Lone Ranger

No way a spark plug alone will gain you half a second in the quarter unless the ones replaced were very worn. The stocker AC plugs are iridium, I have a hard time swallowing platinum out performing iridium.

Snoopy

Lee.....

If you believe the info provided for the Autolites, you can buy my 06' hhr for $25,000....it's trouble free.

Do you realize those numbers, when calculated out, is something like a 10 HP gain....with a plug change....yeah right.

Yeah, I've seen increases in performance with a plug change, maybe 1-2 HP......and a couple of hundreths in times....but a half to almost a full second

Something to ponder....could the second run, with the Autolites, have been an anomaly? Could it have been duplicated in a second or third run? For that matter could the first, stock plug, run been the anomaly?

Lee3333

I agree with what youi said. I cant explain it, but I do remember after installing them in my car that it really did seem quicker. The car would definitly spin the wheels much easier than before-1/2 throttle would cause a nice burnout. And like I said, as part of my minor mods, my HHR runs pretty well. SoCal Mike had nothing to gain from his recommendation of the plugs. He did not sell them or anything. It was just something he noticed in his testing different products, which he shared his information with the forum.
If you also recall, he did not sell the IMCO muffler for a long time. In fact, he offered a different system that he did not even recommend.

I can not ascertain if his tests were a fluke or not. I did not have my G Tech at the time or I would have done a similar comparison. It just seems to work well in the Ecotec engine. I read that other plugs like Splitfire dont work good in our engines, although they improve performance in other applications.

Hib Halverson

I just want to make sure I read that correct and there were no typos.

Are you saying that another list member gained EIGHT tenths in 0-60 and HALF a second in quarter mile by changing plugs?

Lee3333

The exact numbers posted 9/22/26 were:
AC Delco plugs (stock) 0-60 = 9.60 sec 1/4 mile = 17.22
Autolite APP 5263 0 - 60 = 8.8 sec 1/4 mile = 16.69

The car launched harder, to, pulling .44 g's stock and .46 g's with the Autolite plugs. Stock plugs had 9k miles on them, Also tested were Bosche Platinum 4 plugs, but they made the car run slower than stock and results were not posted. Mike also did not understand why the difference. His HHR had larger wheels weighing 6 lbs more than stock which slowed the car down a bit but were on the car for all of the tests.

He said he had to change his launch style due to excessive wheel spin with the Autolite plugs. All runs done back to back in same exact place.

I realize how hard it is to believe. The only thing I can suggest is to invest about $24 bucks and try them yourself. I like them. Anytime I bring my car to the dealer, the mechanics that test drive my car are all very impressed with the way it runs.

Hib Halverson

Well...I'm sorry, but I've sent most of the last 25 years doing magazine technical writing and a fair amount of that time has been devoted to modfying vehicles then testing those mods with either e.t. or chassis dyno.

There is no spark plug you could screw in the engine of an HHR that would make that much of an improvement unless the engine was running on 3 cylinders before the plugs were changed.

I'm not doubting the anecdotal test data was as read and I'll admit that it's possible that a spark plug change can improve performance incrementally--I've seen that in my own tests--but there's little doubt in my mind that (assuming, of course, the engine was running properly before the change) some, maybe even most, of that 8 tenths of a second was due to inconsistencies in the testing and not the spark plugs.

dparker

Hi Gentlemen. I am the CEO of Enerpulse, the maker of Pulstar and see you are discussing our product. Pulstar is a new technology and works on a different concept than spark plugs. We wlecome the opportunity to answer your questions about it.

First off, Pulstar is not a spark plug per se. All spark plugs are limited to approximately 50 watts of power and, contrary to all the claims made on tip design (split, square, U, multiple, platinum, iridium, etc.), it is power that lights fuel. Pulstar generates more than 500 watts of power, which creates a larger flame front with more cylinder pressure. It is an entirely new concept in igniting fuel even through it looks like a spark plug. To understand the heritage of Pulstar pulse plugs you might want to this link to Sandia National Laboratories: http://www.sandia.gov/media/z290.htm.

Look forward to your questions.

Cheers

Lee3333

I do not mean to be cynical about your product-I will be the first to buy these plugs if they work.

I believe the big question here is will they really improve the performance on our 2.2 or 2.4 Ecotec engines? At some point, there is enough of a spark to combust all of the gas in the cylinder. Anything beyond that is unnecessary. I was once told that in todays modern engine, especially with individual coils for each cylinder, there is plenty of spark. That said, I did notice a huge difference when I switched my AC plugs for Autolite. I can not explain it, as it makes absolutly no sense since they are the same heat range. But the car would spin the tires much easier, with only partial throttle, after changing the plugs.

Hib Halverson

I'd like to thank "dparker" for posting to this thread. I have some additionial questions about the Pulstar.

If they're not "spark plugs" per se, how does Pulstar describe the product?

Inside a Pulstar, is there a tiny capacitive discharge ignition amplifier?

If a Pulstar creates more cylinder pressure, does that increase the engine's octane requirement?

Lee3333

O K everybody. I guess I will be the first one to do it. I will update everybody on the details. I have been keeping records of my gas milage since I bought my car new (the old fashioned way-milage and number of gallons used each and every fill-up). I also have my trusty Escort performance timer. I already have the Autolite plugs in my car. Right before I install the Pulstar plugs, I will time my car 0 - 60, then immediately after on the same strip of road, I will time it again. Naturally, I will also track the milage. Plus, I will give the good old unreliable seat-of-the-pants report.

From everything I have read in Popular Science, internet, etc, the Pulstar plugs seem to be incredible. They use the same technology and theory as the ignition wires they sold, only the electronics is now incorporated in the plug itself (we could not have used the wires on our engine, anyway).

May the force be with me.