Is it worth paying extra for iridium spark plugs? Advantages and disadvantages

Denso IW20, Denso W20 EPR

It’s not easy to pay about 3,000 rubles for a set of candles, knowing that your neighbor paid less than a hundred for similar ones. All the advantages of an expensive purchase are only in the future: the long mileage promised by advertising, some percentage of daily fuel savings, ease of starting... In addition, there is no need for frequent replacement: on a modern engine this is a labor-intensive and expensive procedure.

We decided to evaluate two polar designs from one reputable company in order to compare not the technology of different manufacturers, but the idea itself embodied in metal, all other things being equal. The choice fell on Denso.

Iridium IW20 are the obvious leaders in miniaturization of the central electrode: only 0.4 mm. It is the thin electrode that promotes better self-cleaning and, accordingly, extends the service life. They were accompanied by the usual W20 EPR-U. The initial difference in cost is approximately fivefold.

Which iridium spark plugs are better?

Let's take a quick look at two of the most well-known spark plug manufacturers using non-standard spark plug materials.

1. NGK. The first company to use iridium to produce durable and erosion-resistant spark plug electrodes. Today it produces several models of iridium spark plugs for various types of internal combustion engines. IFR5E13 spark plugs with an optimal price-quality ratio have gained the most popularity.

1. One of the world's leading companies producing components for ignition systems. Denso iridium spark plugs, despite their rather high cost, show high performance characteristics.

Remember that when purchasing spark plugs with iridium electrodes, you must follow the engine manufacturer’s recommendations:

• the size of the gap between the electrodes;
• resistance in the central electrode;
• heat number.

You can buy spark plugs for your car at the best price in the TopDetal.ru store. Call the phone number indicated in the header of the site or leave a request for a call back.

An increase in CH toxicity indicates disturbances in the combustion process.

An increase in CH toxicity indicates disturbances in the combustion process.
An increase in CH toxicity indicates disturbances in the combustion process.

According to the resource, the count in engine hours is 360:240. In all operational parameters - from consumption to toxicity levels - iridium is also confidently ahead.

Hence the conclusion: if you have an expensive modern car and you put a lot of miles on it, it makes sense to spend money on iridium. But if the car is so-so, and only travels no more than 5 thousand a year, you are unlikely to recoup the investment. Such is the deceit of expensive things...

Mikhail Kolodochkin, and associate professor of the department of internal combustion engines of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Ph.D. Alexander Shabanov

Choosing spark plugs: iridium or regular?

Background

Spark plugs were first modified at the end of the 20th century. Then the racers noticed that reducing the diameter of the central electrode made it possible to achieve an increase in the power of the power unit. We did this ourselves, using a small file - a needle file.

However, such innovations sharply reduced the service life of parts. Manufacturers took this point into account and began searching for an alloy that could increase the service life of spark plugs several times. And such an alloy turned out to be iridium.

Does it make sense to use “long-lasting” candles if you can buy ordinary ones?

Choosing spark plugs: iridium or regular?

Frequency of spark plug replacement

The interval between the installation of new platinum elements of the ignition system is 60 thousand km. However, this mileage is adjusted depending on several factors:

1. Style and driving style. With intensive use and aggressive driving, the temperature increases and the service life of the spark plug decreases.
2. When refueling with low-quality fuel, carbon deposits on the electrodes increase. The performance of the product decreases and amounts to 20 thousand km.
3. On a serviceable engine, the service life corresponds to that declared by the manufacturer.
4. The age of the car and its make. Typically, the service life of spark plugs running on foreign cars is higher than on domestic cars. The older the car, the more often consumables need to be replaced.
5. Environmental conditions. With temperature changes and sudden changes in air humidity, the shelf life and performance of components decreases.

Among the spark plugs on the market, owners of modern cars should choose platinum spark plugs. In terms of performance and technical characteristics, they are ahead of simple nickel ones, and in price - iridium ones.

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Spare parts and consumables

Iridium spark plugs are a serious competitor to platinum devices. The technical characteristics of a car can be significantly improved if a set of conventional elements is replaced with a set of iridium. These candles are stronger and therefore last longer than ordinary ones.

Features of iridium

It was this metal, thanks to its unique properties, that could become a competitor to the traditional spark plugs that were used before. Such products first saw the light of day in 1994 and were adopted by the famous manufacturer NGK. Before this, products made from platinum were considered the highest quality, but iridium had a higher melting point, as well as corrosion resistance. They began to make spark plug tips from it, thereby achieving increased engine performance.

