anyone tried the Pulstar plugs?

[VII]

Very interesting plug developed right here in sunny albuquerque. At about $15 each they aren't cheap but about the price of a set of irridium plugs. I'm sure there are those that are happy to chime in but I really want info from someone who has used them in their 944. Anyone? http://www.pulstar.com/

[krystar]

it's all marketing BS to me.

u can't generate a million watts if yer only given 50watts of energy from the coil

[VII]

I'm skeptical as well. I'm interested in those with personal experience using them in their 944 specifically. These plugs have been around for a little while so someone must have tried them out. They have a money back gurantee and since they're so close I could just return them for a quick refund if it didn't live up to my expectations. I may give them a shot if I hear no negative experiences.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I smell B.S.

Stick with Bosch plugs.

If you really want to make a difference with your ignition system you need a wasted spark setup or an MSD, both of which cost a lot of $$$. And frankly unless you're running lots of boost, it doesn't make much difference anyway, you won't realize any appreciable benefit.

[John_AZ]

The DME computer is set for our ignition systems to use a cheap single tip copper plug when it sends a signal to the injectors. The single tip copper plug has a known resistance for an exact fuel burn.

Save the $60. Put it into synthetic transaxle fluid.

John_AZ

[choinga]

NGK BPR7RES...done.

[flash968]

better plugs can make a difference - i don't have any experience with the pulstars, but i can say for certain that the ngk iridiums are far better than the copper plugs

you will see a performance improvement with iridium over the copper, but the real story is how much better they run for longer - these iridium plugs maintain the performance for a lot longer than the stock copper plug - when you change out an iridium plug for a new one, you generally don't see a big gain - when you yank a copper plug, even if you put in a new copper plug, you see improvement - this is because the copper plugs degrade more - you just don't notice it, because it's so gradual

as for being tuned for copper plugs, the systems are not that sophisticated in these cars

the pulstars may well do what they claim on some cars - all cars are not created equal - i know somebody who tested them on front engine porsches against the bosch copper, platinum, and ngk iridium - they went back to the iridium

[VII]

My brothers who are big car/motorcycle guys (built a couple themselves) gave the pulstar plugs a shot and noticed gains in gas mileage but not much else over the irridium plugs they had before. I was interested so I took part in their mpg test and we found after 10 tanks that there was an average gain of about 35 miles per tank (which is roughly 1.5 gallons of extra gas). Dyno results show only slight differences between the irridium and pulstar so either would be fine. One of my brothers decided to go with the pulstar plugs instead of the Denso Irridiums so the Irridiums are up for grabs and will fit the 944. I suppose I'll go with the free plugs for now and see what happens.

Still looking for someone with personal experience with the plugs that is willing to comment.

[krystar]

do a comparison of fresh denso's vs fresh pulstars.

don't compare pulstars to your old plugs. cause of course that's gonna make a difference.

[VII]

I have some cheapo plugs in now so either should be an improvement. I'll post results if I get around to it but it will take some time and I should work out other bugs before really giving it a shot.

[fast924S]

Save the Money, Get copper plugs and Buy a MSD unit. Im running a MSD digitial 6 plus. and a Blaster 2 coil. I gap my plugs a little bigger too.

http://www.msdpower.com/download/6520.pdf

http://www.summitracing.com/search/Brand/MSD-Ignition/Product-Line/MSD-Digital-6-Plus-CD-Ignitions/?autoview=sku

http://www.msdignition.com/Products/Coils/Stock_Replacement/8202_-_Blaster_2_Coil_Hi-Performance.aspx

[John_AZ]

Go for it! $60.
The Pulstar plug has a faster/quicker/rapid spark.

flash968 was correct, our DME computer is not sophisticated to adjust for this. It likes the slow copper electrode

In newer cars with advanced electronics they may increase performance.



My 2 cents and $50 in my pocket.

