What in the hell Denso K16R-U for 1st Gen?

This is some shit. The Damn Denso website told me to use K16R-U spark plugs, and so I put them in my 1996 2.4.

Two years later I go to NAPA to buy new ones and the guy at the counter says "those are not listed for my vehicle." I did not believe him and I looked at the screen myself. It showed one NGK platinum, and two Densos, a platinum and a double platinum.

Too add to the confusion, the NGKs are a couple of millimeters taller than the Denso, and the NGK are gapped at .032, and Densos are gapped at .040.

Why are there all these damn diff plugs? I don't want platinum, or iridium, I just want the same stock copper plug the car came with.

Can anyone tell.me if the Denso K16R-16 is the stock replacement? Not, "Yeah, that'll work." I just want the bare bones stock replacement spark plug the car came with.

 

From the owners manual:

 

Thanks but now I have a new question:

Are the Denso K16R-U #4 3119 RES/SOLID
plugs SAME THING as

$3 Denso K16R-U11 Denso 3120 Spark Plug

Denso K16R-U11

Thanks for clearing the confusion. And why are NGK gapped at .032 and Densos at.040 by the factory?

 

The gap is different. The suffix which is #4 is smaller than a #11 designating a smaller gap.

 

Thanks, I just couldn't understand why the plugs are different numbers. That makes sense

 

You can regap the copper plugs but I would personally just buy the correctly pregapped ones. I measure them out of the box when I go to the parts store before buying. In all of my years, I think I have only experience once when the gap was off.

 

Always check the gap. Do not trust "pre-gapped". It's like saying water is pre-wet... It has to be...