Ok, this is looooong overdue! Splitfire, the most hated, misunderstood, "gimmick" spark plug of ALL TIME, lol, is NOT a gimmick. It's for real, and it works very well.

There's little reading on these forums that's more entertaining than a great spark plug debate--except for maybe a synthetic/dino oil debate, LOL! I read them and laugh, but I rarely say much about anything specific. But it can get pretty silly sometimes, so the time to speak-up has come--to end the silliness people think and say about Splitfires, especially because most who trash them have never even tried them. So sorry for the length of what's to follow.

First of all, this is from MY REAL EXPERIENCE with Splitfires--and other plugs. It's not gossip heard from my uncle's wife's sister's boyfriend's best-friend who's a rocket scientist at Boeing, which seems to be how most people get their information.

Also, I'm not saying your spark plug doesn't work. In fact, this whole thing came about because ALL of the spark plugs debated DO work. Ask Transamman87 about his +4s. They work great for him--and for others too. But it's getting very old to hear the trash that people talk about the new plugs, particularly, Splitfires. So ok...

Between my daily driver and my Formula, I've tried all the Bosch plugs(regular platinums, +2 and +4); "good old" AC Delco, NGK, and Splitfire. They ALL work just fine. Common sense should tell you that these plug manufacturers are NOT going to risk their names by marketing a "gimmick" product. They KNOW what they're doing. And there's something called PROGRESS that promotes change, which is a GOOD THING. So no worries.

The multi-electrode plugs seem to provide a better-burning, smoother-running engine at idle than a basic plug, and economy is a bit better too. But in responsiveness and at speed, I didn't notice much difference in performance, maybe a little smoother there too. So if one intrigues you, don't be afraid to try it. It'll be fine. At worst, you won't notice any difference. But at best, you might leave everyone looking at your taillights. Either way, no harm done.

But the Splitfire stands alone with me as the ONE spark plug that I've noticed REAL improvements in BOTH fuel economy AND performance/power in BOTH my cars. So believe what you want, but don't tell me what you've "heard" or "think" unless you can back it up with your own "seat-of-the-pants-dyno," lol. And to those of you who'll insist it's my imagination, LOL, I've said before, I've sat in THIS driver's seat for 17 years, and I've accumulated an obscene amount of miles that you couldn't even imagine. I KNOW my car and how it responds. You DON'T.


Some things people on these forums have said about Splitfires are:

They're a "gimmick" or "exotic." LOL, no. They're constructed as simply as any "good old" basic spark plug--except for the V-electrode. But I don't go for the platinums. All platinum plug manufacturers say they require LESS voltage. So I take that as a warning that MORE voltage could be a bad thing--not that I've experienced any problems before knowing that, lol. So even the platinums should be fine.

"You don't gap them." Umm, of course you gap them. If you didn't, then it's no wonder they didn't work for you.

"You can't use them with high-performance ignitions." The Splitfire was practically MADE with high-performance ignitions in mind! Mine is way over stock, and they work perfectly. But any ignition will do, as both my cars have proven.

But here's a legitimate problem that might've caused mediocre results for some people who've tried Splitfires... AutoZone(one of the only stores to still carry them) and online stores like Sparkplugs.com(who're really nice people, btw) list the wrong plug for our TPIs. They list the SF2E as the general plug for 5.0 liters, which fits, but it's too hot for the TPI. I talked to Splitfire on the phone about this before I ever installed them in my Formula, so I never had this problem. So I use the colder SF2D, which Splitfire DOES recommend for the TPI. And for my high-voltage ignition, I've gapped them at .040 instead of the spec'd .035(again, with consultation from Splitfire), and they're awesome!


