Pepe

Another thing to keep in mind:

Spark plugs that come from the factory are design to provide good performance over a wide range of conditions (temps, fuels, tune of vehicles, etc.)

As in my case, I don't have winters and push the car hard on SoloX and track days so a plug heat range slightly colder would be good, not just to make power, but to keep the power I have.

I have also heard the stories about the HKS or Denso Iridium plugs making power but would like to confirm at the dyno if it's worth the money ($25 a plug) before jumping to conclusions.

In conclusion: Not a place to look for power but it's always good to have properly gap, with the correct heat range plugs.

honda_s2k

It certainly does suck. I used to listen to sports talk radio but it's getting to be depressing. The Red Sox were a big let down. No one expected big things from the Patriots but they are pathetic this year. The Celtics are a joke and the Bruins owner could care less about spending money to build a contender. And the NY teams have ripped us to shreds this year, too!

I can hardly wait until Spring training.

turbo_pwr

Pepe, good point I have used the HKS plugs on my GSX and I have found them to be excellent plugs although more expensive. I know of people who have gained 1-3hp from new plugs but that is all part of a proper tune-up. So Charlie to try and answer your question, it can help to change them, it cannot hurt if gapped properly (but I bet you already knew that). If you ever try the iridium ones let me know what you think.

fluxen

Do keep in mind that those Honda engineers *were* working with a definite target price for the car, and had to work within it. While I have no doubt that we are not going to out-engineer Honda with the same budget, I also *know* that there are improvements that can be made to the car, as long as we're willing to spend more on, say, shocks than Honda was.

How is it that the Mugen header is an improvement? I would assume from your statement that with Honda having engineered the oem header, you couldn't do any better...
Nevermind that it's not *much* of an improvment, and it's expensive as hell, it still points to the fact that not everything is F1 spec in the car. Mellow out, man.


[This message has been edited by fluxen (edited October 16, 2000).]

Zippy

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bieg:
[B]Don't you think Honda knows what spark plugs give the best performance?

I am constantly amazed at people who can own this car and not realize what an amazing feat of engineering Honda has accomplished.

RDLN9K

Yeah its Law Enforcement Officer Bieg....Break any speeding laws lately

Jeez......

VaporTrail

Oh boy, it's Captain Cautious Beig back at the helm!

He wouldn't change his air filter if it didn't say to in the manual. He would not change his oil if it did not get dirty. Hell, he'd probably buy genuine OEM wiper blades just because the manual told him to. Guess you'll only be buying S-02's for the life of the car too I suppose? Be sure to buy them from Honda, so you get the extra 50% increase in price and the satisfaction of having an OEM part

In all seriousness, a change in spark plugs could be worth it. One heat range cooler could preserve power, and helpful to those who do not have winter conditions to contend with. On top of that, Honda uses platinum plugs not because they perform better, it's so they can say it needs no tune ups for 100k miles. Big whoop. It's a known fact that both iridium as well as the old favorite copper plugs have better conductivity than platinum, thus offering a more intense spark, and more complete combustion. And copper plugs are very cheap (less than 4 bucks a pop), so a change would not be so risky to try and obtain a slight edge. Could it hurt? Not likely. If you like the results, spend the extra dough when they need replacing and get the iridium plugs from Denso, HKS, etc. They have the same benefits as copper plugs, but last as long as platinum, but they are pricey. I predict one day they will be standard equipment on production vehicles.

Now if you decide to keep copper plugs, you'll want to change them about every 15k miles for optimum performance.

Unless you want to drive forever on the same plugs just because they are OEM...

Bieg

BTW for all you "experts" out there. The spark plug's "Heat Range" has NOTHING to do with outside air temp.

Like I said in another post, no one has shown even 20 HP gain in any modifications they have made (short of increasing displacement or forced induction) so Honda certainly got it right and beyond that is warranteeing it to boot.

Just because you want to spend money and think you are making "improvements" does not make it so. At best there are perhaps marginal improvements with certain trade offs and at worse you screw up a great car.

But they are your cars and you can do what you want. You pay your money and you take your pick.

You may want to keep in mind one thing. If you saw two 67 Corvettes for sale and one looked like it just rolled of the showroom floor absolutely stock and the other had a bevy of aftermarket modifications and no original equipment which would you want to own? It is already a given which is worth more so there is no argument there.

So do what you want but it would be a shame to screw up a very special automobile like the S2000.

Prolene

True, but it's nice to make it a little better, too. This car is for fun and tinkering sports car for me. I understand value of stock, and I have chosen to do so with the BRG "Special Edition" Miata circa 1990 now with 3500 mi. Showroom like, maybe better.

cdelena