Which is better to choose: platinum or iridium spark plugs

During the operation of a gasoline engine, which is designed to include spark plugs, the owner is constantly faced with the need to periodically replace the spark plugs.

The correct choice of these elements will determine the stability of the internal combustion engine, the quality of combustion of the fuel-air mixture in the cylinders, temperature conditions, power, efficiency, exhaust gas toxicity, etc.

We also recommend reading the article on how to select spark plugs based on the make and model of your car. From this article you will learn about the features of selecting spark plugs for an engine.

It is worth noting that today, for most motors, manufacturers offer several product options, ranging from simple budget versions to new high-tech solutions. The latter include platinum or iridium spark plugs.

In this article we will talk about the difference between iridium and platinum spark plugs, and also try to answer the common question of which spark plugs are better, iridium or platinum.

Denso IW20, Denso W20 EPR

It’s not easy to pay about 3,000 rubles for a set of candles, knowing that your neighbor paid less than a hundred for similar ones. All the advantages of an expensive purchase are only in the future: the long mileage promised by advertising, some percentage of daily fuel savings, ease of starting... In addition, there is no need for frequent replacement: on a modern engine this is a labor-intensive and expensive procedure.

We decided to evaluate two polar designs from one reputable company in order to compare not the technology of different manufacturers, but the idea itself embodied in metal, all other things being equal. The choice fell on Denso.

Iridium IW20 are the obvious leaders in miniaturization of the central electrode: only 0.4 mm. It is the thin electrode that promotes better self-cleaning and, accordingly, extends the service life. They were accompanied by the usual W20 EPR-U. The initial difference in cost is approximately fivefold.

Which iridium spark plugs are better?

Let's take a quick look at two of the most well-known spark plug manufacturers using non-standard spark plug materials.

1. NGK. The first company to use iridium to produce durable and erosion-resistant spark plug electrodes. Today it produces several models of iridium spark plugs for various types of internal combustion engines. IFR5E13 spark plugs with an optimal price-quality ratio have gained the most popularity.

1. One of the world's leading companies producing components for ignition systems. Denso iridium spark plugs, despite their rather high cost, show high performance characteristics.

Remember that when purchasing spark plugs with iridium electrodes, you must follow the engine manufacturer’s recommendations:

• the size of the gap between the electrodes;
• resistance in the central electrode;
• heat number.

You can buy spark plugs for your car at the best price in the TopDetal.ru store. Call the phone number indicated in the header of the site or leave a request for a call back.

An increase in CH toxicity indicates disturbances in the combustion process.

An increase in CH toxicity indicates disturbances in the combustion process.
An increase in CH toxicity indicates disturbances in the combustion process.

According to the resource, the count in engine hours is 360:240. In all operational parameters - from consumption to toxicity levels - iridium is also confidently ahead.

Hence the conclusion: if you have an expensive modern car and you put a lot of miles on it, it makes sense to spend money on iridium. But if the car is so-so, and only travels no more than 5 thousand a year, you are unlikely to recoup the investment. Such is the deceit of expensive things...

Mikhail Kolodochkin, and associate professor of the department of internal combustion engines of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Ph.D. Alexander Shabanov

Choosing spark plugs: iridium or regular?

What advantages are we talking about?

Manufacturers claim, and their words are confirmed by the results of bench tests conducted by practitioners, the following advantages of iridium spark plugs:

• Improved cold start. Thanks to the central electrode being almost twice as thin, the sparking voltage required is much lower. This ensures the formation of a high-quality, powerful spark, which is especially important under operating conditions in the northern regions of the country, where morning temperatures drop to -40°C and below. When starting under such conditions, it is important to ignite the air-fuel mixture in the first seconds, before the spark plugs are filled - iridium spark plugs do an excellent job of this task.
• Stable engine operation at idle speed. When the engine is running at idle speed, better ignition of the lean air-fuel mixture is ensured, which solves the problem of “floating” speed, which often occurs when using conventional spark plugs.
• Increased engine efficiency. According to some experimental data, the use of iridium spark plugs can increase engine performance by 5-10%.
• Reduced fuel consumption. An increase in engine efficiency in approximately the same proportion leads to a decrease in fuel consumption, which is natural.
• Reducing exhaust toxicity. As mentioned above, iridium spark plugs allow you to get a more powerful and high-quality ignition spark in all engine operating modes. In this case, more efficient ignition and combustion of the air-fuel mixture occurs. As a result, the content of toxic substances and CO2 in vehicle exhaust gases is reduced.
• Increased resource. Since the central electrode of the spark plug is made of iridium, the rate of burnout of the electrode during operation is extremely slow. With proper operation, absence of mechanical damage and using high-quality fuel, the service life of an iridium spark plug can be 100-120 thousand kilometers . Manufacturers, as a rule, claim an even longer service life, but Russian practitioners recommend replacing them no later than 100-120 thousand kilometers. This is undoubtedly an excellent indicator, since the resource of ordinary spark plugs, for example, is only 20 thousand kilometers.
• Economic feasibility in some cases. On some V-engine models, access to the spark plugs can be extremely difficult. In fact, carrying out such a simple procedure as replacing spark plugs is impossible without visiting a service station, and this is an additional expense, often quite high. Installing candles with an increased resource is an excellent solution to this problem.

