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Side Gapping your spark plugs

Hmm, I don't feel those plugs would accomplish the same effect. Because the ground electrode is to the absolute side of the hot electrode, there doesn't seem to be any potential for a large spark propogation. Do you feel the kernel would be better exposed than on a typical plug?
 
AngryPopTart said:
Do you feel the kernel would be better exposed than on a typical plug?
Click to expand...

cover a floor with shredded paper. light the paper near the center. Now do the same thing, but put a brick on one side of the ignition area to slow the propagation. Time both and compare.
I doubt there would be a real difference, but if the ignition was in a corner, it would make a big difference. So depending on the location and shrouding of the plug, there may or may not be a measurable difference.
This is comparable to a hemi or pent roof with central plug, Volvo 8 valve with mostly central plug, and a wedge with the plug in the corner. The latter would benefit from spark plug voodoo, the 2 others would probably not.
 
plugs

AngryPopTart said:
Hmm, I don't feel those plugs would accomplish the same effect. Because the ground electrode is to the absolute side of the hot electrode, there doesn't seem to be any potential for a large spark propogation. Do you feel the kernel would be better exposed than on a typical plug?
Click to expand...

Those plugs are one of the best spark plugs I've used. They work very well, have a wide heat range for different kinds of driving conditions and they last a long time. That's why they are also so damn expensive. They are used OEM on many high performance cars. For example Porsche 911 Turbos, Mercedes, and the VW Corrado with the supercharged engine.

Are you going to gain lots of hp? Well, let's not be bench racing to badly. lol.
 
qwkswede said:
Here is something of a factory side gapped plug. The electrodes are also platinum so they don't erode very quickly. I ran these for a while in my 16v turbo motor. I'm not sure they helped any, but I was having other ignition problems anyway. I may try again, the spark kernel would be nicely exposed with these plugs.
IMG_3304.JPG
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Interesting plugs. I can't quite make out the model #....can you help me out there? :)
 
Bosch side gap plugs

The part number I used is W6DPO. There are hotter and colder versions such as W8DPO or W5DPO respectively and also versions with resistors like WR6DPO. I've used both the W6 and WR6 versions and they worked well but I prefer non resistor plugs if you can get them. The stock plug Bosch heat ranges are W7 with W6 for high speed running so that's why I chose the W6DPO.

They are around the pricing of the Denso Iridium plugs which have also worked well for me. Those seemed to be only available in the resistor versions IW20 is the Denso number I've used.

I've found that I get a longer service life out of these plugs compared to using stock style plugs. What I mean is that stock plugs don't last as long with high output use but with these types of plugs I usually get a better than stock service life but with an engine that I run a lot harder and puts out more power than stock. For example when I use NGK BP6ES I change them about every 5k miles. But when I use these platinum or Iridium plugs I can use them for 10k even 20k miles if the electrode still looks good. For some folks this still isn't good economy and that's fine. However, personally, I like how the engine runs and the engine seems to be a bit more flexible between running around in slow lame traffic and then when the road opens up a bit and I can run the engine hard. I gap the Iridiums at .028" the DPO plugs are not an adjustable gap. You use them until they are worn. The plugs should be removed and inspected annually then cleaned. When the electrodes have rounded worn edges they should be replaced. That takes awhile in my experience. YMMV.
 
mikep said:
cover a floor with shredded paper. light the paper near the center. Now do the same thing, but put a brick on one side of the ignition area to slow the propagation. Time both and compare.
I doubt there would be a real difference, but if the ignition was in a corner, it would make a big difference. So depending on the location and shrouding of the plug, there may or may not be a measurable difference.
This is comparable to a hemi or pent roof with central plug, Volvo 8 valve with mostly central plug, and a wedge with the plug in the corner. The latter would benefit from spark plug voodoo, the 2 others would probably not.
Click to expand...

Performance gains aside:

For people that worry about the ground electrode blocking the path of the fuel from the intake valve to the gap, this is double the worry because the hot electrode could now be blocking it. Both cases are not a worry if the plug is sideways. It seems this could be better for indexing in special situations, but not as effective in a situation where a properly indexed and side-gapped plug was used IF the information about the arc propogating up the face of the ground electrode is true.

hxxp://performanceunlimited.com/documents/plugsidegapping.html

At the bottom, it shows how the spark supposedly grows up the face of the ground electrode. If that's true, I can't see the plugs mentioned above having the ability to do this. If they work better than a properly indexed and side-gapped plug, could it be for a different reason than kernel exposure?
 
Nice comments, I guess from looking at my above pictures that these plugs are actually quite worn. The electrodes are pretty rounded. I got them second hand to try so I wasn't sure what they should look like.

Are the Bosch plugs not similar to the NGK numbering system? 8 would be colder than 7, which is colder than 6? So for a turbo motor, I might want the WR8DPO?

These plugs also have a 5/8 hex, so you get a little more clearance around the plug. Not really a volvo problem. But most Volvo plugs like the ngk BPRxxx have the bigger 13/16" hex.

dl242gt said:
The part number I used is W6DPO. There are hotter and colder versions such as W8DPO or W5DPO respectively and also versions with resistors like WR6DPO. I've used both the W6 and WR6 versions and they worked well but I prefer non resistor plugs if you can get them. The stock plug Bosch heat ranges are W7 with W6 for high speed running so that's why I chose the W6DPO.

They are around the pricing of the Denso Iridium plugs which have also worked well for me. Those seemed to be only available in the resistor versions IW20 is the Denso number I've used.

I've found that I get a longer service life out of these plugs compared to using stock style plugs. What I mean is that stock plugs don't last as long with high output use but with these types of plugs I usually get a better than stock service life but with an engine that I run a lot harder and puts out more power than stock. For example when I use NGK BP6ES I change them about every 5k miles. But when I use these platinum or Iridium plugs I can use them for 10k even 20k miles if the electrode still looks good. For some folks this still isn't good economy and that's fine. However, personally, I like how the engine runs and the engine seems to be a bit more flexible between running around in slow lame traffic and then when the road opens up a bit and I can run the engine hard. I gap the Iridiums at .028" the DPO plugs are not an adjustable gap. You use them until they are worn. The plugs should be removed and inspected annually then cleaned. When the electrodes have rounded worn edges they should be replaced. That takes awhile in my experience. YMMV.
Click to expand...
 
plugs

qwkswede said:
Are the Bosch plugs not similar to the NGK numbering system? 8 would be colder than 7, which is colder than 6? So for a turbo motor, I might want the WR8DPO?
Click to expand...

The NGK system and the Bosch system are opposite each other. Colder for NGK is a higher number and colder for Bosch is a lower number. Stock heat range for Bosch on most ohc redblock engines is 7 and stock heat range from NGK is 6. I usually go one step colder with Bosch numbering which is the W6DPO version. That had the 13/16" size hex, too. One step colder with NGK would be a 7 with their system.
 
Oh, one more question while we are on this spark plug question. I haven't tried non-resistor plugs yet, in fear of creating noise that could cause problems with my already noise sensitive Megasquirt. Though in theory, it seems like a good way to get more energy to the plug gap. Anyone have any experiences with non-resistor plugs in EFI, or Megasquirt cars, or cars that have nice stereo systems?
 
People who run these components along with a fancy stereo, and have noise, may have created the problem due to the way they wired up their stereo, or these products, and may not be due to the products themselves, nor the ignition system. "All right, my new high energy igintion control box looks so fly! I took the easy way out and grounded it to the body, but my battery is grounded to the engine block, which is not adequately grounded to the body; the easiest path to ground now being through my new head unit which IS grounded directly to the battery. Supahfly, homeskillet!" :lol:
 
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