ok these bosh platnium 4's seem intruging but anyone had any problems with them. i dont want to hear moms brothers dads thing. only direct problems??? has anyone had any postive experience with these??? are they really worth the money?

also whats the best wire set?? are they all the same?

i have a 89 camaro iroc-z with the 5.7 tpi L98

 

A general consensus of this forum will tell you:
1) Bosch sucks.
2) multiple electrode plugs are a waste of money
3) platinum electrodes suck because you can't clean them


I say get some standard $0.89 AC Delcos.

 

Yep, AC Delco plugs are the way to go. They are cheap and effective, and don't have useless multiple electrodes. If anything, you can gap the plugs a little bigger if you have a high output coil and wires.

As far as wires go, I have used both MSD and Taylor. The only reason I switched was because I wanted black wires, and the MSD wires were red. You probably wouldn't notice much of a difference between the two. They're both good products.

 

Yup, for our cars with HEI distributors, the delco's and similar plugs are the best way to go.

Platinum plugs conducts electricity better that the delcos. However, as the condoctivity goes up, so does the rate of corrosion. So as you put the high energy of the HEI through them, the conduct it better, but they corrode faster, becoming a foul plug sooner. Newer cars get away with them lasting a long time is they dont run the HEI setups like we do.

Get the delcos and get pplugs designed for OUR cars.

 

Exactly correct. Platinum is the best conductor out there but since our ignition systems produce so much juice they tend to fould out very quickly.

 

so thats why my rapidfires didn't last so long...

which would be the best ac delco plugs to get, because i know they sell a few different types at discount auto/napa/etc

 

How many miles did you get out of your RapidFires? What engine?

thanks,
phil

 

i just went in told them i need delco plugs for an 88 IROC with a 350. they gave me 8 plugs, i gapped them per recommendation

 

This post was total and complete mis-infomation. Platinum is NOT the best conductor out there, silver is. The reason for the use of platinum is exactly the opposite of what Stekman said; longevity. The platinum doesn't errode as fast as plain plugs, therefore they have the POTENTIAL to last longer, assuming you don't FOUL them out from and improper A/F ratio.

HEI has NOTHING to do with fouling out the plugs, and actually, it helps PREVENT fouling! Further more, all late model cars have "HEI", they just don't call it that anymore, because it isn't "high energy" compared to everything else that's currently out there, anymore. The coil in an '87 Camaro is no better, or "Higher Energy" than the coil in a '98 truck.

Platinum tipped plugs are one of the reasons newer GM vehicles can go "100,000 miles w/o a tuneup". Directly opposite of ehat Stekman said, the platinum points don't errode as fast as standard ones, so the plug maintains it's proper gap for a much longer period of time.

Do they improve performance? No.
Are they worth it? IMO, No but lets to the math...

Let's base this on a "modern EFI vehicle" and say with platinums it can go 100,000K with out a change. With standard plugs, you can go, what? About 35,000? So in 100,000 miles you'd chage them about three times. What's a Standard AC cost? ~$1.50? Times that by three, then by eight cylinders. We have ~$36.00 bux.

Now w/the platinums in this hypothetical situation, you change them once at 100,000K. At, what are they, ~$5.25? That's 5.25x8=$42.00 bux. Maybe these prices aren't accurate but you can figure it out.

If you add in labor for your time, it looks like the platinums WILL save some money, depending on what your time is worth. I don't have a problem changing my plugs though. As for Platinum +4's I dislike the FOUR ground electrodes, as IMO, they shroud the spark from the mixture.

In the end, they are only "worth it" if you get the miles out of them, but definitely not for the performance increase, because there is none.

 

i bought the rapid fires because i thought my plugs needed to be changed. right away i lost the bog that i used to have off the hole. then i decided to raise my fp and forgot to turn it down... the end results were that i gas washed my rings and fouled my 35$ plugs i'd rather get cheap plugs just incase they end up getting fouled again, i won't be so pissed that i ruined a set of expensive plugs.

but on another note...the car ran great with them

 

Just installed some Bosch Plantimum 4's the other day. No problems with them yet.

Contrary to what has been said in this thread, I have heard many good things about Bosch's on this website. That's why I bought them.

