2002 S80 non-turbo

I just bought a set of the Bosch Platinum Ir Fusion (4503) plugs. These have 4 grounding prongs and I thought that I read that the 4-prong Bosch plugs suck. So I am wondering, are the plugs any good, or should I take them back and get something else?

Has anyone tested these out and do you like them or are they just not worth the money and I should just get the FR7DP (4228) plugs?

Just wondering if these are a gimmick plug as I have heard the pulstars are.

 

I have a set to put on tomorrow as well. The plugs I removed were 2 prong KLG's. Am doing compression tests cold then hot tomorrow then will see how these plugs perform... what do they say... watch this space!

 

garbage, remember this : Current takes the path of least resistance..

i think those plugs were on the news once where they were proven to be falsely advertised or something like that

Stick with NGK platinums or iridiums you will never have any issues, i dont use nothing but NGK

 

An update: They seem OK... Have done a couple of thou, but really more mileage and time will tell. At least if she starts farting an piising, I'll have a good idea what it could be. Old KLG's were still in quite good condition, so I kept them handy in case.
Happy Motoring

 

Why when OEM is Bosch? Have you actually tested the difference between just a standard OEM plug and an NGK plug? I am not challenging you I am asking because I am getting a lot of folks asking for NGK in my shop...would like to know why NGK which is typically designed for Japanese engines is better than Bosch OEM? Thank for your help...Oh and yes the 4 prong plugs..any brand that is...are a waste of $$..unless you are fine tuning your car, just use whatever the car came with...plugs really dont make that big of a difference anyway in a stock car...

 

Nothing works better than OEM. They are designed to do what they are supposed to do for as long as they do for a reason.

 

Do you buy OEM tires that originally came on the car? do you change oil at the dealer and fill whatever the dealer fills ? what about headlight bulbs, do you buy Bosch from the dealer ? wiper blades ? cracked windshield ? what about brake pads and rotors, basically you get my point,,,

The reason i recommend NGK is because i never had a problem with their plug and always had good results from changing over to those plugs. Yes on an stock car there is probably no noticeable difference only the length of life may be different.

Why would i buy plugs from a company that false advertises like bosch does/did?

Dealer Tech: there are many many items that are better in aftermarket than OEM

 

so no real reason or proven tests...just cause...got it I agree why uise a plug designed for a Japanese engine? headlights are one thing but we"re not talking head lights or tires...talking plugs that are designed specifically for the temp/running condition of vehicle....

 

FYI: Non-turbo OEM plugs are three prong.

Just yesterday, i pulled out some Autolite plugs the customer installed on his S80 non-turbo that caused a nasty intermitent misfire under load and installed OEM plugs. Not only did he buy two sets of plugs now, he also had to pay Diagnostics. Ill let you guess if that fixed it too.

And yes, I use OEM oil filters on my street bike and on my car. I have plenty of pictures to prove why I only buy OEM and not Fram or Valvoline.

 

what tests are you talking about, did you test all the plugs on the market and determine that bosch is the best for this engine? riiight , thought so

maybe NGK were able to design a better plug is that impossible ? ?

anyways go read up page 122 of your volvo s80 manual (99 in my case) and you can see that no where there it states you have to use OEM or bosch or anything specific at all, as long as they are equivalent and within the proper gap width then you can use any plug you desire...

so why dont you tell me why use a plug made by a company that has been proven to falsely advertise and lie that their 4 prongs fire at the same time ?

basically if youre so stuck on Bosch then go use bosch, it doesnt matter to me, all i did was recommend the plug based on my experience and what i know about bosch, you seem to think the opposite,,

NGK plugs were not designed FOR japanese cars, they were designed by Japanese engineers because that company is Japanese,,,so sure Japanese manufacturers will put their local plugs in their cars, much like german manufacturers put german plugs and american put whatever thy choose to put,,,, plugs are designed to be used in Different vehicles, not local to their region!!!

Oh and i never heard of autolite plugs, maybe thats local to the US ? hhmmm

Oem filters are good in some cases, for example i always used oem nissan filters in my maxima with synthetic oil and german castrol, but i would never use oem Dodge filters case i have seen what they Dont filter... so no not all oem filters are so great..


anyways this can go up and down the wall aall day long, the point is that you can use whatever you want, it makes no difference to me and i would never give money to a company that lies.

