Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Performance What's so great about Bosch +4 platinum plugs?

It appears that the Bosch marketing strategy behind the +4 plugs is somewhat misleading. Unknowledgeable buyers are led to believe that the four seprate electrodes with produce FOUR seprate sparks. Hopefully, most people know that electricity follows the path of least resistance. Of the four electrodes, the spark will jump from the most conductive ONE. The other three are only along for the ride. If anything, they probably shroud the flame and reduce burn efficiency.

Splitfire already tried this gimmick. They almost got themselves into legal litigation for false product claims. When they introduced their split electrode design, they initially claimed it "Doubled" the spark output. This bogus claim led (ignorant) buyers to believe the plugs made TWO sparks each time it fired. Splitfire quickly dropped this claim and said that the "V" at the top of the electrode "unshrouds the spark, and promotes a more complete burn of the A/F mixture". They called this "V power". I've concluded that all of these plugs are a waste of money. But wait, there's a new "Revolutionary" spark plug comming out on the market now. They are called "Iridium Power" from Denso. I think I'll sit back and let other buyers be the guinea pigs.

by the way, the +4s were made strickly for V8s and marine applications

Heres a tip that all motorcycle tuners abide by. By correct "cheap" plugs for your application and change them often. Keeping new plugs in the car always. There is no performance "gain" with $10.00 plugs just the false security that you can leave them in for 50,000 miles and not suffer any performance loss. My .02 worth.

8AZ28
- I'm with you. You can only have one spark at one time, period. The only thing that may be useful in knowing is that sparks and arcing electricity tend to be attracted to sharp edges/corners. This is the only place where it MAY come in useful as in the +4 or ACDelco's Rapidfire plug.

I'd stick with the single, simple NGK or Bosch platinums. Much like plug wires, unless your plugs or wires are in really bad shape, I wouldn't expect much of a noticable performance increase, if any at all.

I bought the AC Delco Rapid Fire for the Buick and have been very happy with them.

Just put the Autolite Platinum Pro in the SVT and like others have said, they work just fine.

Cheers,

TB

I'm staying away from the +4's. I don't know about you guys, but the fact that they have 4 tiny electrodes worries me. It's 4 times more likely that one of those little electrodes could burn off or fall off and give you one hell of a nightmare. Also, 8AZ28 you are a smart one for pointing the misleading advertising on the +4's. Kudos to you! And to add to the fire, if you've ever seen the electrodes on the +4's they are a good bit smaller than standard plug electrodes or even those on the single platinums. Now not only are you getting one spark instead of "four" you are also getting a smaller one. What a deal!

Personally, I will probably be going with Autolite platinums for the SVT.

tboner,
My brother tried those Rapid Fires in his Regal (non-GN) and it gave him a rough idle. He ended up replacing them with something else and the problem went away. Just some FYI.