 

A friend of mine owns his own garage. He has owned it for over 10 years, so naturally he has worked on many GM cars. He says that the best for GMs are always AC Delco plugs. That fancy stuff is cool, but the good old style plugs are the way to go.

 

Perhaps your buddy gets a discount from GM, eh?

It is NONSENSE to say platinum plugs foul with HEI ignitions! I'm into my third year of year round driving my 86 Camaro with Bosch single prong platinums. This is in western Canada, where it gets a darn site colder than the US.

Not once have I had a fouled plug. And they don't cost $5 a pop. I paid around $3 Canadian apiece for mine.

 

I second that. There is nothing special about an AC that makes it work better than any other standard style plug. A Motorcraft brand plug would work equally well.


Not for Platinum +4's. I just called and they're $5.99 USD each as a NAPA store in SLC. That's about $8 bux in Canadian $. You must have the basic platinum plug (Which I would pick over the "+4" anyway).

 

oh yeah fogot to mention buy a bosh o2 sensor, and 4 platnium 4+ plugs and get a $20 gas card. they seem almost paied for to me :-)

 

Well I've had the +4's in my '91 L98 Corvette engine for close to 3 years and I love them. They are still performing like they were new. I have taken them out to inspect them and they show absolutely no wear at all! I usually race once a month on weekends and also use the same car as my daily driver, or should I say I did.

I am in the process of swapping my ZZ572 cid 620hp and a whole bunch of suspension mods and let me tell you changing plugs was hard enough with the Corvette L98 engine with headers. These are the plugs that will (that are in my ZZ572 right now.

All you so called pro advisors out there do the math! Keep changing your .89 cent AC's everyother weekend and before you know it your cost per plug for the year is much greater than what us +4 users spent one time back say 3 years ago.

Hey some people hate to try something their dad's or uncle told them was no good or a waste of money so they bad mouth that product or item until they try it themselfs and realize they were lied to!

Just one 3rd gen's opinion!

 

Tom 400 CFI is the *** of this thread :hail:

 

finally someone with experience....this thread has been almost usless...i thought i said only people who have used them...not based on knowledge....plugs a plug.....it has 4 prongs on it maybe not more hp....but probably a better spark....im going to buy some ac delco's for 89C and platnium 4's i will have 2 spark plug wires out..and let the engine rip....and see visually which one has a better spark.

 

I've run the same +4's in my ride for 4 years now with absolutely no problems. If they get a bad reputation for fouling, I don't know why. When mind do need replacing, I'll be putting some +4's in again.

 

Absolutely!

Although I love working on my car I do not love to have to change the spark plugs! I think it wise to find a plug you can rely on. I as one of many I'm sure are satisfied and that's all I have to say about this!

Keep on wrenching Bro's!

 

I spend 50 bucks for my +4's and combined with my blaster coil fouled out in 2000 miles. I think I could have reused one of them if I was lucky. I base my opinion on more than science alone.

 

Accel U Groove Plugs work great as do the regular old AC Delco plugs. The Delco rapid fires are nice also.

The Iridium Plugs are supposed to conduct better than Platinum. "Denso" Iridium Spark Plugs for example.

http://www.densoiridium.com/index.php?flash=1

 

Speaking of changing plugs, how the hell do you get to the plugs near the back of the motor? I can't even get my hands back there, let alone be able to change a plug. Do you have to go in from under the car????

speaking of plugs, I have Rapidfires in my IROC, but I've just been buying Autolite Platinums for the wife's and caregiver's cars at Wally's. They seem to work just fine.

Question - Who makes an 8 mm custom cut wire set for our cars? Taylor? Do you have to replace all the looms? The stock wires are 7 mm.

Tanks mon.

 

yea you have to go from underneath for the back ones

 

I've had platinum +4's in my 88 sc for a little over a year now, they're doing just as good now as they did when I put them in.

mind you, they replaced stock ac delco plugs(3 of which were broken when removed) and at the time I also replaced the wires with bosch, and mallory cap and rotor with brass inserts...

...no gain, whatsoever.

so I can't really say if they're any good or not, but as long as my oil's nice and new, i have no bogging or lag or anything of the sort, they're pretty nice plugs.