should i get

the NGK Iridium or the E3 Diamond Fire?

 

NGK

 

i LOVE my NGK plugs

 

Bosh Platinum 4 Iridium.

 

hmm thus far NGK = 2.....Bosch 1(where did that come from...lol)

 

for the NGK any specific model? is there much diff between their top three from their site the V / G / and IX....i need more umf out of my box

 

NGK's have worked great for me in the past.

 

Iridium, platinum's will not work as good/ not recommended

 

How would you know are you currently useing them in your ride? I am and the work just fine.

 

yea i am def getting the iridium... i have used platinums before in other cars and never noticed a difference over stock plugs, except longer life... i didnt realize their V and G plugs werent iridium

 

Well that is great for you! I am currently running stock plugs in both as there is no need to change them yet in EITHER of our Scions. That being said though, when I do change the spark plugs in our xB (like the author of this thread has, and is asking about) we will be putting in Iridium plugs as per the factory reccomendations.

In conclusion:
-Regular plugs for xB = meh-poor
-Platinum plugs for xB= better
-Iridium for xB= best

 

thank you both for you opinions, and thank you Kanchi for summing it up into a good / better / best format!

 

what should i gap them, i read on another forum .042/.044

 

I would call the dealership and ask them the reccomemnded gap, if they are not pregaped already, I would ask.

 

From NGK's site:

 

^Thanks Tomas!

 

yes thank you indeed...though mine came pre gapped to .028??? and they are the same stock number listed on that chart.........also on another post some people reported better performance out of a .044 gap...Doug was one of them..........still kiciking around the idea, might run at reccomended gap for a couple tanke to find out what MPG i get, and then try to gap em at .044 and see what kind of difference i get out of them.........what else you think i should do? royal purple oil...K&N oil filter??......trying to get some more pep out of my box....still cant figure out why sometimes when i give it gass it boggs down then takes off....maybe my air intake is bringing in too much air?

 

Fresh new iridium plugs will work fine at the larger gap because of the much pointier center electrode making it easier to start and sustain an arc.

With fresh new plugs there very likely would be a slight advantage to the larger size spark giving a larger flame front and therefore better ignition.

The problem there is as the electrodes erode, the gap gets even larger and at some point the arc ignition is delayed, and sometimes even missing.

This is why for daily drivers the smaller gap is often recommended even though the larger gap is used for race cars that ALWAYS run new plugs...

So, .044 will give a larger spark for better fuel ignition and larger flame front, but will not be reliable for as log as a plug set to the smaller .032 gap.

Choice is yours as to which is most important: Maximum performance and changing plugs often, or long lasting plugs with slightly less performance. The actual different in performance between the two is unlikely to be that noticeable in an econobox.

Enjoy!

 

sometimes gap can make a differance when you have aftermarket intakes,filters,and such.........try it at .32 for a week and then try .42 for a week and then .44 for a week and see how the computer adjusts and which gives the best mpg and power......

on a lot of my older cars the gap at wider than stock gave me better bottom end fuel burn but worse mpg........not sure how a newer car will react since they have a learning computer and sensors to help.

 

thanks for all the advice, i know there are other posts out there about plugs, but i figured i would post up instead of weeding through all the other posts about it, in the minimal skimming i did someone mentioned getting like 40mpg on the iridium plugs...not sure how tangible this number is...but that would be nice!!...i'll def stick with the .032 for now