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copper,platinum or iridium ?


garygranite

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Going to change my plugs while fitting plenum, ready for remap. have been searching the forum but cant really find a definite answer !!!! sorry if this has been done all before but have some bosch fr8me copper plugs knocking about and don't want to waste my time fitting them if no good :dry:

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Performance is much of a muchness between them all, the only difference is longevity. I generally use Copper as I service my cars on average every 6 months and happily put in 45 mins to change the plugs. Iridiums will not give any performance difference on the road to copper, however as Alex says you want to stick a set in and forget about it for a few years then thats what to go for.

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Every one has different views on this question.

 

I personally prefer Iridium or Platinum

 

Fit them and forget. :thumbs:

Is there any advantage in your experience of a particular metal that helps avoid pre ignition?

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

 

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Every one has different views on this question.

 

I personally prefer Iridium or Platinum

 

Fit them and forget. :thumbs:

Is there any advantage in your experience of a particular metal that helps avoid pre ignition?

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

Metal type has no influence on pre ignition, its heat range , mixture ,fuel type and ignition timing that will affect pre ignition or det,

 

However i have had experience of certain makes of iridium being rather fragile when it comes to det taking place.

 

All plugs actually have a copper core, its just the electrode outer that affects longevity, and as mentioned they go from so called copper, to iridium.

Edited by Tricky-Ricky
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Every one has different views on this question.

 

I personally prefer Iridium or Platinum

 

Fit them and forget. :thumbs:

Is there any advantage in your experience of a particular metal that helps avoid pre ignition?

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

A metal that does not reach high temperature quickly would always be advantages, however that is not within my level of expertise.

 

Have a read here: https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=why+does+detonation+cause+a+spark+plug+to+melt

Edited by ZMANALEX
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In reality, copper has the best performance of all three and the worst longevity. Platinum has good longevity and the worst performance. Iridium has good longevity and a performance that is decent

 

Most copper plugs need to be changed every 20,000 miles or so. Platinum and iridium plugs can often go for twice that before they require changing, but the overall performance will not be as good and you may have to deal with overheating of the plugs. This is potentially not worth the added cost of both platinum and iridium spark plugs, although the decision will depend upon your preference.

 

Source

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Every one has different views on this question.

 

I personally prefer Iridium or Platinum

 

Fit them and forget. :thumbs:

Is there any advantage in your experience of a particular metal that helps avoid pre ignition?

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

Metal type has no influence on pre ignition, its heat range , mixture ,fuel type and ignition timing that will affect pre ignition or det,

 

However i have had experience of certain makes of iridium being rather fragile when it comes to det taking place.

 

All plugs actually have a copper core, its just the electrode outer that affects longevity, and as mentioned they go from so called copper, to iridium.

Ah right.

 

I just remembered reading that one of the causes of pre-ignition can be a superheated (for want of a better word) plug (essentially acting like a hotspot in the chamber). Wondered if certain metal was more thermally resistant or something.

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

 

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Every one has different views on this question.

 

I personally prefer Iridium or Platinum

 

Fit them and forget. :thumbs:

Is there any advantage in your experience of a particular metal that helps avoid pre ignition?

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

Metal type has no influence on pre ignition, its heat range , mixture ,fuel type and ignition timing that will affect pre ignition or det,

 

However i have had experience of certain makes of iridium being rather fragile when it comes to det taking place.

 

All plugs actually have a copper core, its just the electrode outer that affects longevity, and as mentioned they go from so called copper, to iridium.

Ah right.

 

I just remembered reading that one of the causes of pre-ignition can be a superheated (for want of a better word) plug (essentially acting like a hotspot in the chamber). Wondered if certain metal was more thermally resistant or something.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

Yes it can happen if you fit the wrong heat range plugs for the engine perimeters/conditions so the cooler the heat range of the plug, the less chance of detonations occurring, given all other conditions are optimum, but its more common for det to occur from hot spots within the combustion chamber, or the flame front occurring before the ignition point.

 

well none the wiser ,, as said not really any direct answer.. so will give up and do my own research no offence :wacko:

 

Your original question was answered, IE what plugs to fit, you said you have the correct heat range copper plugs, so these can be fitted no problem, but if you want to not have to change them after 10K miles, then fit platinum, which will last up to 20-30K miles, or if you fit iridium then they can last up to 60K miles, there is no performance gains to be had by fitting precious metal electrode plugs.

 

However if your planning a remap, and have all other mods in place, its quite common to fit one grade colder plugs, std in NGK is 5 so fitting a 6 is fine.

Edited by Tricky-Ricky
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As above (and discussed at length on quite a few threads previously) copper are fine for 10k miles so if you do low mileage and service regularly its well worth saving 80% of cost for copper. Otherwise go for the others. It really is that simple (also noting about cold grades also)

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