NGK(5463) FR5AP-11 Laser Platinum Spark Plug, Pack of 1

Works fine in my Subaru Forester X ltd 2.5. Gaps were tight but all 4 plugs had consistent gaps

04 Forester XS, THEY WORK! No issues, CL’s or problems. Was long overdue at 55k, although the old plugs looked pretty good. Definitely a smoother idle and acceleration. Car sold😢

NGK and DENSO make some of the best spark plugs in the world. The recent batch of NGK plugs that I received were made in Thailand (better than China) and I hope quality is up to Japan level.

I bought 4 of these bad boys. I asked a mechanic how much it would cost for labor to install these (along with the NGK wiring set FX101) and they said it would be more than a hundred. ARE YOU KIDDING ME ??!?!?!?!?! I did not like that, so instead of paying a mechanic. I bought a wrench set, a socket set, a torque wrench and some dielectric and anti seize for 50 bucks total !! (it was a steal and i get to keep the tools!) i looked up a 12 min video on youtube. 2 hours later I had them all installed and runningMy car :Subaru Impreza 2006 2.5IHere are some important tips for those of you who want to do it on their own:1. If you drop ANY of the spark plugs, MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE GAP SIZE AGAIN. I dropped one and the gap size went down to .36 from .42. Luckily I had bought a gap measuring/changing tool from the advanced auto parts for 2 bucks!2. After you end up installing the new spark plugs, your car may run really weird for the first couple of hours. If you are doing it on a subaru, after you install everything, your engine light will come on and your "Cruise" green light will flash for the first couple of start ups on the car. DO NOT WORRY, IT ALL GOES AWAY ON ITS OWN AFTER A COUPLE OF CAR START UPS. (UNLESS YOU SCREWED UP SOMETHING REALLY BADLY)3. NGK claims that the plugs dont need anti seize. THAT IS WRONG. BUY AND INSTALL ANTI SEIZE. the manufacturer will tell you they are good without anti seize for life. What you dont know is that "for life" means for the duration of warranty. after that? F U. PUT THE ANTI SEIZE ON THE DARN PLUGS OR ELSE THE NEXT TIME YOU CHANGE THEM THEY WILL NOT COME OUT AND YOU MAY END UP BREAKING THE THREADS ON YOUR ENGINE HEAD BLOCK AND BASICALLY INCURR $2000 IN HEAD REPAIRAs for the aftermath, I can tell that my car is more sensitive to my pedal presses. a smaller press will now make the car jump which is EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED. other than that i do believe the new wiring set and the new spark plugs should add around 2MPG to my total MPG. still havent checked that, will update!

Purchased for a 2004 Forester with California-spec emissions system. Exactly the plug called for by my Haynes manual, specific to the 2004 California spec and other newer models. Arrived with the proper gap. Has a light anti-seize coating on the threads, be sure to torque correctly. Does appear to be platinum on tip and electrode. Pretty cheap price for platinum plugs. Noticed a much better idle right away and better mileage.To my horror, the plugs that I removed were the iridium plugs for the turbo models, which have a different gap and resistance. I believe the old plugs explained my Cat problems/P420 code, the engine was not getting proper combustion. With a lot of driving and cleaner additives I expect the P420 to go away. The code is taking longer and longer to pop up now each time I clear it. But possibly the damage is already done, we'll see.

Not much to say, this is what the car needs/likes and it runs beautifully. 28-30 mpg highway, which is pretty terrific for this model. I replace them every 30k per the owner's manual. Some say you can wait until 60k but the book says 30 and they're cheap enough, so why not? Less risk of them seizing in the head this way and it keeps the car running right.

Not all NGK Laser Platinum plugs have the platinum tip on the ground electrode (`double platinum').This one does not (FR5AP-11 [5463]).The platinum disc welded to the ground electrode is a very distinctive, visible feature that is not present on this particular model.Both this listing and the NGK website claim that this model plug has a platinum tip on the ground electrode.I went to a local auto parts store to compare what they had of this same model and those were not `double platinum' either. The 4-plug box they came in only claimed platinum on the center electrode, not on the ground electrode. I've seen this exact same packaging on other NGK Laser Platinum models claiming platinum on both center & ground electrodes that were, in fact, `double platinum'. So their packaging, at least is accurate.It may be that NGK has recently improved its Laser Platinum line to 100% `double platinum' and the old stock is still not purged or that they (and their vendors) need to more accurately list this [significant] variation within the line. In either case, I have returned these in favor of Denso Double Platinum plugs. For the 2003 Subaru Forester there is no NGK `double platinum' available if the Laser Platinum is not `double platinum'.Some discussion about why I consider the `double platinum' feature important:I have pulled OEM (Honda, Hyundai) NGK Laser Platinum's that were actual `double platinum' as high as 80K miles and did not need to replace or even re-gap them. This impressed me.It's often recommended that if changing plugs is difficult/complicated/expensive to use double platinum plugs so that the interval between spark plug maintenance is maximized.In this particular case, the lack of platinum on the ground electrode does not diminish the immediate performance of the plug - it will perform just as well as the `double platinum' version. It just will not maintain that performance maintenance-free for as long.The first purpose of using platinum is that it allows a finer center electrode tip than more conventional metals, which improves performance. The purpose of the `double platinum' is for longevity. The platinum is highly resistant to the electrical erosion of the metal that occurs over time thus keeping the spark plug's gap from opening up with age.In fact, the platinum resists this effect even better than the latest & greatest spark plug metal: iridium. The main advantage of the iridium is performance - it allows an even finer center electrode tip than platinum but it does not improve on longevity over platinum. Even long life iridium plugs (which generally have platinum tipped ground electrodes) will require more frequent maintenance/replacement than their equivalent `double platinum' counterparts. Also, no matter what the center electrode is made of, if the ground electrode is not tipped for longevity (platinum, iridium, tungsten) then that will be the weakest longevity link and none will last any longer than the ground electrode.

Been using this spark plug on my 2008 Subaru Impreza every 30k. They always come with the perfect gap with no need for adjustment. Car at 130k and running smooth as day 1. Hopefully we can go another 130k!