whats the difference in plugs?

are the 2.2 engines that picky about plugs?

 

the manual says bkr6e-11 is recommended (the cooper)

i have 4 bkr6egp plugs ready which are platinums.

what kind of difference could they make?

i'm not sure why but EJ engines (like yours) are not very forgiving with ignition parts. the stock OEM's are best.

 

is there any reason you're trying something other than the factory recommended plugs?

 

it's all odd to me considering the older EA series engines will run fine with just about anything you throw at them.

Well - you've asked a question about like "does an orange have a core?". I'll explain -

 

Copper plugs have a copper center electrode which conducts heat away from the electrode area "better" - heats up the ceramic insulator and conducts the heat out "better" into the air. It's only sort of related to "hot" plug or "cold" plug That has to do with how fast the electrode area retained heat is dissipated to reduce deposits.

 

Platinum plugs either have a small platinum alloy electrode end or one or 2 thin platinum wire electrodes attached to the outer shell. Mostly for automotive plugs, it's the platinum center electrode stub and the typical steel alloy spark gap adjustment.

 

(Piston aircraft typically platinum plugs were the fine wire with a large center electrode. The intention is to minimize the "wear" from the arc across the gap)

 

Like I said - slightly different intent - "cooler" plug or reduced arc "wear" (actually it's electric arc erosion - we just call it "wear") Somebody probably does both in 1 plug

i'm not sure why but EJ engines (like yours) are not very forgiving with ignition parts. the stock OEM's are best.

 

is there any reason you're trying something other than the factory recommended plugs?

 

it's all odd to me considering the older EA series engines will run fine with just about anything you throw at them.

 

i didnt have the manual on hand at the time... and somebody said this car needed platinums... at least... and i dont remember putting those in originally..

 

they said platinums have a better firing rate...

 

and that's really the only reason i have these now.. i just want whatever plug will make the car run most efficiently with best gas mileage.

 

 

i also JUST read that since the platinums arc better at the same gap, they produce less power. so in order to produce the same power as a copper plug theyre supposed to be gapped farther apart than regular.

In the EJ22 the plugs are easy enough to get at I stay with the V-power in that application and change them more often. Platinums you may be able to get like 60k out of them but it's hard to beat the good 'ol copper V-power for that engine. In the 2.5L's those are a little trickier to change plugs so you might like a longer life plug in that application.

why would anyone buy Platinums when iridium are superior? Platinums are well known to be less forgiving.

why would anyone buy Platinums when iridium are superior? Platinums are well known to be less forgiving.

 

i dont know why. that was kinda part of my question too.

There are no "double-iridium" plugs yet, as far as I can tell. And with a waste-spark ignition, with half of the plugs firing in reverse, both electrodes need to be of the same material in order to realize the extended longevity. By the way, the electrodes on "copper" plugs are not made of copper. They are made of a refractory alloy.

In my opinion, I don't think the 2.2 is that finicky about what plug is used. Any manufacturer's plug that is sold to fit the 2.2 will work okay. I have used Bosch Platinum (with the single electrode) in the 2.2 with good success. No gapping this plug, so no fuss to install. Priced pretty cheap too.

I've used Bosch Platinum single electrodes in all of my OBW's, a 97, an 02 and an 07. All of them ran like tops with the platinum plugs.