Do Sonic Spark Plugs really help gas mileage?

Answer 1

As all racers know there is free horse power to be had on indexing plugs. This is due to the way the supersonic air fuel mixture hits the spark plug. When the piston reaches TDC it causes the air mixture to reach a high rate of speed......... the ground strap can shroud the spark and if the spark is weak to begin with........ well.......... you could have misfires. This causes lower mpg and power output. What most never even consider is how hard it can be on an engine. The harmonics and stresses of uneven pressures on the crank, block and heads not to mention the Cat has to try and burn this spent unburnt fuel and causes excess heat. All in all yes there is power to be had from this modification!! Example. a small block 300hp 350 Chevy will gain 5-7 HP by using indexing washers to point the open end of the plug tward the squish...... AKA the Intake valve direction or straight up works. Just mark your plugs with a perm marker on the insolator........ then install a few.......... see where they end up. Usually out of a set of 8 you can get over half very close if you take some time and test fit each one in the hole....... keep them separated in order of deg. The first time you do this you will wonder and think what a crock but after you run them indexed you will notice the extra power! Now take this idea further!!! the amount of spark that is capible from HEI ignition is not bad but lacks as you do things to gain more HP! Cam, heads, pistons that raise compression all make it harder to ignite the fuel. There are programs and formulas to calulate this but just don't forget to increase the spark volume!! MSD is good but limited, some other so called performance coils and boxes can't keep up with a Good GM stock Unit! My choice is Jackob Ignition systems!!! They don't just hit plug and fuel mixture with 7-9 sparks at an idle so as to avoid miss fired holes but it uses each spark plug as a sensor........ self learning on each tune-up! If the compression stroke is on fire then don't send another spark and take a possibility of blowing the original fire out. If it is not burning when told........ then the Jackobs system hits it again and again till it fires while in the compression stroke range. Now that I have totally put you all to SLEEP!!! I will teach you another trick we racers use....... this is where the sonic plugs are similar to our mods!!! If you were to take and bend the ground strap straight up or straighter.......... then I cheat!!!! I have a Jackobs gapper and it makes a perfect rounded area that is not closer than the spark gap. if you just bend the gap open there is a chance it may be closer in the bend area than the actual gap you intended. Electrons are LAZY like my X! They take the path of least resistance! Ok say we are totally gapped correctly at .045 running a Jackobs ignition system and too boot we indexed the plugs!! Is that all we can do? NOPE! The next step is one I had to have proven to me on a dyno one day!! A budy made a series of pulls........... averaged them. Now we had lunch, ect as the day grew warmer......OK HOTER I knew from school the air was less dense and Dyno numbers would be down already. We pulled the plugs and kept them in order....... then we nipped the ground straps back to where they were dead center of the electrode. If you want a diagram I will send you one. Next we rounded the ground strap. Installed the plugs and set forth making numbers again. Darn if we didn't make an average of over 3HP gain accrost the board!!! If your running a Supercharger or turbo decrease the gap on the plugs until you find where it makes the best power for the coil and spark controller you are running. If you want a really fun kick....... go to the Federal Trade Commission and look up split fire plugs and the law suits for false claims and results. Another simple but not so well known fact is every engine is different....... maybe only slight but it is! I usually check MPG averaged over a few weeks.......... then pull the plugs and add .005 and check MPG again. If it goes up keep up this process till the MPG starts to fall off slightly. Then back off the gap .0025 or 2.5 thou. Oh Use the same gas station if you can....... helps give you true readings. I have other Gas and HP tricks if your interisted.

If you have a true Hemi engine then there is no way to index the plugs......... the plug is centered in each combustion chamber by desighn!! Most snowmobiles, moter bikes are this way. Just a good quality plug with a proper heat range. The more compression you run the cooler the plug rating should be to keeps the eng from detination before spark. This is where I like the Sonic plugs!! quick easy and Im done!!

All in All the sonic plugs do work and take the place of rounding the ground straps some what. I am going to dyno test the sonic plugs against our normal plug mods and find out what one works the best. I personally stay clear of Plat, V grove and other type of plugs. Keep in mind if you have an import........ try NGK!!! If you own a Ford...... Autolite's work GREAT! As for you Chevy guys. Im a simple AC Delco standard plug with my mods and indexing!! Check out MSD and it's back ground, You may notice that all of the sudden everyone jumped on the MSD band waggon all of the sudden. This was because the pattents ran out on MSD. Christopher Jackob was the original inventor! His attitude was oh well......... so what, that is an outdated approach! The new Jackobs systems really ROCK! Some say bigger is always better........ This is not TRUE, some coils claim off the wall Voltage spark power......... problem is they can not sustain that voltage for the required amount of time, Voltage but not enough Amps. hence the stock GM coils on HEI can blow these pretenders away on average! Beware of so called SUPER COILS, check the data sheets, Voltabe over time graph!! A good rule of thumb is if you are getting better MPG with a modificatoin, there is a GREAT chance you have increased the HP output of an engine. Happy Wrenching!! onedazedcowboy@yahoo.com