And here's my final point as to how you know Splitfires REALLY PERFORM--they're bad-mouthed by the competition! Think about that... "Goliaths" don't call-out "Davids." What would be the point? What's to gain? He'd be wasting his time--UNLESS he feels a genuine threat. You don't hear Lennox Lewis talking smack about some "nobody" and screaming to fight him, do you? Of course not. But some of Splitfire's competitors and plug wire manufacturers have "trashed" Splitfires, saying things like... "don't be fooled by...," or "the ads are..." And here on these forums, it's "they're gimmicks," or "they're bs." HAHA! Why would they bother attacking if they feel no threat? They wouldn't. And it's certainly not for retaliation, because Splitfire doesn't provoke or smack anyone. It just makes and sells its product.

So if you're still here my friends, lol, Splitfires are REAL! Stay living in denial if you'd like, but they work, no matter what you WANT or CHOOSE to believe. I hope the few of you who use and like them won't be afraid to admit it. You KNOW, and I KNOW.

 

Sonds like a parallel to the old "Hairclub for men" commercial.
I'm not just a client, but possibly the owner, stock holder or employee.

 

HAHA, no. I'm not affiliated in anyway--just a big fan of a commonly-misunderstood and wrongfully-trashed product. And I originally had a disclaimer like that in there to let people know I'm in no way affiliated, but it was already soooo long, that I removed it(I think--was it in there? ). I still go back and edit all the time to try to condense it anyway I can, LOL. You should've seen how long it was before I put it up.

I didn't expect many, or even any, responses to this anyway. But people have always been curious about Splitfires, so I figured they'd at least view this. And that's happening. And if a few actually DO say something, then others might too. But at least they're looking, and that's what's important.

 

I'm a member of the "silent majority" (thread lurkers) who is interested in any debate that may arise. I must admit my only experience with them was when my best friend put them in his '87 Cavalier 4 banger in the early '90's. He didn't have any luck with them and had to swap them out. But, hey, that was a long time ago and only one try. I stick to AC Delco and NGK presently...but am always interested in what runs well with others.

 

Wow, one of each generation--nice! You could start your own museum, lol. Still have all those?

Too bad about your friend's experience though. But I understand, one bad time, and it's hard to want to try again. Since some have had problems, I can only assume they're not gapping them very accurately or consistently. Either that, or like the incorrect plug listed for our TPIs, back when Splitfires came out, maybe stores just weren't listing/selling correct part numbers. Because other than that, it's just a spark plug like any other.

But the debates on these forums can get pretty fun, huh?

Ok, I'm off to bed, lol. And it's gonna be sunrise for you very shortly!

 

Great, but why post all that? I think if you just use a little common sense and understand the basic design of a spark plug and how current travels you can choose a good spark plug for yourself. As for me, I won't be buying any splitfires.

 

You're exactly right, none of that should had to have been said. But from reading all the silly stuff people say about Splitfires, or any other "different" plug, how they're "bs" or "won't work" for whatever reason, it's pretty clear that MANY people who speak-out don't have much common sense, lol.

I'm not trying to change your mind, or anyone else's mind who has a favorite. But some people want to hear about different products, and if they don't hear accurate information, that negative crapola can frighten them away from something good. So just because you and I know it's crapola, many don't.

Here's an example of what's happened: A couple of months ago during another 'great spark plug debate' on these forums, someone actually got scared about having Splitfires in his engine because of the nonsense that was said, and he took them out. Most of the quotes in my initial post were from that exact forum debate. He let all that crapola scare him, and I have no doubt that others were scared of them from that and other debates too.

So these forums DO have influence, and something like that shouldn't have happened. People who speak-out about Splitfires don't just say they don't like them, they'll ATTACK them--which is funny too, because they've probably never even tried them and know nothing about them, LOL. That's why I posted this.

 

No slam about splitfires since they work as good as most 1.99 plugs on the shelf.
Any NEW plug will exibit an improvement over a short period. Then they're all back on the same playing field.
Multi tip plugs only fire one tip at a time, not 2 or 4, so no real benefit other than maybe a little longer life from erosion.
Solid platinum plugs such as Bosch are good for a stock ignition and really shouldn't be used with aftermarket boxes such as MSD or Mallory.
Claims of horsepower gains and the ability of leaping tall buildings with a single bound need to be backed up with papers as in dyno pulls or time slips from a track.
Butt dyno's hold no credibility.

