Iridium or Copper Plugs for V6 Tacomas?

I thought I would email Denso about their plugs and our Tacomas, here is the reply;

"
Dear Sir.
we sell three types of spark polugs for your Tacoma. See below.
OEM type.Longer life Iridium and Iridium Power. Except price ,there is no negative impact when you choose iSK20HR11 or IKH20.
You feel better acceleration.lower engine noise. better feul consumption. Your curret fuel comsumption 3-4km/Litter in city driving?
All 3 types have compatibilities. Thread diameter:14mm, thread lenght 26.5mm,Hex 16mm.
Copper core defines asnormal cheaper plugs, but originally there insert copper in Nicle center elctrode. This copper reduce car's carbon fouling.
and we use same copper core in

$59 SK20HR11 ---- IRIDIUM PLATINUM power pack Spark Plugs -- # 3421 ----- 6 PCS NEW

SK20HR11 and IKH20.
If you have more questions, we will be able to answer to you.
At this time, thank you so much for visiting DENSO website."

I thought it was interesting that the sk20hr11 has a copper core?

 

Very interesting...indeed. I like my coppers!

 

I went with NGK Irridium spark plugs for a few months right after getting my truck (was passed the 30k mark) so I didn't notice anything different considering I only drove it for a few weeks beforehand. After reading about them requiring copper plugs from the factory and asking a Toyota master mechanic about it, I took an hour to change them back to Toyota Denso copper plugs to see if I noticed anything... after all, I enjoy working and caring for my truck so I figured every 30k wouldn't bother me. Easy job.

Anyway, after changing them out yesterday, I took it out and my truck is noticeably more responsive and a smoother ride especially when accelerating onto the highway. I read a lot of mixed things about the Irridium and copper plugs before changing them out and didn't think there would be much of a difference. I was definitely wrong.

 

I've used both and the only advantage I see to iridium is they don't need changing as frequently which means you may, may, may reduce the chance of ever stripping threads. The only reason I went back to copper is the scare tactics on this forum and when It comes time to change out copper ones I may go back to iridium. As long as you have the correct heat range/plug I see no reason not to use them. Also, I can't really say I saw any fuel milage difference in either, but then my vehicles are well-maintained anyway. It's like synthetic oil versus conventional and synthetic gear oil versus conventional. Pick your poison.

 

Use the O.E.M. recommended plugs

 

When Toyota went to dual VVT-i on the 1GR-FE they switched to Iridium plugs for superior ignition performance with increased durability.

1GR-FE 4.0 V6 - Everything You Wanted to Know | Tacoma World
"Ignition
The 1GR-FE had long-reach spark plugs that were positioned in the centre of the combustion chamber. For the VVT-i 1GR-FE engine, the spark plugs were either Denso K20HR-U11 (nickel type) or

$10 NGK LFR6C-11 V-Power Spark Plug, Pack of 1

NGK LFR6C-11 (nickel type). For the dual VVT-i 1GR-FE, the nickel type spark plugs were replaced by

$59 Denso SK20HR11 ---- IRIDIUM PLATINUM power pack Spark Plugs -- # 3421 ----- 6 PCS NEW

Denso SK20HR11 iridium-tipped spark plugs which had 200,000 km maintenance intervals. By adopting an iridium centre electrode, ignition performance was superior to that of platinum-tipped spark plugs and durability was increased."

 

Now that was one HELL of a thread dig! 14 yrs

 

Just to randomly help revive this thread. I've been on NGKs ruthenium HX plugs from rock Auto(ordered, then canceled since I didn't want to risk it, but was too late oops) for about 1500 miles now at 120k miles, and it feels the same as before. Figure it's good for peace of mind. I don't know about all the marketing hubbub, saying you'll get better response and fuel consumption, but I haven't noticed any changes. Still, happy with them and no complaints.

 

My first set of iridiums were NGK and I changed them out at 115K. I had pulled them at 80K for inspection and the gap was out of spec. I should have got new plugs as NGK recommends against regapping their plugs but at the time I could not afford the downtime. I regapped them and the plugs provided 35K more miles of dependable service. For my second set I switched to Denso Long Life iridiums. They have hardened electrodes over typical iridiums and should maintain their gap better over 100K. As a side note, our Lexus ES350 had OEM NGK iridiums with recommended replacement at 120K. I checked them at 100K and the gap in all of the plugs were way out of spec. Those I replaced, also, with the Long Life iridiums.
BTW I noticed no improvement in mpg or performance using iridium over copper. They certainly save money over their service life, one service over three for copper. However, I strongly recommend you pull one or two plugs two thirds into their service life to check for gap and wear.

 

Coppers are used on 4 cylinder performance cars where changing them out on their 5k interval right center stop the engine is much faster and easier than on a V6
I went with OEM last time

copper performs well. It also has to be changed out much more often which is the major drawback that comes with its significant cheapness comparing to other kinds

 

Good morning all!

Just doin a quick search to see what plugs are recommended for my truck. I'm currently S/C'd with the 7th injector from URD. The kit came with plugs to use but I didn't save the info. Before reaching out to URD, does anybody know an exact Denso part# to use for my application? URD's part list on the website only indicates

• Two step cooler Denso Iridium Power spark plugs x6

But i'm seeing that people here are preferring to go with copper plugs. I just wanna make sure I get the right stuff for my truck.

Thank you all,

 

@12TRDTacoma

Or here is how to read the heat range on Denso plugs
https://www.densoproducts.com/how-do-i-find-a-colder-or-hotter-plug-4

 

Thought the same thing! I've seen a few over 10, but 14 might be a record!

And, to stay on topic, I changed my plugs when I first got the truck. '09 V6 with 178k on it. The plugs were the originals (!) and little more than nubs. Went with coppers but saw no difference in power or mpg after changing...

 

Very helpful! Thank you. I'm gonna go with the IK22

 

That would be a large gap to jump. I would adventure to say that it has to do with the coils Toyota uses.

 

The boosted 02's use IKH20's. Those are heat range 6's.

 

Would the IK22's not be a good idea to run than?

 

That depends solely on what your logs tell you. I can't tell you one way or another but based on the fact that you are running a 7th injector you should be good to run OE.

Again, your datalogs will be indicative of how well the truck is running with them or lack thereof.