As all racers know there is free horse power to be had on indexing plugs. This is due to the way the supersonic air fuel mixture hits the spark plug. When the piston reaches TDC it causes the air mixture to reach a high rate of speed......... the ground strap can shroud the spark and if the spark is weak to begin with........ well.......... you could have misfires. This causes lower mpg and power output. What most never even consider is how hard it can be on an engine. The harmonics and stresses of uneven pressures on the crank, block and heads not to mention the Cat has to try and burn this spent unburnt fuel and causes excess heat. All in all yes there is power to be had from this modification!! Example. a small block 300hp 350 Chevy will gain 5-7 HP by using indexing washers to point the open end of the plug tward the squish...... AKA the Intake valve direction or straight up works. Just mark your plugs with a perm marker on the insolator........ then install a few.......... see where they end up. Usually out of a set of 8 you can get over half very close if you take some time and test fit each one in the hole....... keep them separated in order of deg. The first time you do this you will wonder and think what a crock but after you run them indexed you will notice the extra power! Now take this idea further!!! the amount of spark that is capible from HEI ignition is not bad but lacks as you do things to gain more HP! Cam, heads, pistons that raise compression all make it harder to ignite the fuel. There are programs and formulas to calulate this but just don't forget to increase the spark volume!! MSD is good but limited, some other so called performance coils and boxes can't keep up with a Good GM stock Unit! My choice is Jackob Ignition systems!!! They don't just hit plug and fuel mixture with 7-9 sparks at an idle so as to avoid miss fired holes but it uses each spark plug as a sensor........ self learning on each tune-up! If the compression stroke is on fire then don't send another spark and take a possibility of blowing the original fire out. If it is not burning when told........ then the Jackobs system hits it again and again till it fires while in the compression stroke range. Now that I have totally put you all to SLEEP!!! I will teach you another trick we racers use....... this is where the sonic plugs are similar to our mods!!! If you were to take and bend the ground strap straight up or straighter.......... then I cheat!!!! I have a Jackobs gapper and it makes a perfect rounded area that is not closer than the spark gap. if you just bend the gap open there is a chance it may be closer in the bend area than the actual gap you intended. Electrons are LAZY like my X! They take the path of least resistance! Ok say we are totally gapped correctly at .045 running a Jackobs ignition system and too boot we indexed the plugs!! Is that all we can do? NOPE! The next step is one I had to have proven to me on a dyno one day!! A budy made a series of pulls........... averaged them. Now we had lunch, ect as the day grew warmer......OK HOTER I knew from school the air was less dense and Dyno numbers would be down already. We pulled the plugs and kept them in order....... then we nipped the ground straps back to where they were dead center of the electrode. If you want a diagram I will send you one. Next we rounded the ground strap. Installed the plugs and set forth making numbers again. Darn if we didn't make an average of over 3HP gain accrost the board!!! If your running a Supercharger or turbo decrease the gap on the plugs until you find where it makes the best power for the coil and spark controller you are running. If you want a really fun kick....... go to the Federal Trade Commission and look up split fire plugs and the law suits for false claims and results. Another simple but not so well known fact is every engine is different....... maybe only slight but it is! I usually check MPG averaged over a few weeks.......... then pull the plugs and add .005 and check MPG again. If it goes up keep up this process till the MPG starts to fall off slightly. Then back off the gap .0025 or 2.5 thou. Oh Use the same gas station if you can....... helps give you true readings. I have other Gas and HP tricks if your interisted.

If you have a true Hemi engine then there is no way to index the plugs......... the plug is centered in each combustion chamber by desighn!! Most snowmobiles, moter bikes are this way. Just a good quality plug with a proper heat range. The more compression you run the cooler the plug rating should be to keeps the eng from detination before spark. This is where I like the Sonic plugs!! quick easy and Im done!!

All in All the sonic plugs do work and take the place of rounding the ground straps some what. I am going to dyno test the sonic plugs against our normal plug mods and find out what one works the best. I personally stay clear of Plat, V grove and other type of plugs. Keep in mind if you have an import........ try NGK!!! If you own a Ford...... Autolite's work GREAT! As for you Chevy guys. Im a simple AC Delco standard plug with my mods and indexing!! Check out MSD and it's back ground, You may notice that all of the sudden everyone jumped on the MSD band waggon all of the sudden. This was because the pattents ran out on MSD. Christopher Jackob was the original inventor! His attitude was oh well......... so what, that is an outdated approach! The new Jackobs systems really ROCK! Some say bigger is always better........ This is not TRUE, some coils claim off the wall Voltage spark power......... problem is they can not sustain that voltage for the required amount of time, Voltage but not enough Amps. hence the stock GM coils on HEI can blow these pretenders away on average! Beware of so called SUPER COILS, check the data sheets, Voltabe over time graph!! A good rule of thumb is if you are getting better MPG with a modificatoin, there is a GREAT chance you have increased the HP output of an engine. Happy Wrenching!! onedazedcowboy@yahoo.com

