These are advertised in Pop Mechanics. Anyone have any experience with these $25 each spark plugs? Any changes in your cars running or mileage? Thanks
It’s a scam that has been around for years and has been discussed here before.
I knew those things were fake the first time I read them. 1970.
Get brand name plugs for a fraction of the price, that work better than those crap plugs. Just 'cause it’s advertised in PM, doesn’t mean PM supports or endorses the product. All the magazine cares about it money. Hell, if I paid them to run an ad stating that ‘Popular Mechanics supports Nazis,’ they’d probably run it… if I paid them enough.
Greatly overpriced for a product that at best is no worse than average. Advertised in PM does not mean endorsed
All those plugs are are regular spark plugs with a built in air gap that the electricity has to jump before reaching the electrodes. That first air gap kind of “dams up” the electricity and when the voltage is high enough to jump the first gap, the gap that ignites the fuel sees a very steep voltage rise which makes the plugs still fire when badly fouled with carbon deposits. When I rode a two-stroke powered motorcycle, sometimes one of the cylinders would foul a plug and it would be running on only one cylinder. I quickly discovered that I could make that fouled plug fire by pulling the spark plug wire boot up about a quarter of an inch to create a second spark gap.
If a modern car is carbon fouling its plugs, its got bigger problems than spark plugs.
Why is it that so many ads in Popular Mechanics are scams? Should we be reading Popular Mechanics if they don’t take responsibility for the trustworthiness of their advertisers?
There are scams everywhere. PM is a mechanical magazine, so we hear about those. If we were health nuts reading fitness magazines we’d be talking about miracle weight loss, weight gain, and muscle building products that are scams.
IMHO magazines can’t realistically be held responsible for the advertisers’ claims. They’d have to build research labs to test everything, and the magazines would cost $100 an issue.
Why are there SCAMS on TV. Why are the TV stations or Networks selling time to these scam artists. One of the BIGGEST scam artists on TV today is Kevin Trudeau. He’s been indicted (AND FOUND GUILTY) of FRAUD. Yet you see his face OVER AND OVER again on TV selling these scams.
I guess it just seems to me that the probity of advertisers should reflect on the magazine taking their money.
There’s another new one out now called “E3” sparkplugs. I asked the salesman to show me one. He did. I started laughing and then we both started laughing. It has a three legged “cage” (my term) over the center electrode. Just the thing to interfere with the designed-in turbulance and the flame propogation.
These bad gimmicks will never end. Or work.
…you see his face OVER AND OVER again on TV selling these scams.
No…I don’t. I don’t see his face on TV. Do you know why? I vote with my feet. More precisely, I vote with my remote. That is how the free market is supposed to work. In the case of magazine subscriptions, you vote with your dollars. If you know the advertisements are scams and you continue to subscribe to Popular Mechanics you are supporting the scams. The same goes for TV. Don?t we hold the NFL and the network responsible for the probity of Superbowl ads?
Haven’t used these but I did install Bosch Platinum +2 spark plugs (purchased at the WalMart for about 2 bucks each) and am amazed at the incredible improvement in throttle response. The vehicle did 0 to 60 in .6 less seconds than before the installation. That is a worthwhile expenditure for that kind of return. No noticeable change in mpg but I do love these plugs. And, they come pre-gapped so there is less work installing these plugs. Bosch, by the way is the original company to successfully get the patent on the spark plug about 100 years ago. They make lots of automotive products and none are advertised as magical. I don’t believe there are any plugs that will actually drive down fuel consumption, because if there were I am sure the auto makers would use them. Buy Bosch plugs!