head before them. I made no attempt to index either set of plugs when installing them.

The iridium plugs, both NGK and Denso require less voltage to fire than does a conventional copper plug. Denso iridium, for instance, requires 5000 fewer volts to fire than a conventional copper or platinum plug (according to Denso).

Also, there have been reports of small gains in rwhp (5 - 10) using iridium plugs. Iridium plugs are rapidly becoming the choice for forced induction tuners, especially the import tuner crowd due to the iridium plug's lower voltage requirement and inherent tendency to better resist 'blow-out' of the spark at higher rpm's and the high cylinder pressures that come with forced induction.