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COLDER PLUGS = LESS HP??

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Old 02-23-2001, 12:51 PM
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COLDER PLUGS = LESS HP??

I recently replaced my spark plugs that were CR45TS to CR43TS. A friend of mine installed them, and seems to like them alot....could these plugs cause my car to run slower on motor or NOS? They feel okay, but I dunno.....I smoked a stang last nite, bottle vs. bottle, and kick'd his *** , but I just want to know if this could cause the car to run slower or hurt performance..thanx


Zach
Old 02-23-2001, 01:04 PM
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unfortunatley yes, colder plugs do hurt performance and take away horsepower. me and my buddys wanted to get his 94Z into the 11's with bolt-ons, 150 shot and nittos. Would've happened except we forgot we had to take off hypertech programming, put in two stage colder plugs. came close though 12.1@115

would have been a 11 if he had some ET Streets
Old 02-23-2001, 03:43 PM
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If you are running overly rich, then yes the colder plugs might drop power.

I run at the lean limit and always go faster with colder plugs. I run autolite #51 plugs which are far colder than what you have listed.
Detonation can be caused by a hot plug tip. Keep them cooler and make more power before detonation occurs.

ODB

Old 02-25-2001, 08:45 PM
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you need to run a plug according to the temp it reaches in the actual application.. dont be concerned with power, when you have the right plug only then can you build upon that tuning your spark advance and fuel mixture

you need to get acquainted with reading your plugs, especially in a blown application like yours. If your plugs are too hot the results will be obvious in the form of blued side electrodes, and glazing. This can contribute to preignition which will leave salt and peppper looking dust on the porcelain nose
I run a non power adder motor but I found r45s were too hot a plug after some dedicated reading, stepped back to 43's and all is well now. I find most people run too hot a plug, with too much advance, and way too much fuel. step back and analyze those parameters by reading the plugs and youll get better, more consistent performance
Old 02-28-2001, 05:49 PM
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Pablo:
you need to run a plug according to the temp it reaches in the actual application.. dont be concerned with power, when you have the right plug only then can you build upon that tuning your spark advance and fuel mixture

</font>
don't mean to be an a$$, but I wanted to point out that what you said makes no sense.

if you match your plug to temperature, and then change your spark & A/F ratio during tuning, you just changed the temperature in the chambers.

generally speaking, the maximum power output will be near the maximum temperature, before detonation becomes obvious.

Old 03-02-2001, 12:20 AM
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I believe that you have to experiment with all three: spark advance, fuel and plugs to find the right combo that generates the best power for your engine.

The one concern you need to also think about is how much time the engine will see slow, city traffic. Colder plugs tend to foul sooner than a hotter plug. If it is "strip only" or "highway only" then this in not a concern.

But you must play with the combo to find the one that works the best. People often make the mistake of getting hung up on trying to run a certain specification (usually the spark advance) instead of trying different combos to find out which one get the best result.
Old 03-09-2001, 11:45 PM
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<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by The ODB:
don't mean to be an a$$, but I wanted to point out that what you said makes no sense.

if you match your plug to temperature, and then change your spark & A/F ratio during tuning, you just changed the temperature in the chambers.

generally speaking, the maximum power output will be near the maximum temperature, before detonation becomes obvious.
</font>

Thats an obvious observation. If you tune for max power on too hot of a plug, the plug will show that you are too hot, and will hold you back in terms of power production. Theres no sense in trying to tune a car with a mismatched part, hence why i said forget about power production in the interim, you have to take it as a step by step process.
Old 03-10-2001, 03:06 AM
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Okay, Lets state some basic facts here. If you are running Nitrous, Supercharger or Turbo, you generally want a "Colder" heat range. Same goes for a high-rpm drag car.

"Hotter" means you are more on the daily driven, n/a, regular driving kinda vehicle.

go here for a complete lesson on spark plugs, including the mysterious heat ranges we all argue about.
http://www.centuryperformance.com/spark.htm



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