Dynamometer Error

In testing, there is always a margin of error that the tester must deal with. Usually, you take a few samples, throw out the number that's high and or low and use the remaining numbers. If we do that, are we still able to take what remains and legitimately say that we see a 2-6 horsepower increase and it isn't just dyno error.

Above is the dyno results from a 2004 Acura RSX Type-S. Stock plugs vs Pulstar plugs we saw an 8 HP peak increase and a 2 Ft-Lb peak torque increase. I took all 3 runs from the stock test and 3 from the Pulstar test and superimposed the graphs on top of each other. You can see the numbers at the bottom are skewed because of the differing results from the runs.

The grouping is very good, a definite indicator of the consistency of our dyno runs, even the 2 pound increase in peak torque can be differentiated between the two types of plugs. Most of our tests look like this. We do have some that literally superimpose each other so the 3 results printed looks like one run.

www.pulstar.com

Independent Verification

We get asked about independent tests quite a bit here. This is to be expected with the amount of products aimed towards the 'automotive enthusiast' that are completely bogus products. They sometimes make perfect sense in theory but when it comes to feeling or noticing any benefit you never can tell, usually because there is nothing to feel.

The following links are what we have as of today, March 11th, 2008. Remember, we didn't provide them the information they published, they did their own testing. I know that's a given seeing as it's independent testing but if I don't say it a lot of people just assume it true.

DSport Magazine has published their results in the March 2008 issue. We have a pdf copy of those pages here.

Modified Magazine published their short test in the April 2008 issue available here in pdf format.

Sparkplugs.com did a test using a Neon SRT-4 here.

Change2E85.com makes E85 conversion kits for vehicles and noticed a very decent increase in fuel economy in their tests.

www.pulstar.com

1992 Acura Integra

We test late-model low-mileage cars most of the time. You can tell from our test results so far that 2000 was the earliest car we've tested. I do get asked how the plugs will work on an older engine so here it is, a car that has 107,987 miles on the odometer going though the ringer.

With new stock plugs installed we got 144 horsepower at 6100 rpm and 138 Ft-Lb of torque at 5000 rpm. Acceleration from 40 tp 80mph took 14.35 seconds over a distance of .24 miles and the engine ate 1039.47 cc of fuel on the fuel economy trace.

BE-1 Pulstar plugs set to a .044" gap and installed to a hot engine brought power up to 151 horsepower at 6100 rpm and 143 Ft-Lb of torque at 5000 rpm. Acceleration dropped to 13.51 seconds over .23 miles and fuel consumption also dropped to 978.15 cc.

So how did an engine that has almost 108k miles of wear on it fair? We gained 7 HP(4.86%), 5 Ft-Lb(3.62%), decreased acceleration time by .84 seconds(5.85%) and increased fuel economy by 5.9%. Not bad, not bad at all.

www.pulstar.com

2004 Acura RSX Type-S

The Acura RSX Type-S is a very popular car in the United States, especially in the tuner market. Economic, fun and small this car has its place both on the streets, and on this day, in our lab for testing.

With new NGK Iridium factory spec plugs installed we begin testing. The engine pulled 223 horsepower at 7700 rpm and 165 Ft-Lb of torque 6200 rpm. Stock acceleration from 40 mph to 80 mph took 7.21 seconds over .12 miles and fuel consumption was 913.42 cc.

New Pulstar BE-1 plugs gapped to the factory gap of .044" the engine power output went up to 231 horsepower at 7800 rpm and 167 Ft-Lb at 6200 rpm. Acceleration with Pulstar plugs installed dropped to 6.9 seconds over the same .12 miles and fuel consumption dropped to 882.76 cc.

Comparing the results gave us 8 more peak HP(3.59%), 2 more pounds of peak torque(1.21%), a reduction in acceleration time of .31 seconds(4.3%) and an increase in fuel economy by 3.36%.

If you analyze the results above you'll notice something, while we made 2 more pounds of torque at the peak there are other parts of the engine power band where we improved torque quite a bit more than that in all other areas. The average torque with stock plugs was 153 Ft-Lb but with the Pulstar plugs that number went up to 159 Ft-Lb, a 6 pound difference(3.92%). That number is significant considering the engine spends only a fraction of its time at peak torque and since peak torque is so high in the power band on this engine you probably don't even get there except on your way past it to the redline.