[Tim Corcoran]

Do you think that Leah Pruett really uses E-3 plugs in her top fuel car or is it all false advertising. What are you running?

[PAUL K]

No! ..... My wharehouse had them on sale so I bought four for my 1995 Camry Wagon. I drove that car for close to 200k miles and checked the MPG on every tank. The E-3 plugs never matched the best MPG of the OEM plugs. If anything they hurt mileage a bit. My theory was if they helped with power the computer would adjust accordingly and the economy would go up a tick.

One advantage to them is they are probably harder to foul.

We used to use NGK exclusively because of their price. Now that they have quadrupled we use Autolite most of the time.

[Stuart]

I doubt that Richard Petty ever put STP in his race car either. Drivers shill for their sponsors, that's how it works.

As for E-3 plugs, companies have been trying to sell similar spark plugs for at least 70 years (I have a car magazine from the early 1950s with a full page ad for a spark plug with three electrodes) but they haven't taken over the market yet.

[Steve C.]

Reminds me of the old SplitFire Spark plugs years ago that had the ground electrode split into two distinct sections forming a 'V' at its end.

At one time Jim Yates NHRA Pro Stock Pontiac was sponsored by SplitFire.
At that time I went to the NHRA race at the Texas Motorplex Race Track. As expected the Yate sponsored car was there. Between rounds I stopped by his pit and asked if he really did use those spark plugs. I don't recall the reply from the crew member but he retrieved one of the plugs and gave it to me. It looked like one, even had Split Fire name on the ceramic insulator. However there was one distinct difference in that the end of the electrode did not have the distinct split into two sections. There was only a VERY SMALL notch at the end of the electrode.

In 1997, the United States Federal Trade Commission charged SplitFire with deceptive advertising. The manufacturer settled the charges with the FTC; as part of the settlement, SplitFire was prohibited from making what the FTC considered deceptive claims about fuel economy or emissions.


.

[77 TRASHCAN]

E3, split fire, even those super de dooper plugs that GM made (I remember now, Rapid fire)

Junk

[tom s]

I know for a fact that Petty used STP!Tom

[Steve C.]

Two reflated views on the subject, if interested in tid bits.....


THE SCIENCE OF SPONSORSHIPS

https://www.performanceracing.com/ma...e-sponsorships

Racing Sponsors. How it REALLY works, what it really is, and how to get it.

https://nomoneymotorsports.com/2020/...how-to-get-it/

Noted... "Maybe in lieu of cash, the sponsor is providing intellectual property or engineering support, and working with the team to elevate their competitiveness with that product."


.

[Steve C.]

Testing the "JUNK"......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KHO8RUWpjM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvs32oUBuGw

( Information provided in this post does not represent any endorsement. And unless specified it is not based on personal experience and is offered for general interest only )



.

[Elarson]

We were fortunate to have a lot of product sponsors for the Grocery Getter and Boss Bird. I can't speak for any other teams, but for us, if the sticker was on the car; 100% of the time the product(s) were being used successfully and we would stake our personal reputations on endorsing them to others. We declined some offers from the "snake oil" companies.

Eric

[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

No! ..... My wharehouse had them on sale so I bought four for my 1995 Camry Wagon. I drove that car for close to 200k miles and checked the MPG on every tank. The E-3 plugs never matched the best MPG of the OEM plugs. If anything they hurt mileage a bit. My theory was if they helped with power the computer would adjust accordingly and the economy would go up a tick.

One advantage to them is they are probably harder to foul.

We used to use NGK exclusively because of their price. Now that they have quadrupled we use Autolite most of the time.

That mirrors my experience with E3 plugs, Paul.