Along with the obvious advantages of iridium spark plugs in a number of performance characteristics, they also have disadvantages, the list of which, however, is significantly smaller.

Does it make sense to use “long-lasting” candles if you can buy ordinary ones?

Choosing spark plugs: iridium or regular?

Replacing platinum

In 1994, NGK introduced iridium spark plug sets to the world, positioning them as a replacement for platinum spark plugs. They managed to achieve success, but why? Because this metal is more resistant to temperature, has higher strength, long service life and protection against corrosion. NGK created a thin wire, the tip of which consisted of iridium, which made it possible to fully use all the advantages of this metal in candles. In 1997, Denso launched mass production of improved models and now occupy the first position in the ranking.

Candle sizes

Candles are divided by size. Not only the length of the entire candle differs, but also its individual parts. The devices differ in the length and type of thread, the diameter of the spark plug, and the size of the screw head. It is not necessary to know all the subtleties; you just need to focus on the length of the thread. There are three classes here:

• short (12 mm);
• long (19 mm);
• extended (25 mm).

Try to take into account the sizes. Otherwise, you risk damaging not only the new part, but also the structural elements of your car’s engine.

Properties of iridium as a material

Innovative air-fuel mixture igniters are manufactured by laser welding of iridium electrodes. Melting point is about 2,500 degrees. Since the beginning of the 21st century, iridium has been used in industry for the production of igniters.

In the industrial industry, not pure iridium is used, but alloys. It is impossible to work with the material in its pure form - it is too fragile, its electrical conductivity is low. But alloys improve the quality of the final product many times over. Alloys are used to make electrodes with much thinner tips. With such components, the engine runs smoother and the car accelerates faster.

conclusions

A review of iridium spark plugs from three global companies allows us to draw the final conclusion that iridium spark plugs are not only useful, but sometimes simply a necessary element of a car engine. In some modern cars, access to the spark plugs is closed, and replacing spark plugs turns into a labor-intensive operation requiring the use of specialized keys. Installing iridium spark plugs in these types of cars is simply necessary, as it will provide significant savings during further service and increase the service life of the engine.

Fly in the ointment: disadvantages of iridium

Alas, man has not yet invented anything ideal. This also applies to iridium spark plugs - while providing a number of serious advantages that cannot be ignored, they also have their drawbacks.

1. The first is obvious: the small diameter of the electrodes indicates their low strength. If a regular spark plug survives a fall or rough installation without any problems (at worst, you can bend the side electrode to the required gap), then for an iridium spark plug this will be the last episode of its working life. The Denso company itself, when releasing iridium Long Life spark plugs to the market, even included exact compliance with the tightening torque in the list of requirements.
2. The second “bottleneck” of iridium spark plugs is their sensitivity to the quality of gasoline: surrogate fuel is contraindicated for them. Alas, the smaller the probable area of ​​the sparking source, the faster the carbon deposits will damage the spark plug, and mechanical cleaning is excluded by the previous item on the list. Speaking of carbon formation, you should not stop only at low-quality fuel - the cause may be engine malfunction and problems with the power system: oil leakage through the crankcase ventilation or wear of the piston rings, failure of the lambda probe, leading to over-enrichment of the mixture. Iridium spark plugs are good for a serviceable engine running on good fuel, and nothing else. In such conditions, they outlive the engine - it is the problems with it that force them to replace the kit installed at the factory. When selling cars in Russia, it has become normal practice among automakers to reduce service mileage, citing more stringent operating conditions and low fuel quality. Sometimes it got to the point of ridiculousness - a number of reinsurance dealers demanded that iridium spark plugs be replaced every 30 thousand kilometers, although it is unlikely that any of the car owners began to experience ignition problems by this mileage.
3. The third disadvantage is the price. Although it pays off with a multiple increase in service life and even a tangible increase in efficiency, all these savings can easily be wiped out by one visit to a random gas station. If only iridium spark plugs are produced for a car (alas, now there are such standard sizes), then there will still be no options, but if iridium spark plugs were installed independently in order to improve engine performance or increase replacement intervals... Well, then a set of old spark plugs from the trunk will save you .

Not on all engines, replacing conventional spark plugs with iridium ones will provide a noticeable improvement in engine performance - the less optimized the fuel combustion process itself is, the less noticeable the “correct” spark will be. First of all, this applies to old engines, “stretched” by new injection systems to Euro-4 standards - a banal flashing will improve their performance, and not the purchase of iridium spark plugs. Their installation can be considered really necessary only when the engine is boosted - then their positive sides will be fully revealed.

The difference between a fake Denso and a branded product

It is possible that many manufacturers of counterfeit products have learned to counterfeit products very well, however, you can still try to distinguish the original iridium spark plugs of the Japanese company from the counterfeit ones. There are many different points that you should pay attention to when purchasing, and there are signs that help determine the authenticity of the product. Let's start with the most important thing, that is, with the electrodes; for example, let's take the Denso VK20 brand. For the original, the thickness of the central electrode should be strictly 0.4 mm, and on the side one the added contact made of precious metal is clearly visible (photo of the original below).