 

I agree entirely with AM Racer

 

I agree with AM also




AND I HAVE USED SPLITFIRES and never will again, I was half way through a tune up and had to leave in the car.........NONE OF THE SPLITFIRES fired, none of the four I installed, I was outragged and returned all of them

 

Hi. I hope everyone had a nice Easter. Too much food here, lol.

The point of the multi-electrode plug and a Splitfire isn't to make it fire on more than one tip at a time, which it obviously can't. It's to provide better exposure of the center electrode and spark for better combustion, which should and DOES provide better response and better fuel economy.

Most of the other manufacturers followed-suit with its own performance plug to accomplish similar results, but each with a different approach. If it didn't work, I doubt any of them would've marketed such a product.

But as far as I know, none of the companies claim any hp gains. Some have said you MIGHT see hp gains, but they've never said you WILL. In theory, exposing the center electrode will, or could, show a slight increase in hp. But it takes major exposure, like cutting back the ground electrode almost completely, to accomplish that. And these plugs aren't that drastic. Plus, it would probably take an additional combination of jet fuel and one heckuva powerful ignition, lol.

As for plugs losing some performance as they age, there would be a number of variables that contribute to that, such as metal(copper, platinum, silver, etc.), ignition, general tuning, mileage, change interval, etc. But if you keep everything operating at peak and change the plugs at a "normal" interval, the better plug to begin with will likely still be the better plug when you remove it. And again, that's what I've experienced.

In changing from an old set of Splitfires to a new set of Splitfires, I've experienced no noticeable change in performance. However, when I went from an old set of Splitfires to a new set of +2s, I noticed a slight decrease in performance. Then going from the +2 to the +4, I noticed no change in performance(actually, I think the +2 is a bit better than the +4). And whenever I've changed back to Splitfire, I've noticed an increase again. So if you keep everything running well, plug performance won't decrease significantly at a "normal" change interval.

Between all my cars, I rack up about 50,000 miles a year, so I change plugs often--but probably still not as often as most. And I'm the original owner of ALL my cars, so I know where they've been and how they've been treated. And their performance decreases very little from change to change. In fact, my first change of Splitfire to Splitfire was after 60,000 miles--non-platinums. That current set was still performing so well that I really didn't want to change them. But I figured I should, so I did.

But anyway, the two of you(well, three now, lol) are doing exactly what people here have always done. You're theorizing on what you THINK and not what you know from experience with Splitfires. That and the fact that people will say they won't work at all, or they'll provide poor performance(when they haven't even tried the plug), is why I wrote this thead to begin with. If they tried them and experienced poor performance, it probably wasn't the plug's fault, or they had an incorrect part number. But it was likely human error during installation, OR their cars had other problems besides plugs. So whatever you've had to say is moot and irrelevent.

But regardless, I've defended my position against all of your "opinions" with facts and evaluation from my actual, real use. So I'll say thanks for allowing me to provide a lot more information than I had originally. Happy Easter, guys.

 

Sorry Vic, I don't buy it.

 

How did you provide us with any facts or useful information? All you said was they worked. Big whoop, ofcourse they work, because like you said, if they didn't they would not sell them. If you are trying to somehow prove that they are better than another type of plug then prove us how, otherwise this entire thread is pretty useless.

 

I've been polite about all of this, so if you're reading "attitude," then it's probably because you've got an "attitude." Nothing I've said has been rude or offensive to anyone--not even to Vic. I could've said a lot worse, but I was simple and direct without using any personal insults.

But this thread isn't useless at all. I not only want to show that they work, and work well, but also that many of you are either misinformed, or you're simply liars. I had no intention of trying to reach those like YOU. I'm trying to reach those who are negatively-influenced by or easily-intimidated by those like YOU.

