2013~2016 CX-5 New Spark Plug Time

[ColoradoDriver]

Well it's that time again. Another 75,000 miles down for the interval and it's time for me to change out the plugs.

I'll post a picture again when I take them out, but I just want to confirm that at my 75k change, I bought Mazda OEM plugs and they had the NGK 94124 / ILKAR7L11 right underneath the "Mazda" printing.

All to say it is my opinion that Mazda OEM plugs are just the NGK's and there is nothing special about the OEM plugs. Paying for a logo.

The argument I guess could be made that Mazda "does something" to these plugs but honestly that seems unlikely to me. Enough people have reported using the NGKs with no discernable difference, so it is my opinion that it is not 2015 anymore when the CX-5 was newer and the NGKs should be fine.

Ordering 4 from Rock Auto for $11 a piece.

My question to the rest of the forum, is what's the consensus on these newer Ruthenium plugs I am also seeing?

 

[GFrosty]

My question to the rest of the forum, is what's the consensus on these newer Ruthenium plugs I am also seeing?

At least in my own 2016.5 CX-5, either seems to be a solid choice for plugs.

Less than 10Kmi ago, I swapped-in a new set of NGK #92274 Ruthenium HX plugs. A month or so prior to that swap, I installed new ignition coils.

These Ruthenium plugs seem to work very well. But then, the prior NGK #94124 Iridium worked nicely, too.

I also do a fairly regular transmission re-learn, to re-set the maps/shifting away from whatever bad habits it has learned about my driving style. That wakes things up, too, from a tip-in and shift-point perspective. Though I doubt this is impacted by the fresher plugs/coils.

From my vantage point as a driver, it's hard to tell the difference between the Ruthenium and Iridium plugs. Perhaps the "placebo" effect, but I think the engine's running very smoothly these days. When I'm in "sport" mode or in manual, when keeping the revs high the engine has great power delivery. Even when in standard mode and just "bopping" along, the engine seems to have a "smooth and clean" operation. Whether better than the Iridium plugs I had in 50Kmi ago, it's hard to say. Certainly, they're at least as good.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Interesting. I decided to stick with the Iridium Laser plugs, but this is good to know.

 

[Mazdiod2]

At least in my own 2016.5 CX-5, either seems to be a solid choice for plugs.

Less than 10Kmi ago, I swapped-in a new set of NGK #92274 Ruthenium HX plugs. A month or so prior to that swap, I installed new ignition coils.

From my vantage point as a driver, it's hard to tell the difference between the Ruthenium and Iridium plugs. Perhaps the "placebo" effect, but I think the engine's running very smoothly these days. When I'm in "sport" mode or in manual, when keeping the revs high the engine has great power delivery. Even when in standard mode and just "bopping" along, the engine seems to have a "smooth and clean" operation. Whether better than the Iridium plugs I had in 50Kmi ago, it's hard to say. Certainly, they're at least as good.

Yeah, it seems to me that if the plug fires with a decent spark in the right location at the right time it should give good power. So I doubt any regular person would be able to tell any difference, as long as both types of plugs fit properly and have the proper characteristics.
The double fine wire types are probably the closest thing to a permanent spark plug available.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Hi all,

Finally got around to changing the spark plugs today.

As I thought I remembered, the Mazda OEM spark plugs I purchased from Med Center Mazda for my 75k change indeed also possessed NGK's "ILKAR7L11" branding / model number.

Physically these looked identical to the brand new NGK ILKAR7L11 94124 spark plugs I purchased from Rock Auto for my 150k mile change.

The only other difference I could observe was that the Mazda plugs were stamped with "Japan" while the NGK's were stamped with "Thailand".

Otherwise...seems like the same exact plug to me.

Also, protip - the $20 Pittsburgh Locking Extensions worked great for this as did https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned). Was very easy. The coils looked dry so I did add a little dielectric grease to them before reinstalling. And as per the recommendation by NGK, no anti-seize was used. I had no problems removing the old ones.