platinum "plus" spark plugs- any benifits?

my car is due for spark plugs and i was considering buying Platinum PLus 4s or Plus 2s, the ones with four and two electrodes, respectively. do these actaully make any differance in power or fuel economy or is it just advertising??

thanx

The Bosch Platinum "plus" plugs are some of the worse plugs on the market. They will cause random misfires in short order, no matter what engine you put them in.

They are crap. Do not use them.

This has nothing to do with the number of ground arms they have, it has to do with how the electrode is designed. Just about any other multi-ground plug will work perfectly fine. But their main purpose isn't to increase performance, its only to increase longevity. It offers more material to wear away before the gap gets too big. Some suggest that the reorientation of the spark improves efficiency....but I don't put much belief in it.

What is it about these bosh plugs that causes random misfires, this is very strange phenomenon. Are they getting broken with installation or have high internal resistance? pehaps.

My blazer has intermittant miss, but I used champion plugs I think, but it did it with the original plugs as well.

CHAMPIONS! In a chevy? Shame on you! You'll kick yourself the first time one plug gets slighty wet... Anywho, I tried those Bosch +2's, I was sorta impressed for about 20,000. I pulled/inspected 'em and found the center electrode burnt down to the ceramic making over a .100 gap. I have no idea how they were still firing, but I'm sure my coils took a long-term hit. I re-gapped them(although they recommend against it) and ran them another 10,000 before I broke down and bought the factory AC Delce plat.'s. What vehicle are you planning on putting Bosch's in?

I didn't realise that was a no-no, I've used champion plugs in all kinds of engines and I think the plug cannot tell the difference which engine maker it was.

The only thing I'll run a champion in is a chrysler. I don't even run 'em in my lawn mower.. I'd stick with the factory AC's..

the common belief is to use AC delco in GM products, Champions in Chrysler products, Autolites in Ford products, all japanese products, use NGK's, and European products, use Bosch.

The reason this belief came about is because those plug makers designed their plugs for the stock engines, and they spent a lot more time researching the best plug for the applications, where as the non-stock plug designs were backwards engineered from the stock ones, and they may or may not have gotten the heat ranges right. There is truth to this, but it really depends on the specific motor in discussion.

There is also the question of what flavor of plug you're running, as the above example, the Bosch platinum "plus" version shouldn't be used in anything, european or otherwise.

Its not always true though, for example, many Subaru's these days use Champions for the stock plugs.

MOST of the time, you will be fine if you use a different plug maker in a motor. Some of the plug costs for stock plugs are just idiotic and I don't blame people at all for going to a different plug. For example, some of the "laser" platinum's that NGK sell are $15-20 a piece. There is no justification for the price IMO.

A good general rule though, when in doubt, use the stock plug. Plugs are a lot more important than people realise. You may not feel the misfire happening, sometimes its very slight and not detectable. Sometimes the EFI computer doesn't sense it either, but then suddenly 20K miles later, you catalitic converter is dead and you're looking at a $1500 repair bill. The $10 you saved on plugs doesn't look too good then.

Interesting, I have a Caddy block, Chevy pistons, Olds rods, Chrysler ignition with gm module and aftermarket wires. I'm glad I do not have a Ford carb or an International crank or a home made intake, on it lest I do not know which plug to use. Just ,kidding, I think it does not know which plug is in there , or the plug does not know which part is made by whom.

We at one time had huge shelves of Old champion flea market plugs that we used in everything, we had fords, chevies,chryslers,gmc, cummins, snomobiles, chain saws, motorcycles , ect. It was a nice game figuring out the heat ranges and sorting them, but really never had a "bad" plug. This still occurs today 10 years later.

Once in a great while we had an engine that just "seemed" to have autolites or AC delco plugs last longer than another brand. But not enough where one could definitavely say that.

as I said...."Stock" engines. Once you start modifying engines, it really doesn't matter since your heat ranges will probably change, and then it doesn't matter who you use, as long as you get the heat range correct.

Also, as I said, MOST of the time it doesn't matter.

I've bought 10 Champions in my life. 8 of them failed after a few hours. I don't buy them anymore.
The 4 Bosch Platinums I bought, to last the life of an older car, certainly did.
After a few months, 2 of them dropped their insulators into the engine, and ruined the cylinder walls. I had to add syrup to the crankcase to manage the oil burning. I won't buy those again.
I've had good luck with AC/Delco, and NKG.

I think I'm going to try NGK's next. GM is using them in some factory cars now..

The only thing I'll run a champion in is a chrysler. I don't even run 'em in my lawn mower.. I'd stick with the factory AC's..

Haha, that's what Turbo Mopar guys swear by. Hell, that's what is in the GTC right now. After this weekend though it will have Denso Iridiums.

As for the Bosch plugs. I ran those in my last GTC and they fouled in about two months. They are crap, and I've seen cases where the electrodes break off. After that I switched to NGK Iridiums. The engine ran smoother was more responsive than it did with the Bosch, even when they were new.

I would say stick with NGK or Denso.

I'll never fall for the hype and buy bosch's ever again!!

Hi Folks

JMHO, weather you use standard copper plugs or high performance Iridium plugs, the only real difference is that the Iridium plugs will outlast the standard copper plugs.

Basically, if you were to place the engine on a "dyno" test and take standard copper plug right out of the box and test the engine. then take the Iridium plugs out of the box and do the same test. The results will be the same.

However, after running for x number of miles, if you perform the same tests, the copper plugs will show a decrease in performance compared to the Iridium plugs.

So, if you LOVE to change plugs often, stick with Copper, if you HATE to change plugs or on your vehicle it is not an easy task, stick to Iridium.

JMHO

Hi Folks

JMHO, weather you use standard copper plugs or high performance Iridium plugs, the only real difference is that the Iridium plugs will outlast the standard copper plugs.

Basically, if you were to place the engine on a "dyno" test and take standard copper plug right out of the box and test the engine. then take the Iridium plugs out of the box and do the same test. The results will be the same.

However, after running for x number of miles, if you perform the same tests, the copper plugs will show a decrease in performance compared to the Iridium plugs.

So, if you LOVE to change plugs often, stick with Copper, if you HATE to change plugs or on your vehicle it is not an easy task, stick to Iridium.

JMHO

Finally a post I can go along with completely.

I agree.

NGK or Denso did some testing and proved that you get more hp from their iridium plugs than using their standard plugs. And i actually believe them, cuz they didn't say they gained 20hp!!! or any crap like that. The engine gained something like .1% or something ridiculously tiny, i think its safe to say most of us wouldn't notice that.

But for the price, quality, and reputation of lasting, I don't think you can beat NGK Plats, regardless of motor.