 

Wow, anyways. Noone ever said they didn't work at all. They simply said they weren't the best. You are saying you are presenting facts, but in actuality it's all opinion. Let me get this right, since you put them in and they actually worked, hmmm, amazing, a spark plug that sparks:lala:, anyone else who doesnt have something good to say about them is wrong or is lying? Vic used em and said he had problems, you used em and think they're great. Do you have dyno graphs to back up your opinions? Do you have some way of testing them to show that they produce more spark? It looks like you are the one writing pages of pure opinion and struing them as facts and wanting to argue and get "attitude" with anyone who thinks otherwise. It's great that they worked for you, but please stop the nonsense. It's just a spark plug. Like I said before, if you use a little common sense and have a basic knowledge of how a spark plug works and current travels you can choose for yourself. I think I do, and will not be using split fires.

 

Believe me or not. I don't really care. Because like I said, I'm not trying to reach you. If I hadn't already had several years of experience with Splitfires, I too would be afraid of them after reading all the crap I've read on these boards. So I'm sure others are probably afraid of them, and they shouldn't be. THEY are the people this is meant for. You're the one who decided to challenge it.

But I'm a waste of your time, so you're welcome to move on at anytime. There are many other topics that I'm sure would interest you more. All you're doing is making this one appear more active by increasing the number of replies, lol.

As for Vic, IF he even tried them, and IF that actually happened to him, then it definitely sucks, for sure. I'd have been very upset too, so I'd genuinely have felt bad for him. But it sure seems like there's gotta be more to his situation than just that, because things like that just don't happen. I find it hard to believe, but I won't say it CAN'T happen. If it did, then it was obviously a very unique, fluke thing that could've happened with any company's product.

So have a nice night. I'm off to bed. And since I'm on the west coast, I'm sure it's gotta be very very late for you too.

 

actually, when splitfires first came out they said you would see a gain.. later on someone tossed a class action lawsuit on them and they lost.. ended up paying alot of people back for the plugs...





my only firsthand experiance with splitfires is with dirtbikes... and they seem to foul easier then NGKs... *shrug*

as long as you dont run them with nitrous, you can run any multi electrode/platinum/gold/ect plug you want..

 

Good morning Mr. Dude. I've found you to be one of the more respectable 'posters' on these forums, so it's nice to hear from you.

I'm not a big news event follower, so I don't know anything about the lawsuit you mentioned. But, and this was a long time ago so I might be remembering this inaccurately, when Splitfires first came out, it seemed like their slogan was something like, "you could see gains of up to 5 hp just by installing these plugs." If that's correct, the key word there is "could." "You COULD see...," not "you WILL see..." I know that's splitting hairs, but when it comes to legal matters, splitting hairs is necessary if you're trying to sue for something someone said.

I'd certainly not have tried to sue because I wouldn't have interpretted that as a guarantee. And for $30 worth of product, unless someone had experienced some major damage or loss of life due to the use of the plug, which I doubt, then it would seem to be to just another frivolous law-suit in which to gain money and damage a reputation--a "conspiracy," if you will, lol. Because, seriously, don't people have better things to do with their time???

But I wouldn't be surprised, in this sue-happy time, that someone could be sued and lose simply for having implied that such a thing is even possible. And like I said, I'm not 100% on that, but I respect your comments.

I've never experienced a fouling problem--even with that set of non-platinums that I had in for 60,000 miles. But I've also never experienced a fouling problem with any brand plug I've used either, not just the Splitfires. But I agree with your *shrug*, due to different variables there's no guarantee against fouling with any plug.

But I'll tell you, when I pulled that first plug out, I had my free hand over my eyes, LOL. I was terrified to see what its condition would be! But it and all were in excellent condition, which explains why the car was still running so well. So I was very impressed.

Thanks, Dude.

 

me?! respectable?! lol..

here, i dug up a page on the splitfire lawsuit thing real quick:
http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/l...dex.html#split

its only the first thing i found on a google search... but theres also a few other intresting reads on the same page.

 

That was some FUNNY reading--ALL of those cases on the link!!! The author obviously has a good sense of humor. Thanks Dude.

It sure seems like everything that's necessary to say could be said with sooooo much less legal mumbo-jumbo. But as for the Splitfire suit, that was as close to a victory for Splitfire as was possible. The only people who scored off of it were the attorneys, lol.

