996 spark plugs..... and service topic

[tvralfagtv6]

Well here we go, cat meet pidgeon,

In my experience most porsche owners will not even put non porsche approved air in their tyres, and whilst this is commendable for the most part,
it is a little boring, I understand trying a different spark plug brand may not be for most, but I wanted to share my experience of doing just that, for what its worth.

First of all I have a very very pretty 996 facelift 100k and 8 or so stamps in the book(according to porsche non 996 owner mytholgy I should be on 2 Ims bearings new liners and a 10k rebuild any moment now).I never get hung up on service history but understand most potential P car owners with lets say not unlimited funds,not unreasonably look to the service file as a cast iron endorsement of good purchase. Logic would concur, real life thankfully is never as predictable.

All good so far, any way, I self service (quite normal in bike circles) renovate restore etc etc so its always interesting for me to see what a car drives like after 10 years of proper servicing,it should drive like new and Fly? That is my theory, however most people perhaps rightly? will not pay for everything that needs doing , I digress.

So I set about making it drive like new or rather sing as I always do.

Now My fully serviced 996 had lets say a good spread of power but unexciting throttle response when purchased, most of the acceleration happened in first half of throttle, litte real thrust in the back difference was experinced in later part of the throttle.

So I set about the basics changed OIL and Changed oil Filter, changed Air Filter, Changed Air flow Meter, and all these changes made smoothness improvements, but interms of throttle response it was more BMW like rather than aircooled 3.2 carrera. The second half of the throttle still had me thinking it could be better, so i bit the bullet checked temp sensors air temp sensor and embarked on the spark plug change.

Now I am biassed I hate 4 pole long life design spark plugs as on previous engines they had produced similar unresponsive throttle effect, Now there are lots of tech articles on 4 pole designs and hindering flame front etc
I am not expert so will not go there.
I opted for a left field Denso plug twin tip (not twin pole),

interestingly in my fully stamped and serviced car there were NGK plugs in one bank and Bosch in the other.

Wonder which service stamp that happened at?

For those that have not dosed off thus far I must say the difference in my application has been better than I could ever reasonably expect and well worth the 4 hours ( sports exhaust braket in way)the plugs took to replace.

Better than I dared hope..
Throttle response is immediate and the power is everywhere with every mm of throttle changing sound and forward motion.... love it well worth the reduced service interval that a single pole twin tip design will yield. All the other engine sensors and coils have been changed or checked.

I can never sell it now, it has non Porsche OEM plugs in it..

[Magic919]

You probably mean Porsche owners with a Porsche warranty. Plenty of Porsche owners go their own way if they don't have to worry about the terms of the warranty.

[thegoose]

I don't doubt the improvement you've experienced against the random "set" you've removed (and it's likely half of them had been a lot longer than the other half) but the only way to determine if the specific new plugs you've chosen are better than any others is to try them against new sets of Bosch and maybe Beru.

[tvralfagtv6]

Absoloutely correct on both counts, and that would be the ultimate comfirmation,and your right new parts will always be better than old. To confirm in my application with sports cats and exhaust these plugs just seem to be a perfect match from the off, a bit like which fuel you choose, the differences are there. The reason for raising the thread is there has alaways been an NGk Bosch debate on plugs but also If i had relied on the service book I would not be changing the ones in there for 40k miles or so.
And then been underwhelmed by the Porsche experience and longing for my old Boxster s back.

[edc]

I put the Denso Iridiums in my last Boxster. I can't say I noticed any significant difference.

[DasChin]

I just had my 996 GT3 mk2 sorted out as 3 of the coil packs had cracked. put oem beru coil packs on it and bosch plugs in.

no point in putting anything else in as you are kidding yourself and wasting money.

its a standard engine car with standard breathing etc.

if you are that worried about plugs then just change them every year. they are about £30 for a set of 6!

[tvralfagtv6]

Do a search on youtube for vta 3d, about the third article down they compare denso bosch ngk , you might change your mind.Nothing to do with breathing or heat ranges etc.plugs of different designs react differently I have mapped a good few cars in my time,have all ways found a good old fashioned single pole plug preferable and the fact that you can set the gap to optimum is another bonus.

Multi pole plugs are a very heavy compromise. The only benefit is they have is long service life. The 911 plugs are a pain to change...go figure a 4 pole plug is in there.

not looking to convert anyone ,merely share my experience, discuss, but a lot of 996 turbo owners use copper core plugs according to the Renlist forum and change them often.

I can understand this rationale from my experience.