By the way, this metal melts at a temperature of almost 2500 degrees Celsius. It is widely used in a number of modern industries. However, pure iridium cannot boast of high electrical conductivity, and it is also fragile, which makes it difficult to perform various works with it. At the moment, it costs less on the market than platinum, so iridium candles are installed by owners of different brands of cars, including VAZ car owners.

In fact, very little of this metal is required; tips are equipped with it, as well as grounding electrodes. Essentially, these are pieces of wire that we find in our spark plugs. But millions of similar products are produced on an industrial scale around the world every year. The alloy of this metal is already highly electrically conductive, so the tips can be made really tiny, but they manage to concentrate the necessary electrical charge. Because of this, combustion in the cylinders improves when driving in various modes, and there is practically no loss of spark.

Cleaning

If the vehicle suddenly breaks down, you need to check the spark plugs. If, when checking the elements of the ignition system, you notice carbon deposits, you can clean them yourself. How to clean iridium spark plugs? You just need to not deviate from the rules.

Cleaning methods at home:

1. Manually using sandpaper, a metal brush, a stiff hair brush or a nylon brush. This method only works if the deposit is minor. If devices are flooded, you must first dry them and then clean them.
2. You can heat the iridium device until it turns red. But this method is quite aggressive, since high temperatures destroy the ceramic insulation of these devices. And therefore it will serve you no more than 8,000 km. After heating, carbon deposits and residual mixture can be cleaned with a metal brush.
3. Also, devices made of this metal can be cleaned using household chemicals. To do this, you need to pour dishwashing detergent into a basin and dip the spark plug in it. After 12 minutes, the carbon deposits will become soft and can be washed off even with a sponge. Moreover, you need to lower the candle with the contact side down and dip it halfway.

After such a procedure, iridium devices will not be able to function 100%, but the motor will still work.

Cleaning such products with detergent is one of the most effective cleaning methods. Using this method, you can restore the full functioning of the spark gap. All you need to do is leave the device in the solution for 24 hours, clean the electrodes, the spark gap and install everything in place.

But the leader in cleaning iridium spark plugs is the sandblasting method. Sandblasting is a special unit that can be used to clean the surface of metal, stone with sand or other special powder sprayed with a stream of air. In order to properly clean products from carbon deposits, you need to bend the side electrodes. In addition, the candle must be constantly turned over for more effective cleaning.

To ensure that the problem occurs as late as possible, simply use high-quality fuel. High-quality, durable, wear-resistant and economical - all these are iridium spark plugs. The photo below shows what a new device should look like and one that is contaminated with carbon deposits.

What advantages are we talking about?

Manufacturers claim, and their words are confirmed by the results of bench tests conducted by practitioners, the following advantages of iridium spark plugs:

• Improved cold start. Thanks to the central electrode being almost twice as thin, the sparking voltage required is much lower. This ensures the formation of a high-quality, powerful spark, which is especially important under operating conditions in the northern regions of the country, where morning temperatures drop to -40°C and below. When starting under such conditions, it is important to ignite the air-fuel mixture in the first seconds, before the spark plugs are filled - iridium spark plugs do an excellent job of this task.
• Stable engine operation at idle speed. When the engine is running at idle speed, better ignition of the lean air-fuel mixture is ensured, which solves the problem of “floating” speed, which often occurs when using conventional spark plugs.
• Increased engine efficiency. According to some experimental data, the use of iridium spark plugs can increase engine performance by 5-10%.
• Reduced fuel consumption. An increase in engine efficiency in approximately the same proportion leads to a decrease in fuel consumption, which is natural.
• Reducing exhaust toxicity. As mentioned above, iridium spark plugs allow you to get a more powerful and high-quality ignition spark in all engine operating modes. In this case, more efficient ignition and combustion of the air-fuel mixture occurs. As a result, the content of toxic substances and CO2 in vehicle exhaust gases is reduced.
• Increased resource. Since the central electrode of the spark plug is made of iridium, the rate of burnout of the electrode during operation is extremely slow. With proper operation, absence of mechanical damage and using high-quality fuel, the service life of an iridium spark plug can be 100-120 thousand kilometers . Manufacturers, as a rule, claim an even longer service life, but Russian practitioners recommend replacing them no later than 100-120 thousand kilometers. This is undoubtedly an excellent indicator, since the resource of ordinary spark plugs, for example, is only 20 thousand kilometers.
• Economic feasibility in some cases. On some V-engine models, access to the spark plugs can be extremely difficult. In fact, carrying out such a simple procedure as replacing spark plugs is impossible without visiting a service station, and this is an additional expense, often quite high. Installing candles with an increased resource is an excellent solution to this problem.