[Tim Corcoran]

My brother-n-law works for Lucas Oil as a chemist. Lucas is a sponsor for the Childress Racing Team. My brother-in-law formulates the engine oil that they use in their race cars. Lucas provides the oil free of charge in exchange for the sponsorship. My brother-in-law took me to the Childress racing facility located in Welcome, North Carolina, twice to attend meetings with him and the engineers at Childress. On the first visit I was able to get a very detailed tour of their engine building facility. While I was there, they tested a new oil formula in one of their race engines on one of their many, one million dollar dynos. Basically they compare the HP output and friction of the new oil with the Lucas oil they are currently using. As it turns out this oil did not perform as well as the one they were using at the time. A long discussion followed in a conference room about oil formulation and additives used to make up the oil for them. Getting back to these dynos, the engine is turning the dyno at 85,000 plus RPM and at the flip of a switch the engine ignition and fuel is turned off and now the dyno is now turning the engine at the same RPM. One of the reasons for this is so they can measure the force the dyno is putting out to turn the engine when testing different engine oils. Playing with different viscosities, formulas and additives they are looking for the least resistance, and the engine will still hold together for the entire race. My brother-in-law is continuously developing new oil packages that they test to see if they can squeeze a couple more HP out of the engines. The tour of their engine building facility was very interesting.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

A few years ago I was ordering some stuff from Rock Auto for my 04 Acura TL 3.2 V6 and they had the E3 plugs at close out price. So I bought them. Less than $2 each.

I already had the supplies to make a "RamAir / ColdAir" induction tube coming off the factory air box (with a standard issue Wix air filter), down to a vented/slatted grill area of the lower front bumper cover.
So I built that during the maintenance operation.
Installed the new E3 plugs.

According to the cars computer on the same 20 mile stretch of mostly flat highway -
Went from 31-32 mpg @ 60 mph , which was pretty good.
To 36-37 mpg @ 60 mph
(speed limit is 65 but I'm a fuel miser as much as possible)

I don't know which change made the most improvement , but called it a Big Win.
Its still getting those numbers
Happy Happy

Car has over 250k miles on it. fwiw

[Tim Corcoran]

Originally Posted by Elarson

We were fortunate to have a lot of product sponsors for the Grocery Getter and Boss Bird. I can't speak for any other teams, but for us, if the sticker was on the car; 100% of the time the product(s) were being used successfully and we would stake our personal reputations on endorsing them to others. We declined some offers from the "snake oil" companies.

Eric

Integrity, imagine that. Good to know there are still some folks out there who have some.

[NeighborsComplaint]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

Reminds me of the old SplitFire Spark plugs years ago that had the ground electrode split into two distinct sections forming a 'V' at its end.

At one time Jim Yates NHRA Pro Stock Pontiac was sponsored by SplitFire.
At that time I went to the NHRA race at the Texas Motorplex Race Track. As expected the Yate sponsored car was there. Between rounds I stopped by his pit and asked if he really did use those spark plugs. I don't recall the reply from the crew member but he retrieved one of the plugs and gave it to me. It looked like one, even had Split Fire name on the ceramic insulator. However there was one distinct difference in that the end of the electrode did not have the distinct split into two sections. There was only a VERY SMALL notch at the end of the electrode.

In 1997, the United States Federal Trade Commission charged SplitFire with deceptive advertising. The manufacturer settled the charges with the FTC; as part of the settlement, SplitFire was prohibited from making what the FTC considered deceptive claims about fuel economy or emissions.


.

The SplitFire plugs were made by Autolite, a Federal Signal company at that time. The electrode were split by a stamping die during manufacture and of course marked with Splitfire's logo and model.

Splitfire's parent company (Old World Industries) were a bunch of marketing hustlers. Remember the money-back guarantee? You're thinking all the returns wound up in a landfill right? Nope, they were all piled up in a warehouse in Bedford Park, IL.

Ols World contacted me and I set up a return goods processing and refurbishing operation in one of my employer's (Sanyo) warehouses. We had a bunch of service techs facing layoff as Sanyo's electronics business declined and this work was right in their wheelhouse.

Sanyo staff processed all returns, broke the used plugs in half, white gloved and repacked the unused plugs for resale. We inspected returned wire sets for signs of use. Used sets were cut and disposed of. Unused sets (buyer's remorse returns) were checked for continuity, resistance, correct lengths and connectors, cleaned and repacked for resale.

The Peak antifreeze (we warehoused and distributed that also) came from Gold Eagle (the makers of Heet Fuel De-icer) who had a blending and bottling operation in Chicago. Exactly the same product went into the Peak, Gold Eagle, Prestone and numerous other private brand bottles.