So naturally, everyone settles, lol, which I don't like. But that's always the least expensive way to go in the long run. Otherwise, the attorney and court fees just keep escalating--A LOT and very quickly.

The funniest part was the settlement to the individuals--free and discounted Splitfires, LOL! If that was acceptable, then I guess the plaintiffs didn't really dislike the product very much, did they? Strange world, lol.

I was once involved in an accident, NO damage(ok, a small scratch on the bumper cover) to the other person's vehicle, the other driver was not injured at all, which she even admitted in front of another witness. But about a week later, my company got sued for injury, medical bills, major damage, etc. It was all crapola just to make a buck. I was furious about it, and I tried and tried to get the insurance company to fight it. But they wouldn't. When you start adding up all the legal fees, it's less expensive to simply arrive at a settlement.

Thanks again Dude.

 

personally I have splitfires in my car, I don't know if it helps or not but I find it hard to belive it would hurt. like people have said, they know what they are doing making spark plugs or they would not be in business. just my own opinion

 

TRUST ME, I'm not lying one bit, the plugs were sent back to split fire (through auto zone), at first I figured I screwed up (i was 18 at the time) but the mechanics at work checked them out, I even had the new wires on them

And no i didn't try the other four, they probably would have fired, but even so, I will not spend money on a brand that has quality issues (even if I'm the only person here that had a problem)

 

That's cool Vic. **** definitely happens. But we never think much about that until it actually happens to US, lol. If something like that were to happen to me the first time I tried a product, I probably wouldn't try it again either.

But hey, we have something in common. The very first time we each changed our own spark plugs, we each installed Splitfires. Funny though how we had completely opposite results, lol See ya 'round the boards Vic.

And to red90bird, I see you haven't been here long, so welcome to the boards. As you've already seen, it can get pretty interesting around here sometimes, lol.

 

LOL, what a way to look at it

BTW, I must say you are the nicest guy to 'argue' with

 

 

On a 300 RW hp mustang 5.0 with edelbrock heads on our dynojet a huge variety of plugs was tested ($200 worth including iridiums). The winners were the autolite nascar plugs and the bosch +4 plugs. max from worst to best was less than 10 hp and 10 ft lbs.

On a side note, a well tuned and built 440 (engine by RMC engines somewhere in canada) made 500 RW hp and massive torque and would lose 100 hp if any plug other than accel U grooves or the NGK U grooves were put in it (we still don't know why to this day).

Our verdict on splitfires was that other than tiny little engines, at any altitude above 4000 feet the don't work worth a crap. I don't have an answer why but by checking with the regional manager at autozone a few years back told me they have a 99% return rate in the rocky mountain region. He offered no explaination and splitfire denys any such phenomenon (big surprise.) If I lived at sea level again I would definitely try them again. but who wants to pull thier plugs to drive to the mountains?

 

Hey! Let me catch-up, lol!

To Vic, LOL

To AM Racer, I never said your NGKs weren't good plugs. I think all the plugs are good. That's one reason I posted all this. Not only Splitfires had been getting bad raps, but so were the +4s, which work well too--just not as good as Splitfires from my experience with them.

But since you mention it, the very first time I tried Splitfires, they followed a set NGKs. And the Splitfires were HUGELY better. The car took off like a rocket by comparison. And no, I didn't expect that. I was shocked.

And ok, ok, racing fuel. I knew what I meant, lol.

Cool about your Rambler too! I bet that turns heads, huh? Got any pix of it?

And to B4Ctom1, it's kind of ironic that you'd mention all that because I live about 70 miles north of LA, and I used to drive over a 4000-5000 foot mountain range everyday to get there. No problems... ever--not in any of my cars, including my Formula either, which hardly qualifies as a tiny engine. I'd turn "circles" around everyone, lol, and I loved it!

And I "play" with my cars in those mountains too. The range goes up to about 6000 feet, and I've been there too. It's the only place I can get away from traffic and the police--usually, lol. So dyno testing is all nice, but it doesn't always reflect real-world performing. Similar to what you said about the NGKs and the Accels, some things just can't be explained, I guess.