Along with the obvious advantages of iridium spark plugs in a number of performance characteristics, they also have disadvantages, the list of which, however, is significantly smaller.

The best spark plugs for a car are platinum or iridium

The operation of internal combustion engines is directly related to spark plugs. The durability of the engine, the quality of the spark supply, and traffic safety depend on their correct choice. Platinum and iridium igniters became one of the best sellers, despite their high cost. Let's see which ones are better right now.

Platinum and iridium SZ

Myths and truth

You may get the impression that iridium spark plugs are better than platinum spark plugs. This is only partly true. It all depends on the specific engine, which may be compatible with a certain type of arsonist. And on some engines, efficiency may not be noticeable when changing the spark plug material.

The use of iridium on low-octane engines can lead to undesirable consequences. This is, at best, fuel detonation, and at worst, engine destruction. Operating efficiency also decreases due to excessive carbon deposits on the spark plugs.

As for the shared resource, there is not much difference. Although iridium ones have a higher mileage declared by the manufacturer, the actual mileage will be the same, especially in the territory of the former USSR. Everything is explained by the driver’s rule to make an allowance of 20-40 percent when calculating the total mileage of parts.

On this basis, we can give useful advice: immediately look at the type of candles installed and buy only them. And if you want to change to another type in order to improve driving characteristics, contact experienced car operators. They will definitely suggest the optimal solution. But no one forbids experimenting, the main thing is that the car is no longer under warranty.

Iridium or conventional – which is better?

Now we come to the most interesting part, but what is actually better than the iridium options - the usual ones?

There are few differences here, but as many manufacturers assure, they are significant:

Sometimes the central and side electrodes are doped (as it becomes clear) with iridium. Now there are different application options:

Two small spots on the electrodes (which are made using conventional technology)

Alloying of the central part with iridium, and a special U-shaped groove is made on the side, but it is not alloyed

Two electrodes, opposite each other. One is platinum, the other is iridium.

As we know, this noble metal has very good characteristics of melting, wear resistance, corrosion and electric current transmission.

Also, the central part is usually narrowed, making it literally like a needle. If you compare the central electrode of a regular spark plug, it is approximately 2.4 - 2.8 mm, but the iridium version is only 0.5 - 0.8 mm.

This way we get a concentrated and very strong spark. And the coating or soldering of this noble metal makes the working surface virtually wear-free. That is, the gap between the electrodes lasts a VERY long time, many say about 100 - 150,000 km. BUT nothing lasts forever, as soon as the coating of this platinum group metal is destroyed, the working surfaces of the electrodes are literally immediately destroyed

I know, many can - but why can’t ordinary candles have the same thin central part? Everything is simple here - the combination of iron-nickel with copper and chromium cannot also perfectly withstand electrical discharges, temperature, corrosion like an opponent made of noble metal, it will simply wear out and collapse faster (literally in 10-15,000 km), thereby increasing the gap and worsening characteristics. That is why it is made much thicker so that it can withstand the effects of an aggressive environment.

Minuses

Iridium spark plugs have a high price. And this is perhaps their main drawback. They are much more expensive than classic sets, but their long service life compensates for this disadvantage.

Also, it all depends on the car brand and functionality, that is, they are not suitable for older models. Iridium devices are only suitable for modern and high-tech car brands. They are used for highly efficient engines, and classic devices are also suitable for standard models. If you use such elements in vehicles with low-power engines, then their cost will most likely not be worth it.

Iridium devices are not suitable for cars (even if it is a new model) with high mileage. If you install spark plugs made from this material in a car with high mileage, they will wear out quickly. As a result, the performance of the vehicle will deteriorate sharply. Although - unlike classic ones - iridium products wear out much later.

After cleaning a spark plug made of this metal, it will inevitably lose its functionality, but the motor will still work for some time.

No other shortcomings were noticed with iridium spark plugs.

Properties of iridium as a material

Innovative air-fuel mixture igniters are manufactured by laser welding of iridium electrodes. Melting point is about 2,500 degrees. Since the beginning of the 21st century, iridium has been used in industry for the production of igniters.

In the industrial industry, not pure iridium is used, but alloys. It is impossible to work with the material in its pure form - it is too fragile, its electrical conductivity is low. But alloys improve the quality of the final product many times over. Alloys are used to make electrodes with much thinner tips. With such components, the engine runs smoother and the car accelerates faster.