Could buying more expensive spark plugs improve power?
The spark plug is a key component of the engine. It ignites the mixture of oil and gas in the cylinder by discharging electricity, which eventually allows the piston to move and drive the vehicle. Because the spark plug is closely involved in the engine operation, so many car friends will move the idea of "upgrade", that upgrade more expensive, better material spark plug can improve the performance of the vehicle, or durability? Today I will answer this question for you!
Choosing spark plugs is usually based on materials, but many people really don't know how to proceed in the face of a variety of rare words only seen in the table of chemical elements. So what are the differences between spark plugs of different materials?
To understand the impact of different spark plug materials, we first need to understand where these metals are used in the spark plug. According to the figure above, we can find that the spark plug has a place called the central electrode, in which the spark plug material is mainly said to use the material on the central electrode, and the lower curved hook is generally called the ground electrode.
For current cars, copper and nickel (NIE) spark plugs are basically not used, even the almighty Taobao can not buy copper and nickel spark plugs. The two materials were ruled out partly because copper has a poor conductivity. If used at a central electrode, the spark plug would need to emit a huge voltage from the battery at each ignition to produce a spark between the two electrodes.
On the other hand, because copper and nickel are relatively soft metals, the durability of copper and nickel spark plugs is obviously not as good as other metal spark plugs. In general, the nominal replacement cycle of copper and nickel spark plugs is only 30,000 km, and is basically caused by the loss of the central electrode. Fortunately, the spark plugs are mostly found on pre-1980s models and some cheap Ghostfires, so they're out of the question for the average consumer.
Single platinum spark plugs are more likely to be found in cheaper, older models, such as Volkswagen's EA111 engine, which originally used single platinum spark plugs. The single platinum spark plug uses platinum instead of copper at the central electrode, as opposed to the copper-nickel one, but the ground electrode is nickel. At this point, platinum has a higher hardness, so it is significantly more durable than the lowest end of the copper-nickel spark plug, and the conductivity of platinum makes it no longer need too high starting voltage.
Is also using platinum as ignition medium, only than single platinum spark plugs, double platinum spark plug in the center electrode and the grounding electrode used such precious metal platinum, it will lead to the price than the single platinum spark plugs and is much expensive, but the benefits of natural is more durable, usually can use 80000 kilometers need to be replaced.
And because dual-platinum can withstand more ignition times, many older performance cars use a Primoignition system called wasted Ignition System, which allows the spark plugs to reignite the unburned mixture while the cylinders are in exhaust stroke. Thus slightly increasing engine horsepower while increasing combustion efficiency. However, this system is not suitable for today's direct injection models, after all, 350bar injection pressure is enough to fully atomize gasoline, no need for secondary combustion. That is to say, the current original use of double platinum spark plug models, most are to improve durability.
Iridium spark plugs have a longer lifespan than platinum ones, with a range of at least 100, 000 kilometers, according to NGK. This is mainly because iridium is harder than platinum. At the same time, iridium at the central electrode conducts electricity better, so it requires less voltage from the battery at each ignition.
Iridium spark plugs are standard on most direct injection models. In other words, iridium is the best type of spark plug on the market right now. It is important to note that the ground electrode of iridium spark plug is still platinum, so the iridium spark plug is also called iridium platinum spark plug.
First of all, ruthenium gold is a precious metal belonging to the platinum group. It has a very high melting and boiling point, so it can be used to make the spark plug center electrode with a longer life. Currently, only NGK and Bosch manufacture this very rare type of spark plug, which, according to the website, has a range of 150, 000 kilometers.
