Pulstar Plugs-

[Joesturbo]

Ok, flamesuite on - I know most of you guys don't buy into these kinds of products, but working on promoting my site. Will be doing a solid write up once I get the GTi to the dyno...

Like everyone, I like to tune my vehicles with aftermarket performance parts. To that end, I like to take the route of performance based efficiency. So with so many mods on my GTi which speak to that measure, I was curious about a new product on the market called "Pulstar plugs". They use a unique design which reminds me of a similar concept of performance wires that I installed from Nology on my VR6 Corrado. They use capacitors to help increase the amount of electricity being sent to the spark plug.

Today because of coil pack based ignition systems, you don't have spark plug wires, so what does one do when they want to increase the performance of the ignition system? Well basically you only had one option until today, buy a fully custom solution which is very expensive and complicated to achieve. The Pulstar plugs build on this methodology (Nology) and place the capacitor in the spark plug itself. A novel and creative way to get this type of ignition enhancing technology into the 21st century.

So I contact Pulstar and got a couple of sets for my vehicles... I installed the first set on my wifes Audi A4 1.8T Avant (quattro). A heavy vehicle with drive train loss due to the all wheel drive system. I have had several recent trips mainly highway where I have watched the fuel economy to be an average of 28-30 MPG. So it is a good test bed to try and see if these plugs could make a difference. Another aspect to these plugs, going back to the performance factor here is a note from their web site: "Pulse plugs have 10 times more peak power than spark plugs and ultimately improve the performance of your vehicle as well as the performance of all aftermarket performance products. Pulse plugs simply ignite fuel better and should be the very first step in improving your engine's performance."

So I was excited to see what the results would be... I installed the plugs and per the instructions, it can take up to 2 hours of driving or approximately 200 miles for the ECU to make adjustments before "real" improvements are known.

Once I fired up the car, I immediately noticed a smother running engine. Everyone knows the 1.8Turbo engine is not exactly buttery smooth, but I did notice an increased smooth idle. Cruzzing down the road, I also noticed and increase in throttle response and overall the engine seemed to pull better by the seat of the pants dyno. I reset my MFA and trip odometer to start to see what kind of economy I was getting when I filled up with fresh 93 octane from Shell. At the end of the tank and going down the highway on an average of 70mph I got an average of 31MPG. On the way back from my trip, I followed the same procedure and saw an increase to 33MPG.

Now that does not sound like a huge change but if you run the numbers it is rather significant. I am excited to see how the car does going forward... I also have another set to install in my GTi- however I am waiting for a day off to take my car to a local shop which has a dyno. I will be doing a write up on the dyno experience by setting a baseline with the factory fresh OEM plugs and then installing the Pulstar plugs and doing another pull.

Keep in mind if you are highly modified the company does not recommend using these plugs as they will be to hot for your application...

Will let you know what the outcome is soon!

Link to Pulstar
http://www.pulstarplug.com/

[mxrz]

Snake oil.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

well they kicked us out:

"If you have added an aftermarket turbocharger, supercharger, nitrous or any other product that increases displacement or compression to your engine you will require a colder heat range pulse plug in order to avoid possible damage to your engine."

[Maverick]

I am still going to run Denso iridium IK27

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^I have them they rock!

[Arclight]

Joes,
I got the same MPG results (33-34) w/ a fresh set of OEM NGK PFR6Qs...

[04QuattroTurbo]

They are not cheap, interested in the results of your dyno.

[Killerteve]

Are these the plugs they mentioned in Eurotuner a few months ago?

[cliff2.7]

I have about 7000 miles on my 2.7 A6 and they are awesome. My brother runs them on his A4 that is chipped. Great torque. I get a ton of torque and 21.8 in city and 28 on highway. Use BESTPLUGS as a promo and save 10%. I put them in 8 vehicles with excellent results. I also noticed my tailpipes are clean. The car has 100k and after 7k with the plugs my tailpipes are almost back to shiny steel. Runs much better under all conditions. If you are the type to install and K&N or an aftermarket exhaust, you will get much better results with these plugs. They add torgue at low RPM's so they are a great compliment to high RPM add ons. Super cold starts are vastly improved.