In a non-original, the “center” is usually noticeably thicker, and the additional contact turns out to be smeared, which is what a fake looks like, you can also see in the photo below.

What other signs of the original product can be noted:

• the inscription on the insulator is made neatly and clearly, without blurring the font;
• the sealing ring cannot be twisted; it sits tightly on the thread;
• the internal insulator of the central electrode is placed strictly in the center, without deviation in any direction;
• the outer insulator has a smooth surface, without roughness;
• The thread on the original is knurled and is made almost perfectly.

Of course, having bought a fake in a store, it is difficult to then convince the seller that it is a counterfeit, but in this case you can contact the official Denso representative office.

Does it make sense to use “long-lasting” candles if you can buy ordinary ones?

Background

Spark plugs were first modified at the end of the 20th century. Then the racers noticed that reducing the diameter of the central electrode made it possible to achieve an increase in the power of the power unit. We did this ourselves, using a small file - a needle file.

However, such innovations sharply reduced the service life of parts. Manufacturers took this point into account and began searching for an alloy that could increase the service life of spark plugs several times. And such an alloy turned out to be iridium.

Comparison table of the presented models

To better imagine the ideal spark plugs for your car, take a look at the table with the data of the spark plugs from the listed rating.

Tightening torque, Nm	Gap between electrodes, mm	Thread length, mm	Number of electrodes	Cost 1 piece, rub
Bosch FR7DCX	28	3	19	1	200
Beru Z193	25	–	19	1	180
NGK BKR6EK	25	6	19	2	260
Bosch Platinum WR7DP	28	3	19	1	280
Denso PK20PR-P8	25	3	19	2	600
Beru Ultra-X 79	25	–	19	4	420
NGK B9Eg-3530	25	1	19	1	515

Subtleties of choosing suitable spark plugs for cars

If you want to choose candles, you first need to pay attention to the heat number. This is an indicator that determines the operating temperature of the components located in the engine cylinder.

Why is the heat number the most important criterion:

1. If you choose the right heat value, during operation the candle will be able to heat up to the desired temperature and self-clean.
2. When the temperature is below the required level, carbon deposits will cause incorrect sparking - misfires will appear, fuel consumption will increase, and power will decrease.
3. If the indicator is much higher than normal, glow ignition occurs - dangerous and uncontrollable.

Paying attention to the heat rating, hot, medium, optimal, cold and unified versions are distinguished.
Other indicators are also important during selection:

• Standard size - depends on the parameters of the motor, here the diameter, length and pitch of the thread are studied;
• The size of the hex head, which is reduced, medium, normal and enlarged;
• Sealing - performed by means of a conical joint or a washer made of soft metals (prevents the penetration of crankcase gases);
• Electrodes - there are differences in quantity and presence, therefore, there are simple single-electrode, more complex multi-electrode, torch, plasma-prechamber versions (the latter option ensures maximum speed and completeness of combustion of the fuel mixture).

When thinking about how to choose spark plugs for a car, it is worth studying the operating instructions, which indicate the optimal parameters and brands recommended by the manufacturer. In the absence of technical documentation, the existing candles are carefully removed and the required product is determined by the applied markings.

There are also special services that carry out selection by car make and model.

Best manufacturers:

1. Bosch – Offers an impressive selection of products, including platinum, multi-electrode models.
2. NGK is a well-known Japanese manufacturer whose products are often used in the assembly of cars in factories.
3. Denso - this brand produces 4 series, which include not only platinum, iridium, but also special offers - spark plugs with nickel electrodes, the service life of which does not differ.
4. Brisk is a Czech brand that offers classification depending on the type of power unit.

Important:

When installing iridium or platinum spark plugs, do not forget that their service life depends on the fuel. If the quality of the fuel does not meet the stated standards, the indicator is reduced by 20–40%. And the usual mechanical and other cleaning methods are strictly prohibited here.

In the CIS countries, the quality of fuel does not meet standards, which is why the service life of platinum and iridium models will be practically the same, although the price of the latter is much higher. But each motor has certain requirements.

And if the automaker indicates the need to use iridium models, then they are installed; in other cases, platinum ones are used.

Observations

The well-known auto magazine “Behind the Wheel” compared two different types of spark plugs from the same manufacturer, Denso. Fuel consumption was measured over 360 engine hours.

To maintain engine performance, simple spark plugs required 4% more fuel after 180 hours of experimentation. Upon completion, this figure increased to 8.5%.

When the engine was running on iridium spark plugs, an increase in the amount of fuel consumed occurred only after 300 hours of operation. At the end of the experiment, fuel consumption increased by only 3%.

Service

The operation of iridium kits has not changed over the past few years. They will still last over 100,000 miles on most cars, but manufacturers advise replacing them much more frequently, as frequent ignition, external contamination, and engine problems can reduce service life.

When choosing iridium spark plugs, the coincidence of the configuration with the old ones is not important, but the pitch, length and diameter of the thread must match, otherwise the installation will fail.

Iridium spark plugs don't last forever either.