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Paul Workman · 09-22-2008

I was trying to run down an intermittent stumbling problem when I replaced my plugs with the platinum AC/Delcos. The stumbling turned out not to be the plugs, however.

That said, I'm happy with the performance. But, I don't think I would go "platinum" again. My research since then leads me to question the value of the longer life touted by platinum in my specific application (read: street driven and no full-out racing to speak of).

Plugs in a street driven car degenerate in a more or less linear fashion - in 3 phases, if you will: At first they are good, then so-so, and then there is that phase where they work but really need to be replaced.

The difference between the standard plugs and the platinum plugs is the length of those three phases...and of course the initial cost. So, I've concluded that the standard plugs are cheap enough and they're easy enough to replace on the LT5 that I can afford to replace them regularly enough to keep the plugs in that "new" phase. (That said, platinum plugs cost about the same as a tank of gas. So, replacing them every 5+ years...is no biggie either way, I recon.)

Different applications dictate different plugs. Those that autocross or drag race a lot would have different ideas than those like me, I'm sure.

09-22-2008	#7
Paul Workman Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Squires (near Ava MO in the Mark Twain N'tl Forest) - Missouri Posts: 6,493	Re: Which Brand of Spark plug do you run?? I was trying to run down an intermittent stumbling problem when I replaced my plugs with the platinum AC/Delcos. The stumbling turned out not to be the plugs, however. That said, I'm happy with the performance. But, I don't think I would go "platinum" again. My research since then leads me to question the value of the longer life touted by platinum in my specific application (read: street driven and no full-out racing to speak of). Plugs in a street driven car degenerate in a more or less linear fashion - in 3 phases, if you will: At first they are good, then so-so, and then there is that phase where they work but really need to be replaced. The difference between the standard plugs and the platinum plugs is the length of those three phases...and of course the initial cost. So, I've concluded that the standard plugs are cheap enough and they're easy enough to replace on the LT5 that I can afford to replace them regularly enough to keep the plugs in that "new" phase. (That said, platinum plugs cost about the same as a tank of gas. So, replacing them every 5+ years...is no biggie either way, I recon.) Different applications dictate different plugs. Those that autocross or drag race a lot would have different ideas than those like me, I'm sure.