[mxrz]

I have about 7000 miles on my 2.7 A6 and they are awesome. My brother runs them on his A4 that is chipped. Great torque. I get a ton of torque and 21.8 in city and 28 on highway. Use BESTPLUGS as a promo and save 10%. I put them in 8 vehicles with excellent results. I also noticed my tailpipes are clean. The car has 100k and after 7k with the plugs my tailpipes are almost back to shiny steel. Runs much better under all conditions. If you are the type to install and K&N or an aftermarket exhaust, you will get much better results with these plugs. They add torgue at low RPM's so they are a great compliment to high RPM add ons. Super cold starts are vastly improved.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/search...earchid=196198

^ You spent 12 of your 15 posts you have on AZ ass kissing Pulstar plugs,

[oregonaudi]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/search...earchid=195394

^ You spent 12 of your 15 posts you have on AZ ass kissing Pulstar plugs,

Sketch...

[jbrown7815]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/search...earchid=195394

^ You spent 12 of your 15 posts you have on AZ ass kissing Pulstar plugs,

LMFAO

[Papachristou]

its a good/free advertising trick for them.. get on lots of forums, throw up few posts...

[kwimberly]

Looks like they filed a patent application:

http://www.google.com/patents?id=CHG...gnee:enerpulse

[A4ringedONE8T]

Good luck trying to make power on them, they suck and will blow out. Customer just had us put them in on a 3071R 2.0FSI, blew them up in a day

[dirtybrd]

On a stock motor they're probably great.

[Joesturbo]

Joes,
I got the same MPG results (33-34) w/ a fresh set of OEM NGK PFR6Qs...

Man, I totally forgot about this post - just been to busy over the summer I guess...

Ok, you might but did you get that kind of millage with a fully loaded Avant with 3 people and no room for anything else? Also this was cruzzing in 95 degree weather wtih the AC on the coldest setting.

To me it is amazing to see this kind of economy... I have not done the dyno on the GTi as of yet - again just to busy.

My car (Avant) only has a K&N and I keep her pretty clean that is about it - this is where the GTi will come in as it has much more done to it.

Joe

[Joesturbo]

Good luck trying to make power on them, they suck and will blow out. Customer just had us put them in on a 3071R 2.0FSI, blew them up in a day

It says not to use them with highly tuned vehicles - so I don't think you case makes sense...

Also as the above poster posted - yes indeed my car is burning more effieciently as the tips on the exhaust are indeed cleaner. I only have to wash it down with soap and water to clean it now.

[04QuattroTurbo]

Be careful with these, I was Googling the plugs when I ran into someone in the EVO forums that has one of them detonate on him and had to rebuild his engine. They were too long or something, I forgot what. I posted the link and info in this forum as a warning.

[B6Lovin]

Be careful with these, I was Googling the plugs when I ran into someone in the EVO forums that has one of them detonate on him and had to rebuild his engine. They were too long or something, I forgot what. I posted the link and info in this forum as a warning.

longer = to high of a heat range.

from my understanding - the way that they rate a heat range has to do with where the tip of the plug sits in the combustion chamber. obviously the actual combustion will have the most energy (heat) right around the point of ignition, and will lose energy as it moves outward.

by moving the plug further up towards the top of the motor some of that heat is drawn into the head and then is dissipated out into the surrounding air. this is what makes a "colder" plug.

those plugs being too long means they're too hot and probably caused all kinds of issues on a boosted motor like that. really its no surprise at all that they had problems with them - any similar plug probably would have exhibited a similar failure.

im sure those things are great in a stock motor, or a N/A motor -- but for us.. it's just too much.

plus, how do you gap those things? seems a little to complicated of a design to gap like normal.

[MikTip]

Something to consider....

You increase the buring of fuel inside the combustion chamber(IE, less soot out the tail pipe) this increases the level of contaminents into the engine oil...

Also the flame inside the combustion chamber is a highly engineered process,
which is specifically controlled by the fuel & ignition systems on our cars. The initial effect of the plugs maybe gains, but what are their "long-term" effects?

[BLACKa4QUAT]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/search...earchid=196198

^ You spent 12 of your 15 posts you have on AZ ass kissing Pulstar plugs,

pwnd.

i'm sure these plugs are snake oil, but hey they sell those turbonator things, so there's suckers for anything, especially when they claim minimal power gains, along with bogus, unproven science.

