Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

[jwilkey84]

I read about pulstar spark plugs in my field and stream magazine, just wondering if anyone had tried them in a vehicle or boat motor. If so how do they perform? Does anyone know if they can hurt a boat motor? If you are curious go to pulstarplug dot com. The downside is they are $25 each!!

 

[steelespike]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

To this point ,65 years, I haven't seen any plug that improved performance or mileage.There are some plugs out there that last longer than others.
At $100 for 4 plugs they better come with a little guy to start the car for me on cold mornings.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

At $100 for 4 plugs they better come with a little guy to start the car for me on cold mornings.

thanks for the chuckle

I agree, why fix something that is not broken. The champions have worked well in these outboards for years, and is what they were designed to use.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

johnson, evinrude, and gale were and still are built to run on Champion Plugs. over 60 years of history says something.

 

[jwilkey84]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

I see the point of "if it aint broke, dont fix " but I was just wondering if anyone had tried them. Black and white tv is still tv, but i bet everyone in here watches a color tv. my dad tried some halo spark plugs in his van about 8 years ago and they seemed to give him more fuel economy. I was just thinking if these pulse plugs really work like they say they do, would you have as much carbon build up? BTW did any of you actually go to the pulstarplug webpage?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

try them, just telling you what the manufacturer recommends, and has proven itself over the years. many have tried other plugs in the motors, some with good results, others going back to the champion, and the troubles disappearing.

others have put what the competition said was their replacement plug, and cracked a piston because the plug was too long.

 

[kynolan2183]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

Spark plugs .com did their own test on these plugs the results are below.

"The test vehicle was a stock 2005 Dodge Neon SRT-4, provided by Manny Gomez, a member of SRTForums.com (screen
name: hawkable). The test was performed on a Mustang Dyno. We completed three runs for each plug in a cold, warm and
hot state. We then averaged these runs to find the final average horsepower and torque numbers. The results are
based on the vehicle factory-specified gap setting of .050? on the Champion plug and the maximum manufacturer
recommended gap of .045? on the Pulstar plug.

After testing, the Pulstar plug showed an average horsepower increase of 3.03HP and average torque increase of 3.1lb-ft over the stock Champion plug.

All testing performed by Design Craft Fabrication for Sparkplugs.com"

******OK now my 2 cents.

The test engine was a 200 hp engine and they gained 3 hp. That is an increase of 1.5%
The engine is a 2.4 liter turbo charged 4 banger so that is a gain of .75 hp per cylinder. If I used those on my 3 cylinder evinrude 70 hp I would gain (maybe) 2.25 hp.

Thus my top speed might increase by .5 miles an hour for 75 bucks plus shipping.
Remember to go twice as fast on the water you need 3 times to ponies for the same hull design. Now if they came out with a plug that made my engine produce 85 hp and could be used to stun the fish as I rode past then I might be willing to part with 75 bucks.

Kyle

 

[jwilkey84]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

very good, I love the humor. Thanks for the "real" info.

 

[iwombat]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

Shoot, I can get a 4mph increase just by waiting for the right tide. (or not going in the wrong one)

That's FREE.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

Also just to note, the NGK website claims the same things. That is not to discredit NGK, i use them personally in my VW.

However, tried them in my outboard, and quickly switched back after only a few runs. The outboards were engineered around the Champion plugs, and since they have never given me any reason to discredit them, Ill continue to use them. Not to mention the fact that they are much cheaper than the NGKs, as I spent over $100 outfitting my V6 with them.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

Another issue you frequently run into with this type of specialty plug is the limited number of heat ranges. This results in not having the correct plug for your application, but they suggest one anyhow. This can lead to fouled plugs, carbon build up and possible damage if it's too cold, if it's too hot, it may burn a hole in the piston or create other issues. So there are many downsides to trying them and few benifits. Every one of the marketers of a new type or style of plug says you will get better fuel mileage and more HP, after some independent testing it normally shows there is no advantage.