But any car's "tuning" can change at high altitudes. So I'd think the differences could be for a number of reasons besides plugs. But again... strange.

 

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/Rwh120A/ambo+burnout.gif

 

Cool, thanks. Great pic! Oh, I forgot to see if I can see you in there, lol. I'll look again.

Your sig said AMC, but it didn't say AMC what. So I was guessing it would be a Javelin or AMX. But I was never expecting a Rambler. I bet others don't either. But don't worry, I wasn't thinking Gremlin, lol, though I've heard those were great for hot rodding, kind of like the Vega was.

Thanks.

 

It's a 69 Ambassador 4 door family sedan 401 powered.

 

Ah, ok. That's why you call it the "barge," lol.

My mom always had AMC cars. I remember there were numbers on the cars, but I had no idea then that it was engine size, lol. Those AMCs, even the small cars(she had a Gremlin), had FREAKING HUGE engines!

I always wanted her to get the AMX. Geez, mom in an AMX!

Have a nice evening AM. I'm off to walk my dog.

 

The 401 was the biggest in the family. They never made a big block.

 

Ok, back.

I THINK the Gremlin's engine was like 4.0 or 4.2--something like that. I'm pretty sure it had a 4 first, lol. Whatever it was, it really was big in that tiny car!

No doubt you surprise a lot of people in your AMC.

 

Me Personally I bought them when they first came out and I thought that they worked really well, well for about a week. This was a 1986 Z28 TPI 305. The car seemed to have better throttle response. I did a complete tune up because the car had a slight hesitation. Installed the plugs and the hesitation wen't away. I was really happy. Then the hesitation was back a week later and I though "Man I can't whip out 45 green backs every week to fix my car." I put the cheaper AC Delcos in there and everything is great. I'm not saying that the AC Delco plugs are better. I would like to try the Spiltfire plugs again, when I do my next tune up.

 

It's something different to torment the imports with including my youngest son with his Mitsu turbo.
He does however have a 91 Firebird.
My oldest son has a 79 Spirit/AMX with a 360.

 

B4Ctom1, another of my playgrounds is "the grapevine." If you're not familiar with SoCal, that's the mountain range that separates the entire LA area from that looooong California central valley. I live just below that range--about 15 minutes from Willow Springs Raceway(if that helps). Those mountains are also high altitude. I LOVE running that!!!

But while I was walking my dog, I was thinking about this Colorado thing, and I thought of something that might be different. Even though we have high altitudes too, maybe because we're so close to the ocean, our air is different?

But then, I've also been across all of Colorado too, and I've never had any problems. And I-70 goes through the 8,000 to 14,000 foot altitudes. So I guess that still doesn't explain it.

I can see why Splitfire can't explain it, because my Splitfires have worked there like anywhere else. So I guess it'll always remain unexplained, lol.

 

My Dad bought Splitfires for his 68 Nova about 8-10 years ago when they were the latest "gimmick" on the market. He still has the same set in his Nova, however he does only put about 200 miles only every summer. But they seem to have no problem in the stock to mild 327 to 100mph trap speeds.

Personally I use regular AC Delco plugs. I haven't had much success with full or platinum tipped plugs, so I stick with copper.

 

Ahh the Grapevine, every time I have been on the grapevine there are cars just scattered all along the side of the road over heated.

 

LOL! So it runs in the family. Cool. My dad was never into cars. And he HATES my Firebird! But I just drove over to Phoenix last week to visit him(he was visiting there from Indiana--where I grew up), and I made him drive the Firebird, lol.

HAHA, it could've been a MasterCard commercial. He's not so great with the clutch, so once we managed to get to third gear, I said, "now, step on it." Well... dad giggling behind the wheel while he pinned us back in our seats was PRICELESS! He'll never complain about my car again, lol.

But at least your son's not ALL "fast and furious," lol, since he's got a Firebird too. The area where I live has a lot of thirdgens and fourthgens, but it's basically "fast and furious" country, lol, complete with flash and sponsorships.

