I currently have the Bosch Platinum 4+ plugs, but they are getting to be 2 years old (in a smoking car... so prob not doing much!), and I haven't heard much good about them.

So, I'm looking for reccommendations for the best plugs. Here are my mods, so you can figure out whats the best!

My drivetrain mods include:
Hypertech Stage II chip
Custom 3" y pipe and cat back (gutted cat)
Tilton mini starter
Centerforce flywheel
American Thunder series Flowmaster
Accel high voltage cap and rotor
Taylor 8.8mm plug wires
Accel Supercoil
Dual K&N air filters
Centerforce Dual Friction clutch/disk
Centerforce throwout bearing
TPIS throttle body airfoil
TPIS throttle body billet plate
MAF screen delete
Throttle body coolant bypass
Airbox cutout
Aluminum driveshaft
Eaton 3:08 posi
B&M short throw shifter
160 degree thermostat

 

Looks like a stock motor to me.

I'd recommend the stock plugs; AC/Delco R45TS. Or, you could step up to the AC/Delco Rapidfires if you want.

Might not be a bad idea to deal with the smoking issue. Could be something as simple cheap and easy as valve guide seals.

 

I was hoping as so, but I think it's rings. The motor's got 198,000 on it! Even if I rebuilt the heads... I'd probably blow the bottom end!

 

worth every penny

 

Stick with plain jain delcos.

 

So no Splitfires, Platinums, etc? What purpose do they serve then?

Also, my motor seems to run hot... should I get one # hotter plugs?

 

They lighten your wallet. The heat range of the plug has nothing to do with the coolant temperature.

 

I'd avoid spending extra money on "gimmick" plugs. They provide little if any benefit.

"Run hot" has nothing directly to do with the plugs. I'd suggest looking at your cooling system... a better water pump, specifically a Stewart; clean out the radiator; make sure there's no leaves and stuff between the A/C condenser and the rad; make sure your lower air dam is intact.

 

The radiator is recent (have a Be Cool one on the way finally though!) There are no leaves, I have all my ducting... maybe a weak water pump? I don't know. Sitting in traffic with both fans on leaves me right at the middle of the temp gauge. Luckily the second I start moving it does all the way back down to about a 1/4" from the beginning of the gauge.

I just figured that the overheating was hurting the lower temp plugs. They are kinda whitened... so I figured I should get the next step up.

 

That's not overheating. Don't worry about it. It's only about 215°.

The factory fan switch doesn't even turn the fan on until over 230° (in other words, in GM's eyes, the engine needs no cooling until that temp), and turns it back off at about 210-215° (in other words, it needs no further cooling once the temp goes that low). The point you describe that it goes down to when you move, is basically thermostat temp. Overall it sounds like you don't have a "run hot" problem at all, everything is doing exactly what it always does.

My car does exactly the same thing. If I leave it sitting idling, the gauge will go up near the red, the fan will turn on, the gauge will come down to a little below center, the fan will turn off, the temp will slowly climb again, the fan will turn on, the temp will fall, ...... until the car runs out of gas. Once it get smoving again, I can literally watch the pointer move downward, to just at the first mark (thermostat temp).

And that won't have anything at all to do with plug coloring or heat range. Plug heat range has to do with how fast or slow the tip of the plug conducts heat to the shell (the tip needs to run several hundred degrees hotter than the engine castings). Color has to do with mixture and presence of oil.

 

Hmm, so it's not my motor temp (which, btw, is awesome to hear is normal!) so possibly the "Super coil"? I can't imagine that to be all that better than stock, let alone enough to heat my plugs up!

So, AC/Delco Rapidfires? Sounds good to me! Those aren't $6 each like these dumb Bosches are they?

 

No, I think they're about $2-3. I forget.... that's what I usually run, but I don't pay any attention to how much they cost. It hardly matters if you know what I mean.... gotta have em, so I just get em and pay the bill.

From your description there's nothing worng with your plugs as far as heat or any of that. They should be a light grey or tan, to near white, if all is well. If they don't look blistered or melted or coated with something that looks melted on, and as long as the motor isn't detonating, they're not too hot.