Spark Plugs

Spark plugs give life to your engine. They are the source of combustion for your engine's power. Unless you have a hamster running on a wheel to generate power, without spark plugs, you'll be pushing your car for any movement. Depending on what you're looking for, spark plugs come in various forms. The two components they can be made of are copper and platinum. Copper is the most common (and cheapest) spark plug, yet conduct electricity better than the other metals. Unfortunately they will wear out quicker, which means you'll need to replace them every 25,000 - 30,000 miles or so. Platinum on the other hand, is more corrosive resistant, thus lasts longer. Unfortunately platinum is a poor conductor of electricity so their spark won't be as powerful as copper. So the trade off is less power for longer durability. The head shape is also a reported factor. Instead of just the standard bar, many companies have either split the head (Splitfire) or something similar like a V-shaped head (TorqueMasters). The claim is with those designs, a greater spark is produced, thus more power is attained. There are quite a lot of spark plugs out there to choose from. Some of many are NGK, Splitfire, Bosch, TorqueMasters, etc. Prices tend to vary, but they should be like $1 - $2 for the NGK to $5 - $6 for the Splitfires. Installation for those of you who are "do-it-yourselfers", should be relatively simple for there are no modifications invovled. It's just like changing your plugs all the other times.

NGK
Cost	Unknown
Notes	None
Margus Munnik (1989 coupe) "I think NGK was my best buy. I changed Bosch plugs to NGKs in July and there's no regret. NGK platinum coated spark plug costs ca. 3 USD/pcs,(not very expensive), but they made engine run more softly. It's also now more stable at idle and low RPMs."

SplitFire
Cost	$6 each
Notes	None
Jim Trinh (1991 sedan) "I used to run the Splitfire spark plugs on Maria ('89 coupe) a while ago. After spending $6 per plug, I did not notice any performance gains nor an increase of mileage per tank. So basically it was just a waste of money that didn't do anything for me. As for the other plugs mentioned, I haven't had any experiences with them or heard anything positive so I'll leave it at that. In my humblest opinion, just stick with the factory recommended NGK's, either copper or platinum (preferebly copper for the better performance), for the peak performance."