Spark Plug Options?
 

Hey guys,
I've been searching for quite a few hours all over the interwebz and can't find anything other than the OEM Denso plugs at about $22 each.. I was wondering if anyone knew of any other options from NGK, etc...?

Thanks, and sorry if this has been brought up before. I may have not searched "hard enough"

Just went with OEM plugs from a Toyota website -- gotta pay to play I guess

There ya go ....... all set for another 60,000 miles.......;) for $88.

Back-in-the-day ...... sparks plugs sold for about $4 per plug.

However, with a V-8, that was $32 a set. A set would last about 5,000 miles.

60,000 miles divided by 5,000 miles = 12 sets @ $32/set = $384.

Plus and additional labor costs (or time) of changing them 11 additional times.

Now, before someone jumps in about the difficulty of changing the plugs in a twin ...... just try to get to the right rear spark plug on a 1956 Ford V-8.

So, do the math and consider yourself ....... saving money ...... :D


humfrz

You can get the HKS one if you want, tiny increment of improvement.... OEM is fine.



*Thou I said the improvement aint much, but it's there near redline.

This is quite strange. Typically Denso and NGK plugs (platinum and iridium) are about $10 each. Slightly less for Denso. I am wondering why these are about double the price. I can typically find deals to replace plugs near free after rebate etc. So to be $22 each a full MSRP is VERY expensive. If there isn't a good reason for it, it is pretty much a ripoff.

I wish i took some pics when i was working for Toyota. But the threaded portion of the plug is slightly longer than most other plugs. That is why it is so expensive.

Maybe it's a supply and demand thing ??...... ;)


humfrz

Yep, case you haven't got the memo, but our spark plugs are pretty much dealer only.

Because stealership

I asked similar questions before.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118923

If you go with Toyota branded version, it is $14 each plus shipping. Total about $70. It is still not cheap. But much better than $88. Let's see who can beat this.

It isn't just a dealership price. They are more expensive anyplace you can find them They are a very specialized plug and the lower volumes mean higher cost.


At least they have a long change out schedule. I can't imagine paying that for plugs in my old 70 R/T where they needed to be changed every three months at the very longest interval. Was not unusual to have to change plugs in the middle of one day on the strip.

You should have used Champians ....... :D


humfrz

Those were Champions! And at $2 a piece they were good Champions.

.......but, but, were they NEW Champion plugs ........ or, used ones, you found by rummaging through the trash cans in the service department of the local dealership ......?? :D


humfrz

Here's what others have dug up.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8267

tl;dr due to the high compression direct injection nature of the FA20 it requires a specific uncommon plug design to operate well.

NGK has some good info on why different plugs matter and the tl;dr there is that different combustion environments need a different kind of spark to operate at the way it was intended to.
https://www.ngksparkplugs.com/about-...rk-plug-basics

Some conclusions you can draw from that: spark plugs are cheap because of economies of scale, there are literally hundreds of millions of spark plugs manufactured every year and I'd bet most of them fall into a few categories. When you make tens of millions of widgets per year you can get production costs very low, but for the FA20/BRZ/FRS/86 they're only making maybe a few hundred thousand per year.

Take the spark plug in a Toyota Camry, instead of making 50 million of those every year you only make 5 million. It doesn't cost any less to setup the factory and maintain the machinery but you are all of a sudden selling 1/10th of before, therefore prices must go up nearly 10-fold to maintain profitability.

And that's how what "should be a $2 spark plug" is now a "$20 spark plug"

(except now rare metals increase base cost but don't necessarily translate into lost profit margin based on economies of scale so we're comparing a $20 plug to a $8 plug)

Why do I think this is true at all? Because if there was any other engine using this spark plug it would have been known years ago and yet every parts website lists it as the only option for this car and nobody else uses it. If you can find something that does then I'll re-evaluate my hypothesis.

Brand new. The old 440 Magnum was just really hard on them. Not as hard as it was on fuel pumps though. Anybody that invested in Mopar parts stock then must have made a killing on me.

This ^ All day long THIS^

Mechanical or electric fuel pump ...?? How did you manage to mess them up ..... :popcorn:

:D


humfrz

Mechanical. The heavy cam I had in it would rip them apart. Happened so often that I could change one on the side of the road in 5 minutes. Eventual went electric and just blanked off the hole in the block. Never had an issue again.

Well, no wonder ..... :eyebulge:

You go and put a big, hairy, long duration, high lift cam in the engine, which the lobe that pushed the arm on the fuel pump, waaay to far and punctured the rubber diaphragm, when it was trying to feed all those carburetors, no doubt linked in series, with enough gas to get your 3 MPG ..... 1/4 mile at a time.......:sigh:

Damn hot rodder!


humfrz

That is the perfect description!

Did the same with the 454 in my Chevelle. Didn't go thru mech pumps, just couldn't deliver for two 850 4 barrels.

So does this mean if/when they stop making the twins we all better go out and buy a few sets of plugs?

^^ When the engine design changes appreciably I think it would be a good idea.

You'll be good at least 5 years after it gets shut down (I'd say closer to 10 before things start getting difficult), good manufacturers stockpile parts to keep cars on the road. There's a chance that the plug type actually becomes more common as compression ratios creep up and direct injection becomes more common. But if that doesn't happen and you're looking for plugs in ~30 years good luck.

But that might be true for all spark plugs at that point. And hey, maybe plug manufacturing becomes a niche industry and they build to order anyway.

Predicting the future is hard.

I wouldn't sweat it too much.
Mind you anybody with NOS ones in 30 years can make a killing.

......ANOTHER old hot rodder ...... :party0030:


humfrz

I was able to get $68.83 shipped !! :happyanim: