What about Rhodium? Denso has Rhodium and Iridium electrodes combined with a Platinum ground electrode

https://www.denso.com/global/en/prod...lug/iridiumtt/

 

Forget spark plugs...some tricyclic input manifolds with variable geometry pylons.

 

You could say the same thing about single, dual, and even quadruple electrode plugs, but you can't actually because the marketing departments weren't able to fool enough buyers.

 

Ours has had Denso, Bosch Platinum and the NGK BKR6EIX-11 Iridium IX currently. The Bosch Platinums turned in the better MPG and driveability overall from the 105-200K range. Now that ours is in the 200K+ range, wear is a consideration. Add in the ethanol infused gas and the baseline dropped about 8-11%. I could try these plugs for curiosity sake though I doubt I'll see a marked difefrence to discern in the day to day slog I encounter.

The better test would be to put these into our Corolla. LOL

 

Flamed rightly so

 

Automotive OEMs typically drive development of new and improved components.

With increased use of turbochargers, sparkplug life was affected..thus NGK was tasked with development of Ruthenium based sparkplugs....

Here's the thing...they have been in use now for several years from 2011, first with Japanese OEMs...now 25 OEMs but not under the name Ruthenium.

NGK suggests 3% improvement in efficiency...

So my earlier post regarding future OEM use has already come to pass...and these plugs are not snake oil advertising.

 

Approx ten minutes of "layperson-ish" research paints a slightly different picture.
Fun facts about Iridium AND Ruthenium:
-BOTH were discovered in the early 1800s
-BOTH are members of the Platinum group
-BOTH are often alloyed with Platinum, and sometimes Titanium, but in very low amounts usually only 3 to 6%
-Ruthenium is mostly used as a microscopic thin coating to protect Platinum.
Probably safe to say, even with Iridium, the plugs are still made with at least 95% Platinum. Ruthenium is more than likely a microscopic layer over Platinum.
Similarities in the food industry come to mind, a product bearing the label "Made WITH Real Cheese....."
Labeling all this an EVOLUTION of materials may be a bit of a stretch as we are, for all intents and purposes, still stuck in the Paleozoic Era of Platinum.

Easily the most compelling tidbit of info:
-The price of Iridium has increased SIX FOLD since 2005! Up from $169/Oz in 2005 to over $1000/Oz in 2014.
-Iridium is one of the nine least abundant stable elements in the Earth's crust. Gold is 40x more abundant, Silver is 80x more abundant.

NGK may claim Ruthenium plugs are more efficient but it's fairly obvious the real efficiency speaks to their (and the 25 alleged OEMs mentioned above) bottom line as Iridium has become cost-prohibitive.

ShoutOut to Superfast1 for summarizing most of these points early, Post No. 2, in this thread.

 

Bless their hearts

 

Forget about the extra longevity, one fact is that Ruthenium conducts electricity better than Iridium so you will get a better spark over a longer period of time .
Good enough for me .

 

Electrical Conductivity Chart for Iridium and Ruthenium....

 

Ruthenium melts at 4233 degrees F (2334 degrees C), which is actually slightly lower than that of iridium. ... NGK says ruthenium electrodes provide higher ignitability, enhanced oxidation resistance and increased durability for today s modern engines.
I just thought that better ignitability would mean conducts better ??
Apparently knot !!

DFE (double fine electrode) maximizes ignitability, while reducing emissions for low-heat engines. This NGK-patented design is recommended for non-turbo application