On January 28th, 2008 we tested a 2004 Jetta GLI.
We installed new NGK Iridium plugs at .030” gap and ran our first set of tests. The 40-80mph passing test with the stock plugs was 8.04 seconds over a distance of 0.14 miles. The power pull resulted in 210HP @ 5550rpm and 249Ft/Lb @ 2950rpm with an average 212hp and 187Ft/Lb. The mileage test yielded 609.45cc of consumption.
After this series of testing we installed new Pulstar BE-1 plugs and ran the exact same tests again. The 40-80mph passing test took 7.15 seconds over a distance of 0.12 miles. The power pull gave us 219 hp @ 5450rpm and 256Ft/Lb @ 3300rpm with an average 221HP and 195Ft/Lb. The mileage test took 530.34cc to complete.
Overall, we got a 9hp (4.3%) increase in peak HP and 7Ft/Lb (2.8%) increase in peak torque and as you can see above, these numbers are true throughout the entire power band, not just a small part of it. We cut 40-80mph acceleration by 0.88 seconds giving you an 11% reduction in time to 80 and a reduction in fuel consumption of 79.12cc or 13%.
Lets take a brief look at what is out there for this car. A cold air intake for this Jetta is in the range of $230-350, depending on the company you get it from and the filter you use, and 9 HP is at the high end of typical results from a cold air intake at wide open throttle only, as is the case with most intake and exhaust systems. Just comparing these two items you have $12.53 per horsepower from the Pulstar plugs and $25.56-38.89 per horsepower for a CAI. A cat-back system for this car will average about $620 and at that price the exhaust system would have to help make an additional 49.4 HP to match the cost per HP that the plugs offer; and that, as we all know, isn't going to happen.www.pulstarplug.com
