LexusRules

hm... well i'll still try them out.. remembe teh rotary engine is MUCH different then our engine..

LXOGOOD

I can't imagine Steve Ganz ordering a product for us lexus owners that might cause motor damage to our vehicle. If Steve is not aware of that problem that occured with that RX-7, I'm sure he will now know and make sure that the plugs are safe to use under any condition. I'm sure he will be in contact with that company. When it comes to our cars, Steve will not cut any corners for just a few HP. Let's wait and see and not jump to any conclusion just yet. If your still unsure, I'm sure Steve will not process your order...or just give you a refund.

BTW, I've seen races at the drag strip where owners were putting blocks of dry ice on there rotary motors to get them down to normal temps. They get way too hot....

RacingAristo

I wonder if I can cancel the order with Steve since I will get a supercharger later on. Don't wanna blow off my V8.

hellasboy

You guys are scaring me. Does this apply to the new Star Series? I'll have to take a look at the plugs to see whether they are welded.

The reason I'm worried is I ordered a set of the Star Series plugs and had them overnighted (just got them in today) so that I could get a tune up and 90k service done before I take my car to the track (1/4 mile) for the import show coming up this Sunday.

Well, if my engine blows up this Sunday then I'll be sure to post it Sunday night.

hellasboy

Ok, I took some pics of the Star series spark plugs. Sorry, it's a little blurry but this was the best shot out of the lot of them. If need be I'll try to take some sharper ones.

The tips are not welded and appears to be a one piece unit.

bravo261

iTrader: (1)

sweet, a closeup. hope this helps out some people. i'm still gonna try them since i'm hoping their quality has improved and hope that our use of the plugs are extremely different then the use in a racing rx-7

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Hellasboy,

Please let us know how it turns out and your impressions of the plugs!

I'm still ordering my set... we've got a couple of very solid members of CL that swear by these plugs and have been using them for a LONG time with no adverse issues.

I've made many (most) of my decisions about what to mod on my GS (and what not to do) by reading stuff here on CL and getting recommendations from other folks here, and I'm not too anxious about this one.

tinygs

Sasha, is there a site in ENGLISH where I can read about and view the Denso racing plug??????? I located the plug, but all of the data is in Japanese.....Tiny

LexusRules

hm... try altavista trasnlator.. then you'll be able to make sence of what it says. Although it will sound like a grade 1 kid wrote it thats just learning how to speak...

Ag02M5

Not sure how welding or star pattern affect reliability. Sounds like the ceramic is cracking off...not any metal part.

I'm staying away just to be sure.

whitels

Sorry but I've never been a fan of TM. Sounds like another "Slick" teflon oil additive to me - "As Seen On TV" kind of thing. Nothing personal to TM users but it's just my own personal opinion.

How can someone beat the experience of big companies (NGK, ND, Autolite, Champion, etc.) with millions spent on R&D and manufacturing equipment over the years. It'll probably take me having to see Penske use them on his CART cars or Tommi Makinnen use them on the WRX or something like that before I get convinced. I may just be ignorant of this fact but now that we're talking about this, who of the big name racers actually use TMs?

I've seen NGKs that "burned" and cracked beyond recognition in an old, stock Corolla (3T) engine. The engine overheated from oil deprivation (only one quart remaining) going uphill.

Point of the matter is that this illustrates how hard the plugs have to work and that you need all the extra margin that you can get from a plug - especially when you love to gun your engine.

Fortunately, I think that the exhaust gases carried with it the burned metal and ceramic parts from the plugs away from the engine. Hopefully, all 4-stroke engines behave this way and not hurt our GS engines.

(Interestingly, replacing the burned plugs is all it took to run the Corolla for thousands of miles of future use as if nothing had happened previously.)

Percy

[QUOTE]Originally posted by whitels
[B]Sorry but I've never been a fan of TM. Sounds like another "Slick" teflon oil additive to me - "As Seen On TV" kind of thing. Nothing personal to TM users but it's just my own personal opinion.

How can someone beat the experience of big companies (NGK, ND, Autolite, Champion, etc.) with millions spent on R&D and manufacturing equipment over the years. It'll probably take me having to see Penske use them on his CART cars or Tommi Makinnen use them on the WRX or something like that before I get convinced. I may just be ignorant of this fact but now that we're talking about this, who of the big name racers actually use TMs?

***It's called sponsorship and sales numbers. In the old days you'd have to change out the plugs every 10k miles, every 30k if you're really want to wear them down. Now why would NGK, Autolite, Champion or AC Delco want to risk parts sales numbers and increase their longevity of their plugs? The newer GM's CLAIM 100k before a spark plug changout (northstar) but if you drop in a TM plug, it's pretty much good for the life of the car. I don't think TM has ever sponsored a race event...it's a mom and pop operation.

Which leads me to wonder how much GM and other companies spent millions in R&D and still can't get their cars right. (Place W body brake systems here) Big company backing with no brains...or a motive other than customer satisfaction. Pushing the sales numbers to keep the company happy...that's pretty much the style of most companies. (I'd rank Lexus as an exception)

Percy

SuperLex

Here's a page where you can view pics and see comparisons of all the spark plgs:


http://tiger.towson.edu/~csaftn1/plugs.html

fever

The only problem with your statement is that we have a dyno that says otherwise. The results are measurable, pure and simple. Slick 50 was bull5hit, big difference.

whitels

After researching the threads, I found the dyno and looks like I will eat what I said previously as some hp and tq were squeezed out of the 1uz-fe. Thanks Mean Gene for doing this for us. But I have a few more probing questions before my skeptic mind becomes a TM fanatic:

1. Question for MG: were the iridiums just as new as the TMs at the time of the dyno?

2. Would the TM plugs hold up its advantage over the long haul over the Iridiums? (30K, 60K, 90K).

Thanks for giving light