hi folks,

i was doing some research on glow plugs. i see that there are several types of plugs. i think the RTR comes with an cold R5 plug. that mean max power but a little less low end torque. also, the motor will tend to run a little leaner...

would it be worth getting an additional hot plug? for occasional racing, the cold would do good. but for general fooling about and bashing, and all round motor longevity, the hot would be better. am i right?

cheers

Not really, cold glow plug provides you lower engine temperatures so you can tune your car a lil leaner compared to hot ones which require you to use a richer setting, R5 is the best for savage.

in that case, if we use the no.8 plus a richer setup, the motor will provide more low end torque and last longer....

what say?

You’re partly right. But a richer solution is not always the answer. Of course it will keep the engine cool, but almost inevitably at the cost of performance. With our weather, a cold plug is almost always the good option. A hot plug plus our weather would cause the engine to hit peak temperature too quick too long. I may be wrong here of course :p

It also has a lot to do with the fuel we use. If you use fuel with higher nitro content (which I think most of us prefer), a colder plug will make sense since it will keep the engine from overheating. You may have some trouble during the first run till the engine reaches optimum temperature and idling may also be off a bit, but after that things should be fine. With a cold plug however, you end up tuning leaner because the engine needs to be leaner (hotter) to keep the cold plug lit.

A hot plug makes starting and idling very easy because of the thin element. But at the cost of engine life on the long run. The plug itself does not last long either. A cold plug will give you more longevity plus you can use higher nitro content. If that's a criteria ie.

An easy way to determine what plug to use is to check the surrounding area of the element. If is kinda wet and polished looking then changing to a cold plug will make sense. If the plug is dry, and the element looks dull with a grayish black color, then your engine is running lean. If that’s the situation, then change to a hot plug. If the plug is dry and the element is polished looking you don’t need to change anything. If you have a temp gun things can get easier for you to choose the right plug. If the engine is running too hot, change to a hotter plug. If it’s running cold, change to a colder plug. Till you get optimum performance while maintaining the engine at its optimum temperature. This is of course assuming that you’re not running high nitro content.

Another important aspect is the exhaust pipe used. All three (plug, fuel and exhaust) have to be considered to get the best tune. I like to believe that a tuned low restriction pipe with a cold plug and about 15-20% nitro should give you good overall performance in our weather. I don’t know if that came out right, but I’m sure you know what I mean.

These are things I learnt from the experts and on forums and are just so damn confusing in the beginning! But once you get the hang of it, I guess it starts making sense. It’s a bit like photography. You need to set exposure, sperture, shutter speed etc etc to get the right shot

I’m running a cold plug, 20% nitro on stock exhaust and everything seems to be fine! It’s unusually hot in Bangalore these days and yet I’m not facing any issues of overheating.

thats a cool bit of info... i hadnt considered the exhaust aspect. and how is the stock exhaust? i suppose its decently tuned, being from a good brand. and how would using the moderate (no. plug do?

and looks like your into photography too

The stock exhaust of the X is ok I guess. The plastic stuff. I know its not technically plastic. But hey, its not metal :p The SS on the other hand came with the polished aluminum, which is better but still not the best. If you ask me for the best pipes I'd say EPRC or Buku if price is not a constraint. The buku and EPRC cost about 5k. Else Ofna 086/053 had good reviews (053 for overall power and 086 for top end) So has Jammin JP series. They cost half that. I love the hard anodized stuff from Jammin. Never owned one, but drooled over several!

I will be getting an EPRC pipe when my friend returns from the US. They're just awesome and I haven't heard any bad reviews yet!

About the medium plug, only you'd be able to say. I don't know about the weather in UP. What fuel you normally use etc. But invest in a temp gun first. Its money well spent. Once you have that you'll know what plug is right for you.

About the photography, yup I'm a very lazy person with a lot of varied interests. I'm into target practice, rapelling, camping, hiking and lots more. BUT Photography etc is for when I'm not lazy. R/C is when I want to have fun close to home Like I said, a lazy person with a lot of interests