Anyone tried this kind of plug?

[Pouria]

Hi;
Has anyone tried this kind of plug which is made based on a new technology:
http://www.pulstarplug.com/howtheywork.html

Any feedbacks? Does anybody suggests it for a 340 Charger (73)?

Pouria

[aifilaw]

It's an interesting idea. Looks like what they have done is create a capacitor inside the spark plug itself and discharge it. Without taking one apart I can't tell you exactly how it works, but I can tell you that aftermarket ignition systems already employ a better use of this technology through their main unit and deliver it to the actual plug through the wires. The fact that they were able to keep it inside the plug, means it sustains temperatures in the range of 800 degree's. That's a lot, makes me wonder about the lifespan of their products.
Most of their tests were run on fairly new vehicles though, which all utilize individual cylinder-by-cylinder coils.

It would definitely be worth checking out, but when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and I'm not only a skeptic, but an EE.

[Pouria]

Nice analysis, thank you. Based on their claim, around 25HP is gained on a 8 Cylinder engine, it sounds great. But as you told it seems too good to be true I am not is US, I wish somebody could give it try and put the results here.

[aifilaw]

It's true that a typical spark plug has a lot of issues doing a full and complete burn... fact is though when a cylinder fires, the initial spark just produces a blast radius... from then on the "burn" in the cylinder is maintained just by fuel and air under pressure.
It's just like an M-80, you light the fuse, and once the fuse has ignited a few grains of gunpowder, that gunpowder is what sets off the powder around it, and so on and so forth until its all burned. having a richer hotter spark gaurantee's a good initial launch, but from then on everything around the spark itself has been burned.

Therefore the best potential for an internal combustion engine can be had when you ignite the mixture everywhere at once, or have multiple spark plugs spaced throughout the cylinder to ignite the mixture as one. Since this isn't possible we use different types of gasoline that burn faster, its a law of reduced gains though because the faster the burn (lower the octane), then the more succeptable the mix (14:1 air/fuel) is to detonation (spontaneous combustion in this case due to pressure).

I know you weren't looking for a book about this, so here's my thoughts on a purely economical standpoint.
$25 a plug means $200 at least, probably $250 after tax and shipping. on a street/strip high performance car I replace spark plugs every 10-15,000 miles, and they usually cost me about $3.00 a plug for some good NGK's.
Gas costs an average of $2.50 a gallon here throughout the year.

based on 50,000 miles of use

Before:
10mpg = $12,500, 3 sets of spark plugs = $75
total - $12,575.00

after:
11mpg = $11,363.63, 1 set of spark plugs = $250
total - $11,613.63

obviously if we graph these two equations and find where they meet, we can detirmine just how efficient they have to be in order to be worth it.

we get 10.142mpg, a difference of 0.142mpg or higher will result in a savings
based on:
(50,000/x)*2.5+250 vs (50,000/10)*2.5+75

well, chances are their spark plugs aren't going to last much longer than mine, we will give them the benefit of the doubt and say twice as long, especially since if you spend $250 on a set of spark plugs... chances are you will clean and re-use then at least twice... so let's say 2 pairs in 50,000 miles, and lets say gas prices continue to increase so set the average to $3.00, not like it matters since it is a constant you get them meeting at:

10.291595 mpg, hence a gain of 0.3mpg is enough to warrant purchasing these products. with the added HP gains, its looking like its possible worth it if their claims are true.

[Pouria]

You completely convinced me to buy a set of 8pcs. I should ask one of my friends in States to buy and post for me. I live in iran.

Pouria

[aifilaw]

well, please for the rest of our sake... keep a comprehensive trial...

In other words, change only your plugs, don't change your driving habits, don't change your air filter, don't change your fuel type or anything else. Get a baseline with your old plugs in good condition as far as mpg, write it down. and then drive the same way with these things in there and report the results.