John_AZ

[fast924S]

From that chart. I dont think its worth it. Your only gaining like .25HP not even a full HP from the peak Iridium and 2.94HP over stock plugs. DOesnt say where in the HP range and ITS PEAK HP, all that means is one spot on the dyno chart hit 205HP. Id love to see the actual CURVE of the dyno chart and if it changed. I bet you wont even feel 3hp PEAK difference. Plus those dyno numbers are soo close a lot may just be dyno error

[flash968]

having tested other plugs, on multiple 968s, which has essentially the same electronics, copper has always come in dead last in performance - it has nothing to do with the DME either - the DME has no idea what plug is in there, and makes no adjustments for anything related to them - it doesn't prefer one over the other either - it only tells the car when to fire and how much fuel to provide - the plug essentially determines how long and how completely it burns the fuel - you can read all about this though on sparkplugs.com

the chart above is similar to what you will see - basically a 2hp increase with iridium over copper, but the real story is the torque gain - the tests i've heard about with the pulstar were on a 968 and showed a small peak gain over the iridium, but actually a worse overall curve

for any car i wanted performance out of, i'd buy iridium - i would NEVER buy copper - that is very old technology, doesn't last as long, loses performance quickly, and wastes fuel - the iridium will give you more power for longer - the increased cost washes out against the added life

again, it's not a lot of power, but with your average hyundai beating the crap out of us, we can use every bit we can get

[VII]

Thanks for all the comments fellahs. I'll have to look into the matter. I will put the irridium plugs in the 944 maybe this weekend and try the pulstars in a month or so after I get a feel for the irridium. With a satisfaction gurantee and they're produced locally, returning them for a full refund would not be an issue. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by fast924S

Id love to see the actual CURVE of the dyno chart and if it changed.

Curves can be found here http://www.sparkplugs.com/sparkplug411.asp?kw=SRT%2D4+Dyno+Results&mfid=0 with this one being the pulstar plugs http://www.sparkplugs.com/glossaryImage.asp?imgID=498. Nothing too amazing but every little bit counts I suppose.

[HondaDustR]

+1 on the iridiums. They last a long time. The center electrode on standard copper plugs rounds off so quickly. Only exception would be the Denso iridium power plugs with the 0.9mm center electrode for a more focused spark and less flame blockage, but it claims it only lasts about 30,000 miles, but I end up changing out the plugs about that time no matter what they look like.

I have also been curious about the pulstars, but never wanted to cough up the $100 for a set. The technique is believable...it uses an inductor coil and a capacitor (i think) to increase the voltage and shorten the duration of the spark, which supposedly makes a hotter spark. It's not pulling energy out of thin air, but cleverly condensing it into a shorter but more concentrated delivery. I remember because we were working on inductors in 2nd year engineering physics at the same time I first found out about them. Some of the calculations we did definitely proved something like that is possible with the right inductor. How big of a difference it will ultimately make will be highly dependant, but I bet it would be especially ideal for high boost/compression applications. They would probably work a bit better with a more powerful ignition system to start with.

[choinga]

From a metallurgic standpoint, copper is a better conductor than platinum is. Pretty much the only purpose for platinum plugs, AFAIK, is for economical reasons. Platinum plugs last longer and would therefore not have to be changed as often. In old cars like ours that don't have the best OEM ignition setups, platinum plugs can sometimes cause spark related problems. I've experienced this with my 951 as well as quite a few other cars. Generally, newer cars tend to have much better and more efficient ignition systems, such as coil on plug setups. Because of this, they can generally run larger gaps, less conductive plugs (platinum), etc as they tend to have a much cleaner and better spark than an old car might. This is really the main argument against platinum plugs. To be honest, our cars really don't have all that great of a stock ignition system. On top of that, considering they are forced induction, it is even more important that you get the best spark possible. Upgrades like a hotter ignition coil, MSD box, etc all improve on this and allow you to run a wider gap, platinum plugs, etc even in a 951. If parts of your stock ignition aren't in the greatest shape, I'd be willing to bet that you'd see ignition problems and misfiring when running platinum plugs. Copper is cheap and widely available, so I'd just stick with copper plugs unless your stock ignition is in perfect shape and/or you've done any ignition upgrades.

How many of us are really going 15k+ miles without changing the plugs? I've stayed with the NGK 7ES's and change them every time I do the oil which is around 3-4k miles. It takes 10 minutes and costs me $25.

That being said, there are also some benefits with platinum/iridium plugs, especially for high hp/high performance applications. Platinum has a fairly high melting point, iridium electrodes are relatively small and require much less of a voltage drop, etc etc.

Here's a good page for more spark plug info: Link

[John_AZ]

This link works for me:
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/SparkPlugData.htm

I like the USMC M37 military restoration! http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/

Nice work.

GL
John_AZ