But a V8 rumbling by still turns their heads. It's nice.

 

I KNOW! Isn't that something? That always amazes me. But have you looked at the cars? There's always one or two decent cars, but most make you wonder how they got that far to begin with, lol. At least a few make it to the waterstop locations.

But YAY for your dad, lol.

I haven't had any problems with any of Bosch's platinums, but I prefer the copper too. My Splitfires aren't platinum. I haven't tried the Splitfire platinums. I'm only defending the copper.

 

wow thats alot of claims for a guy that "doesnt" have anything to do with the company. I'm not even talking about my personal experiences, Im talking about face to face testimonials with real life regular and non performance users. The first time I ever even heard of the phenomenon was my neighbor accross the street from me had to pull the splitfires out of his big block GMC on the road side near Donner Summit and reinstall the old plugs which had luckily been discarded in the back of his truck. He put the black used autolites back in and he was able to get on his way again without all the misfire and rough running.

This was just the fist of many stories like this I had heard. More People do returns on splitfires in the rocky mountain region than all other plugs combined! so please, I am happy for your luck. I just wanted to share my flip side of the coin you keep dropping in the juke box that only plays this splitfire song.

 

Glen! That's very strange. But I'm wondering, when you removed your wires to change-out the Splitfires, did it seem like a wire or two(or even more) came off too easily? I'm wondering if a boot popped off.

Splitfires have that smooth porcelain insulator(like Rapidfires--another plug I wanna try), and some boots can be difficult to snap on. So if you didn't get one on snugly, it might've popped off the top. It would still be on the plug itself, but since it's not secure, its contact would be eratic. That would probably cause your running condition.

The boots on my MSD super conductors are extra thick and extremely snug-fitting. I had to be extra careful and very sure that I had them snapped securely on the plug.

It's just a thought. If you try them again sometime, it's something to pay close attention to.

 

HAHA. I just saw your post Tom, and after I responded to Glen's, I was just thinking the same thing and was about to post that too--I'm sure feeling like I work for Splitfire, LOL!

But no, I really don't. But I travel a lot. I grew up in Indiana, where my parents still live. So I drive(because my dog travels with me, lol) to visit them every couple of years. And when I do, I take I-70, which goes right through all those high areas of Colorado. I've never even heard of this problem, and I've sure never experienced it or any problem in that area. I love driving through there. I usually stop for breaks along the river and take walks with my dog.

And my occupations have always been driving--cars, vans, trucks, big-rigs, etc. But OMG, no, I'm not some, well, I better not say that in case there's other truck drivers here that might feel offended. Let's just say I don't look like a truck driver, lol. People are very surprised when they hear that I am, or was. But I only did that for a couple of months. I mainly only wanted to learn to drive them. But I sure saw a lot of the country that I hadn't already seen, lol.

And most of all, my pleasure is driving. I like to get in my cars and GO! That's my fun! Driving... it's what I love to do. I told you I grew up in Indiana. I spent my high school days at the track in May, lol.

And I put miles on my cars! So I know them well--how they feel, how they respond, how they run, etc. That might be why I notice a difference, even the slightest difference, better than someone else might.

And I'm my own "mechanic." I'm not a mechanic though, and I doubt I know even half as much as most people here. But I KNOW my cars and how to work on them.

And I wasn't questioning anything you said. Obviously something unexplainable is going on. But I've not had those or any problems. But what I said about dynos is also true. They're great for statistics and numbers, but that doesn't mean it's all gonna work like that under real operating conditions.

LOL, sorry about all that. I'm sure that was way more than anyone wanted to know about me, lol.

 

Its cool I just thought since this is aftermarket product review that I should add my review of the product as well so that if this happens to someone they know to take them back. I have headrd of plenty of people that had no problem at all and it could have to do with a myriad of things like tune, compression, octane, combustion chamber design etc etc. The guys with motorvycles love them.

You should hear my rant about MSD 6BTM 's and the controversy I uncovered about them on our dyno at the speed shop.

