When my streetported motor was completed, motor builder Chris Rogers told me to put in a set of NGK Iridium plugs once the motor was broken in. He assured me that it would make a significant difference in the performance of the car. I didn't place much stock in that, after all, how much can a plug affect an engine's performance.

Well, I was well wide of the mark. After a few months of collecting dust in my garage, I finally got around to installing them, and the transformation is amazing! The car idles smoother; midrange and full throttle are awe-inspiring. I installed #10 heat range all around.

Now, the problem with the plugs are that they do not leave enough space between the spark plug hole shroud, and the hex to get a socket on it to tighten it. The reason is that the shoulder of the plug is shorter, and the hex is now deeper, and inaccessible. To torque them in, I ground down a Craftsman socket, and got enough purchase on the hex to tighten it down. Glad I did because the car runs flawlessly.

 

are you running an aftermarket ignition amp or coil?

 

really, you had install issues? mine went right in

 

sorry double post

STEPHEN

 

If yours went right in then either you arent using the same plug he's refering to, someone has modified your rotor housing to accept them, OR yours arent screwed in all the way. You can mod the housing by shaving it down some but in stock form a standard plug socket wont fit between the housing and side of socket. The socket has to be nearly paper thin to work.

I've been using B10egv plugs which are the same as these but not Iridium. I just ordered the Iridium plugs today to try out. Chris Anderson also suggested these plugs. For anyone interested I got a set of them from www.sparkplugs.com for $35.25 shipped. When you get them make sure they are gaped between .022-.024

Also, there is someone on the forum I think named metalman that sells a modified sparkplug socket to work with these type plugs. If you cant find his just pm me and I'll check my super old pm's for his name

BTW - the part number for the Iridium plug is BR10EIX

STEPHEN

 

I put them right in and I have iridium ngk plugs. I got them from sparkplugs.com

 

You can buy a thin walled socket that will fit in the plug socket.

Jason

 

Jason, the thinest-walled socket offered by Sears needed to be ground-down to marginally work. It appears that I wasn't the only one that encountered that problem from some of the posts. Also, with someone making a special socket, there's an issue here. However, the net result is that my car has awakened!

Can we have the name of the guy selling the modified socket?

 

I will check at the shop and see which socket we use. This was something we bought off the shelf and it works great.

Jason

 

Racing beat has a special thin walled socket, and MazdaTrix also sells it.

 

Racers use to ground down the spark plug lip back in the day to use different plugs. Do the plugs foul easily? For that much money, that would suck to buy another set so soon.

Any dyno numbers?

 

Do you think these plugs are expensive? Not in comparison to the Bosch full platinum (not platinum tipped) I needed in my Carrera RS 2.7...They were $16 a piece, and you needed 6 of them. Ouch!

As for whether they foul easily, it's too soon to tell, as I just put them in.

 

The guy on the forum that sells the modded plug socket is.....

metalliman

I think its $20-$25 shipped.

Jason - I never could find one off the shelf that was thin enough to work with B10egv plugs so if you know of a off the shelf socket let me know. That way I can tell people about it.

gcthree - You are talking about the BR10EIX and B10EGV plugs right???

They are supposed to be the same but maybe the BR10EIX plugs are a little different than the B10egv's I've used in the past. I should have the BR10EIX plugs in next week and I'll let people know if they are the same of not.

STEPHEN

 

Are they a 10 heat range for a reason? Can we use stock heat range versions?

 

Well, I run a 10 heat range cause I run 18psi of boost with 93 octane on a daily basis.....so yea, its needed haha

If your running 10 or 11psi I'd run stock heat range (7&9). If your running 12 or 13psi I'd run 9's. If your running 14+psi I'd run 10's. Also, you can get the EVG (such as B10egv) plugs in any of those heat ranges. You can also get the Iriduim plugs (such as BR10EIX) in any of those heat ranges. For the part number just sub the 10 out for what every heat range you need.

STEPHEN

 

I have the BR10EIX plugs in the car.

I checked on both Racing Beat and Mazdatrix, and sure enough, they sell a thin-wall socket....for $60!!!!
$70 in the case of Mazdatrix, which means they buy it from Racing Beat and put their mark-up on it.

That $25 modified socket is appealing. Anybody have one that they can post a photo?