 

Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions, sounds like I should just use a basic standard spark plug instead of the iridiums for my application.

As for NGK, I'm a bit confused now because they also have a 4-prong plug, BKR6EQUP, so how exactly is it that NGK is advertising this? Any differently then Bosch? Don't misunderstand me, I have nothing against them at all, I am just wondering why you are so against Bosch with a statement of they are lying, when it looks like NGK is on the same bandwagon. I could be wrong, NGK may advertise their 4-prong as designed for stupid people that think 4-prongs are better and are willing to pay more.

Again, thanks everyone for input

 

NGK made the 4 prong plug so they could confuse OEM lovers and be sold near bosch 4 prong plugs, lol i duno man

you whatever is cheaper, dont want iridiums, put platinums, dont want platinums put coppers, they dont last as long, like i said b4 your not gona notice the difference between these plugs performance wise, but you will notice the difference after you change ANY plugs, you will get better fuel economy, smoother idle, better power response, just because they are new...go choose something and tell us what you think

BTW Bosch i think was the first one to come out withthe 4 prong plug and they SAID the current travels equally through all 4 prongs and thus they lied because current takes the path of least resistance..

the reason they are still sold (and the reason NGK) makes one is likely because they advertise longer life of the prong,,,,, sure since its not the same prong that is conducting current every time it fires but rather 4 prongs interchange that somewhat decreases the use of one prong over another and thus lengthening its life

too bad thats useless because the tip will still deteriorate just as fast as it has before...

 

well I have a 99 S80 non turbo & I did see the differenec in the NGK iri & I did feel a difference & I have less hesitation than with previous plugs, The NGK 3 prongs are primarily used on the RX7 which has a rotary engine & the coil pack delivers a higher spark than our conventional engines so it may be marketed for RX7 & maybe some of their high perf engines not specific to volvo. The add may be for other vehicles.

 

I guess you only buy from HONEST companies?


As i have said, OEM 6 cylinder non-turbo plugs are 3 pronge and pre-gapped from the factory for the specific use in that engine. I fix too many cars because fools think there is a better plug out there. They all do the same thing, just OEM is designed for that engine from the manufacturer and other brands are not.

 

no but in this case i HAVE the choice and thus i choose other than bosch when i can, anyways, enjoy your fork-plugs

 

It seems these 2-prong, 3-prong and 4-prong plugs are popular. I understand that electricity takes the path of least resistance. Who designed these stupid plugs anyways? haha. Must have been marketing. I also see these E3 plugs advertising now. Any idea how these are?

 

Here are some pictures of NEW and used S80 non-turbo plugs. As you can see, the plug does utilize all three pronges as the other break down with use.

 

Its hard to make out the pictures but the element looks like its Iridium,

Yes the plug WILL use all three tips, just not all at the same time, no they dont last longer because even if the tip (s) use is lower ( due to having 3 [pr 4] of them) you still only have one element that erodes at the regular speed...

So what happens is lets say the tips are numbers 1, 2, 3, and there is obviously only 1 element, if the plug is manufactured as well as possible there will be so little difference is impedance of each of the tips that they will fire truly in random, say 3, 1, 2 or whatever pattern, but lets say there is a slightly higher variance in tip construction or there is something wrong at the manufacturing level then the tip with the higher impedance will be fired LESS than the ones with lower impedance, so your 3 prong plug will turn into a 2 prong and even one prong

so since the tip still erodes at the same time, who cares if your prongs a 3 - type or 4- type, the tip will still erode the same and you still need to replace the plug at the same interval, so why pay more ?

My guess from what i have seen on this car and others is that volvo has those plugs made by bosch or whoever bosch's sub company is and they just re-brand them for oem use. I dont remember reading about any Volvo Spark Plug manufacturing plants in Sweeden or anywhere else for that matter...

So, in conclusion you are still not using "OEM" and are still using bosch...i really dont mean to spoil the party here, but thats just facts, volvo doesnt make their own plugs

 

Unfortunately you are wrong. The electrode very rarely wears faster than the three prongs because the electrode is platinum (not iridium). The three prongs are not platinum and thus they wear alot faster. The center electrode will last while the three prongs wear. Unfortunately my first picture is a bit blurry, but the picture tells the story.

 

I don't like BOSCH period, all you have to do is own a AUDI and you'll find out how BAD Bosch really is..I also use NGK Irridium plugs in my Volvo's.