 

[F_R]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

I guess everybody here must be too young to remumber the hucksters that were at every County Fair in the "old days". They all had a car running at fast idle and some sort of miracle gizmo that they would plug into the distributor cap or maybe a screen that they put over the carburetor...or other. The common factor is that they all doubled the RPM when installed. And they all proved to be BS when you bought one and got it home and put it on your car. P.T. Barnum was right.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

P.T. Barnum was right.

"There's a sucker born every minute"

Phineas Taylor Barnum

FR You're not old enough to have been at one of his shows are you

 

[patrick4266]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

while were on the subject of spark plugs, can i get the champions from auto zone or do I have to get them from the dealer?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

napa carries Champion, and several others. you can also order online.

 

[wavrider]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

Champion plugs, Advanced auto parts not in stock, can order, auto zone had them in stock, napa always had them in stock.

For curiosity sake I emailed the pulstar site with the champion part number to see if they had a cross reference, no reply as of yet.

 

[F_R]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

Qoote: "FR You're not old enough to have been at one of his shows are you "

Well, not quite that old, but the circus that bore his name was winter quartered here in my home town in the 1950s.

...never flinched from his stated goal "to put money in his own coffers".....Wikipedia.

 

[mtsumedi]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

Spark plugs .com did their own test on these plugs the results are below.

"The test vehicle was a stock 2005 Dodge Neon SRT-4, provided by Manny Gomez, a member of SRTForums.com (screen
name: hawkable). The test was performed on a Mustang Dyno. We completed three runs for each plug in a cold, warm and
hot state. We then averaged these runs to find the final average horsepower and torque numbers. The results are
based on the vehicle factory-specified gap setting of .050? on the Champion plug and the maximum manufacturer
recommended gap of .045? on the Pulstar plug.

After testing, the Pulstar plug showed an average horsepower increase of 3.03HP and average torque increase of 3.1lb-ft over the stock Champion plug.

All testing performed by Design Craft Fabrication for Sparkplugs.com"

******OK now my 2 cents.

The test engine was a 200 hp engine and they gained 3 hp. That is an increase of 1.5%
The engine is a 2.4 liter turbo charged 4 banger so that is a gain of .75 hp per cylinder. If I used those on my 3 cylinder evinrude 70 hp I would gain (maybe) 2.25 hp.

Thus my top speed might increase by .5 miles an hour for 75 bucks plus shipping.
Remember to go twice as fast on the water you need 3 times to ponies for the same hull design. Now if they came out with a plug that made my engine produce 85 hp and could be used to stun the fish as I rode past then I might be willing to part with 75 bucks.

Kyle

I'm willing to bet you wouldn't have a 1.5% hp increase in a non turbo engine.

 

[kynolan2183]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

I'm willing to bet you wouldn't have a 1.5% hp increase in a non turbo engine.

I agree that a 1.5% hp increase is wishful thinking but it was the only numbers on the plugs I could find.

At best, the plugs are a faux miracle bolt on, better performance at first then dropping off as the plugs get older. Just like any new plugs.

Take the throttle body spacers they sell for performance upgrades on 4x4s now. When you spend the time to put one on your truck your brain wants you to see a performance up grade and thus you do. And for about 5 temp cycles of the engine you will, until the ecm readjusts to the change. After the Engine Control Module adjusts to the change the only performance your going to get is a microscopic drop in acceleration because you added a 1/4 pound block of metal to the truck which added weight.

What I would like to see is a plug that shot a spark out of it like a cannon not a contained spark to .35. A spark that could fire through the air fuel mix and ignite the entire mix at once would be impressive if the spark did not require the piston top to be the grounding point, ( eats away the metal on the top of the piston). I don't know of any plug out there that does that. Surface gap plugs are maybe as close as it gets.

Kyle

 

[F_R]

Re: Anyone tried NEW pulstar spark plugs?

Quote: "A spark that could fire through the air fuel mix and ignite the entire mix at once would be impressive"
In fact, that ignition of the entire mix at once does happen. It is called detonation and is extremely harmful to an engine. All engines are carefully designed to ignite the fuel at the plug and the flame front progresses at an ideal rate, hopefully.