As all racers know there is free horse power to be had on indexing plugs. This is due to the way the supersonic air fuel mixture hits the spark plug. When the piston reaches TDC it causes the air mixture to reach a high rate of speed......... the ground strap can shroud the spark and if the spark is weak to begin with........ well.......... you could have misfires. This causes lower mpg and power output. What most never even consider is how hard it can be on an engine. The harmonics and stresses of uneven pressures on the crank, block and heads not to mention the Cat has to try and burn this spent unburnt fuel and causes excess heat. All in all yes there is power to be had from this modification!! Example. a small block 300hp 350 Chevy will gain 5-7 HP by using indexing washers to point the open end of the plug tward the squish...... AKA the Intake valve direction or straight up works. Just mark your plugs with a perm marker on the insolator........ then install a few.......... see where they end up. Usually out of a set of 8 you can get over half very close if you take some time and test fit each one in the hole....... keep them separated in order of deg. The first time you do this you will wonder and think what a crock but after you run them indexed you will notice the extra power! Now take this idea further!!! the amount of spark that is capible from HEI ignition is not bad but lacks as you do things to gain more HP! Cam, heads, pistons that raise compression all make it harder to ignite the fuel. There are programs and formulas to calulate this but just don't forget to increase the spark volume!! MSD is good but limited, some other so called performance coils and boxes can't keep up with a Good GM stock Unit! My choice is Jackob Ignition systems!!! They don't just hit plug and fuel mixture with 7-9 sparks at an idle so as to avoid miss fired holes but it uses each spark plug as a sensor........ self learning on each tune-up! If the compression stroke is on fire then don't send another spark and take a possibility of blowing the original fire out. If it is not burning when told........ then the Jackobs system hits it again and again till it fires while in the compression stroke range. Now that I have totally put you all to SLEEP!!! I will teach you another trick we racers use....... this is where the sonic plugs are similar to our mods!!! If you were to take and bend the ground strap straight up or straighter.......... then I cheat!!!! I have a Jackobs gapper and it makes a perfect rounded area that is not closer than the spark gap. if you just bend the gap open there is a chance it may be closer in the bend area than the actual gap you intended. Electrons are LAZY like my X! They take the path of least resistance! Ok say we are totally gapped correctly at .045 running a Jackobs ignition system and too boot we indexed the plugs!! Is that all we can do? NOPE! The next step is one I had to have proven to me on a dyno one day!! A budy made a series of pulls........... averaged them. Now we had lunch, ect as the day grew warmer......OK HOTER I knew from school the air was less dense and Dyno numbers would be down already. We pulled the plugs and kept them in order....... then we nipped the ground straps back to where they were dead center of the electrode. If you want a diagram I will send you one. Next we rounded the ground strap. Installed the plugs and set forth making numbers again. Darn if we didn't make an average of over 3HP gain accrost the board!!! If your running a Supercharger or turbo decrease the gap on the plugs until you find where it makes the best power for the coil and spark controller you are running. If you want a really fun kick....... go to the Federal Trade Commission and look up split fire plugs and the law suits for false claims and results. Another simple but not so well known fact is every engine is different....... maybe only slight but it is! I usually check MPG averaged over a few weeks.......... then pull the plugs and add .005 and check MPG again. If it goes up keep up this process till the MPG starts to fall off slightly. Then back off the gap .0025 or 2.5 thou. Oh Use the same gas station if you can....... helps give you true readings. I have other Gas and HP tricks if your interisted.

If you have a true Hemi engine then there is no way to index the plugs......... the plug is centered in each combustion chamber by desighn!! Most snowmobiles, moter bikes are this way. Just a good quality plug with a proper heat range. The more compression you run the cooler the plug rating should be to keeps the eng from detination before spark. This is where I like the Sonic plugs!! quick easy and Im done!!

All in All the sonic plugs do work and take the place of rounding the ground straps some what. I am going to dyno test the sonic plugs against our normal plug mods and find out what one works the best. I personally stay clear of Plat, V grove and other type of plugs. Keep in mind if you have an import........ try NGK!!! If you own a Ford...... Autolite's work GREAT! As for you Chevy guys. Im a simple AC Delco standard plug with my mods and indexing!! Check out MSD and it's back ground, You may notice that all of the sudden everyone jumped on the MSD band waggon all of the sudden. This was because the pattents ran out on MSD. Christopher Jackob was the original inventor! His attitude was oh well......... so what, that is an outdated approach! The new Jackobs systems really ROCK! Some say bigger is always better........ This is not TRUE, some coils claim off the wall Voltage spark power......... problem is they can not sustain that voltage for the required amount of time, Voltage but not enough Amps. hence the stock GM coils on HEI can blow these pretenders away on average! Beware of so called SUPER COILS, check the data sheets, Voltabe over time graph!! A good rule of thumb is if you are getting better MPG with a modificatoin, there is a GREAT chance you have increased the HP output of an engine. Happy Wrenching!! onedazedcowboy@yahoo.com