 

Ok, no more posts from me like that long one, I promise, lol.

And is it just me, or are there A LOT more pop-ups hitting us on this site lately?

But Tom, there was ONE time when I was in that area(Colorado or Utah, don't remember), I had my '83 Z28 HO(before my Formula and Splitfires), and I had a serious performance issue to deal with. But it wasn't plug-related, it was octane-related.

Oh yeah, I know, higher altitudes are SUPPOSED to require less octane. But I don't believe that's always true. My cars have seemed to be very octane-sensitive, and so am I when it comes to recognizing it.

I was on a pleasure trip from Indy to LA when my Z started running so BADLY that I was literally scared! I was a kid, alone, "somewhere out there," lol, and my fantastic car was dying on me! The "premium" octane out there was very low! So I filled it with a lot of booster, and it was fine again.

Even my Firebird can get to feeling a bit "queasy" on our 91 octane here in CA. It too was "born" and "raised" in the midwest on much higher octane. And since living out here, I've always had to boost it. But now I've found 100 octane to mix with it, so it's not a problem anymore.

So my personal opinion is that the correlation between octane and altitude is more critical to performance than has always been believed.

 

No! Don't tell me bad stuff about MSD, LOL! I'll get scared, lol. Actually, the only thing MSD I use is the Super Conductor plug wires, and I haven't had any problems with them.

But I've read about a lot of MSD problems from a lot of people, which has surprised me since MSD, unlike Splitfire, is such a BIG name in performance products. So if I foundout what you foundout, I'd probably rant about it too.

 

no the MSD stuff is great! except for that one product and the similar little boxes that come with the vortech supercharger kits for our cars.

Its 6000 feet here in cheyenne and I drove around with a short rod 406 with 13.8 : 1 copression and a huge cam for a few years on 91 pump octane. I tried 87 and it was ok when I tried 85 I found it was not quite enough and finally got detonation. It was just an experiment with a set of very ported 305 heads. The overlap in the cam helped alot Im sure.

I drove it around for a few years until the oil pump pick up fell off of it during a race. It didnt blow to smithereens but it was ruined with spun main and rod bearings I miss it. I once ran by a 12 second 5.0 (both of us on nitrous) at a street race like it was painted on a fence, after my car died on the line after the starter dropped his hands. No BS'ing, I caught him! Atleast my friends witnessed it! I miss that motor.

 

HAHA! That's a great story! That's one of those stories you'll ALWAYS remember. And everytime you talk about it you've probably got a HUGE grin, lol!

Ok Tom, I've gotta get off my @$$ and do something around here, lol. Have a great afternoon.

 

This has been fun and interesting. We've heard some interesting things from some cool people. We've heard about their rides, what they've tried and use, what work's worked for them and what hasn't, but most importantly, we've heard from people who've at least had somekind of real experience with Splitfires, which was my goal here.

Naturally, when you have a product that has worked very well for you(like Splitfires have for me), but you continually hear people without any real experience with it trashing it for whatever reason, you'd probably want to defend that product. So that's what motivated me to put up this thread.

The "bottom line" on spark plugs is obviously that any plug you want to try or use will or, at least, should work. So when you hear people on these forums during spark plug debate topics telling you that some "new" or "different" plug won't work with our cars, don't be intimidated by them. Think for yourself and research the plug you like. Chances are, it WILL work for you, and you'll be happy with it.

But it's time to move on to other topics now. I think we've worn this one out, lol. In the few days this has been up, it's received a lot of viewing, which verified another thing I've always suspected--that people ARE curious about Splitfires. So thanks to everyone who's looked in on this, and especially thanks to those who've replied. It's been fun! See everyone around the forums.

 

man,

the stuff that comes out of my butt is better then splitfire plugs. my dad has been a mechanic for 26 years and he's tried them all and ac delco and ngk is the best kind of plugs.. i tried splitfire plugs in my atv once... ended up rebuilding my motor because the little tab fell off into my cylinder.. splitfire = junk . <-- period