[BLACKa4QUAT]

To me it is amazing to see this kind of economy... I have not done the dyno on the GTi as of yet - again just to busy.

i think the placebo effect can make something seem more significant than it is, me i wont waste money on these plugs, and just stick with my ngk coppers, 1.59 a pop.. switch em out every 10k miles or so. i'd rather go with whats proven to work with our cars. i used copper ngk's for 40k miles on my b6, ran beautifully.

[Papachristou]

whats weird is the one guy talking about the inside of his tail pipes getting cleaner? WTF? soot isnt coming off unless you scrub it and like mike said the stuff has to go somewhere so if it isnt coming out the back, its going in the oil.

i also agree our cars were highly engineered for certain conditions, throwing 100x more spark inside there cant be healthy for the long term

[GarbatyA4]

BKR7ES-11 FTW

They are cheap and they work. Why fuck around?

WHY WHY WHY WHY?

LOL

Anyways, NGK stock number is #2387

Enjoy.

[04QuattroTurbo]

longer = to high of a heat range.

from my understanding - the way that they rate a heat range has to do with where the tip of the plug sits in the combustion chamber. obviously the actual combustion will have the most energy (heat) right around the point of ignition, and will lose energy as it moves outward.

by moving the plug further up towards the top of the motor some of that heat is drawn into the head and then is dissipated out into the surrounding air. this is what makes a "colder" plug.

those plugs being too long means they're too hot and probably caused all kinds of issues on a boosted motor like that. really its no surprise at all that they had problems with them - any similar plug probably would have exhibited a similar failure.

im sure those things are great in a stock motor, or a N/A motor -- but for us.. it's just too much.

plus, how do you gap those things? seems a little to complicated of a design to gap like normal.

Actually, the thread I was reading in the EVO forum that came up during my search indicated that the plugs were too long...like physically. They shot a comparison shot with the OEM and it was physically longer.

[B6Lovin]

Actually, the thread I was reading in the EVO forum that came up during my search indicated that the plugs were too long...like physically. They shot a comparison shot with the OEM and it was physically longer.

i know -- that's what i was saying. a higher heat range plug physically sits lower in the combustion chamber. less energy from ignition is transferred into the head and then dissipated because of this.

colder plugs are shorter, thus closer to the head, thus more transfer.

[old guy]

BKR7ES-11 FTW

They are cheap and they work. Why fuck around?

WHY WHY WHY WHY?

LOL

Anyways, NGK stock number is #2387

Enjoy.

Actually you should not use the -11 plug. the -11 signifies a pregap of 11mm (.044") which is too much for the 1.8T. If you get the standard pregap it is assumed at 8mm (.031").

cheers!

[Joesturbo]

Actually, the thread I was reading in the EV forum that came up during my search indicated that the plugs were too long...like physically. They shot a comparison shot with the OEM and it was physically longer.

I did compare the OEM versions and these plugs - the physical dimensions are the same - that is one part I wanted to make sure of. If true the colder plugs are shorter, then the physics of a colder plug being shorter makes sense - but these plugs are not made for applications which need them.

Also yes the soot is less because of the fact that the fuel is burning more completely per revolution. Indeed a more complete burn of the fuel creates less by products i.e. emissions. If the theory of a having a less efficient ignition was true, why do race cars and aftermarket solutions go with high current ignition systems? It is because they want to make sure they are utilizing all of the fuel being sent into each chamber.

If you are not burning all of the fuel properly, you will actually be sending more by products into the EGR and back to the engine and the oil will contain more contaminants not less.

[B6Lovin]

EGR... lawlz

[JMRQuattro]

You know what i'm wondering is how can they claim that just because it's a bigger spark that it will actually ignite the gas more fully. It just seems like once it gets an ignition source that it would have a trail effect and the rest would ignite. So it is still limited to how much gas is in there anyway. Just because you lit it "stronger" doesn't mean the same amount of gas and air is going to explode any bigger or better. It's like lighting WD40 or hairspray on fire, you can't just light half of the damn puddle on fire, or half of the stream on fire, once you light part of it it's all going to burn. So if you do see results i will be very surprised as to how that works. I'm curious though because i just found the trifold pamphlet yesterday at schucks and i was debating on whether to buy some of these.

what results did you get from this anyway?