Best plugs for hard street racing & DD

[whyask]

getting tuneup this week and changing plugs, I love to get on it and im a daily driver, what plugs to go with?

 

[97stang4.6L]

Everyone has there own preference of plugs. a few brands i prefer are NGK, Motorcraft, and Autolite. Spark plugs are not really a performance item unless you are running nitrous or some other kind of boost. they are mainly a maintenece item. the only way you are probably going to feel a power increase is if the old plugs are shot. i have autolite in my GT and they work fine.

 

[Pennywise2]

If your mustang is N/A than Motorcraft or Autolite
spark plugs would be the best choices.

 

[exindust]

Motocraft

Because Kilgore Said So

 

[stangGT97]

Autolite 764 or Motorcraft AGSF-32Cs gapped @ 0.054. If you're running into detonation issues, drop a heat range to AGSF-22Cs or Autolite 103s.

 

[whyask]

sweet thanks guys thats all I needed

 

[Matt's 03 GT]

Autolite 764 or Motorcraft AGSF-32Cs gapped @ 0.054. If you're running into detonation issues, drop a heat range to AGSF-22Cs or Autolite 103s.

Is there any issue with running the lower heat range on a mostly stock engine?

 

[stangGT97]

Is there any issue with running the lower heat range on a mostly stock engine?

It really depends on how hard you drive your car really. I'm easy on mine and don't rev the crap out of it on a daily basis, so the stock heat range works for me. In fact, I ran the 22Cs for a week and my car felt sluggish, running the normal heat range cured the problem. So I guess my recommendation would be:

You drive the crap out of your car - 1 heat range colder
You drive normally, occasionally run it through the gears - stock heat range.

This is what works on my car though, it may be different for you so keep that in mind. Randy Stinchcomb recommends a heat range colder for stock engines, and 2 heat ranges colder for modified... for some reason my car did not like it at all though, not sure why

 

[Team Ford]

can you elaborate on heat range a little more.

 

[stangGT97]

can you elaborate on heat range a little more.

Ok, heat range has to do with the heat transfer properties of a spark plug... and it has nothing to do with the spark itself. A spark plug that is 1 heat range colder will remove more heat from the tip of the plug, lowering combustion temperatures - this will aide greatly in helping to prevent preignition/detonation. If your combustion temperatures are too high, your fuel can pre-ignite, before being fully compressed and ignited with the spark. This will lead to audible pinging and eventually the destruction of your engine (if not corrected quickly). So if you are having detonation problems, sometimes a higher octane fuel can correct it, but if not, running 1 step colder might do the trick.

That being said, if you don't experience any pinging with your stock heat range plugs, even if you drive the hell out of your car, then dropping down a heat range may or may not benefit you at all. If you're running too cold of a plug, the tip will not get hot enough to burn off deposits and they will foul easily. In a FI application, where you get a very dense air charge being stuffed into the combustion chamber, it is required to drop either 1 or 2 heat ranges and to narrow the electrode gap.

Do a google search, there is a lot of info out there about this stuff

 

[streetstang03]

street racing?

say hi to Vin for me when you see him on the streets

 

[myponyrocks]

you meant for "Hard street driving, Racing, and normal DDing" right?

 

[Matt's 03 GT]

Thanks very much. I have been having a Pinging problem when the temp is over about 80 degrees. I may try the colder plugs to see how it changes... I'll let you know.

:SNSign:

 

[stangGT97]

Thanks very much. I have been having a Pinging problem when the temp is over about 80 degrees. I may try the colder plugs to see how it changes... I'll let you know.

:SNSign:

OK man, I hope that information is helpful to you. Being that you have an '03, I wouldn't think that carbon buildup could be an issue. I do believe that the PI motors are more prone to pinging for some reason (not sure) so a set of AGSF-22Cs gapped @ 0.054 may take care of your problem. Beware that copper plugs have a higher gap erosion rate than platinum, so you will need to pull them every so often to check the gap. I was also advised by Randy to gap @ 0.048, then by the time you're ready to change the plugs the gap will have moved out to about 0.054". It all depends on how comfortable you are with pulling the plugs from your heads though. Good luck you man! Oh and Homer Simpson is da bomb

 

[Matt's 03 GT]

........Carbon buildup, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm................
<best homer voice>

Yeah, I think I will try this and let you know. The car only has 33,000 miles on it. I also live in the land of **it gasoline in so cal. We had to run this car on 92 octane through the summer and it only has CAI and a cat back exhaust.

We'll see if next summer is any better.

Homer rocks!! :SNSign:

 

[stangGT97]

another thing to check is the MAF. If you're running an oiled filter, it could be contaminated, and that could cause pinging.

 

[Yellow2002GT]

Too many bolts ons and no custom tune will cause pinging! Our cars love a good tune! Fuels and timing corrected with allow for more power and less pinging. As far as plugs go.....go with the AP764's........They burn hot and with a good tune...idle really nice!

"ED"

 

[Pennywise2]

Motocraft

Because Kilgore Said So

The good thing about installing Motorcraft spark plugs
is that they come pre-gapped.

 

[stangGT97]

The good thing about installing Motorcraft spark plugs
is that they come pre-gapped.

only the platinums come pre-gapped, gotta gap the coppers yourself

 

[Dan_Soprano]

NGK TR-6