[Formulajones]

It's interesting how there are vastly different experiences with the same parts.

Probably been more than 30 years for me since I gave up on Champions. Wasn't so much quality, I just couldn't get a heat range that worked well in my BBC at the time, no matter how hot of a plug I put in they would gas foul in 20-30 miles. Put in a set of AC R44S and problem went away. I quit buying Champions after that deal.

Autolites a different story. They have been such a great plug for me for at least the last 25 years I've used them in everything from Pontiacs to Chevrolets and Fords. Pretty sure Autolite became nonaffiliated with ford sometime in the early 70's and is not considered a Ford brand for anything anymore. Memory is fuzzy but I think Motorcraft became part of Ford in the early 70's. Autolite has been it's own since. So don't get too caught up in the whole icky ford part thing, it's a non issue.

Either way, they've always done as expected for me. NGK is also good. Like I said good quality and work as intended, I just hate how the Japanese apparently see numbers differently then Americans do and have numbered their plugs as such, making heat ranges more confusing than they need to be. They do offer a whole slew of heat ranges though, I'll give them that.

[tom s]

When was young and racing a lot,I had a sponsor deal with Champion.I would drive down to Long Beach and just pickup what I needed.I had a shop I would trade them for Autolites.They just lasted longer.Tom

[Jay S]

Our trouble was always having dead cylinders from bad new plugs using Autolite (or Motorcraft). We always used them on Fords. My experience with Autolite is old and out dated though. Apparently had several bad batch’s of them at a time we were working on a ton of Fords. We switched to NGK quite a few years ago for pretty much everything in the late 1990s.

Champion does have big jumps on heat ranges, probably is why they didn’t last. I always associated Champion with Mopar, so when I see a builder suggesting Champions, I generally assume they build a lot of Mopars. Associated ACDelco with GM brands, and Autolite, which made all the Motorcraft plugs for years, with Ford. Ford Owned Motorcraft before 1972 before the government made them sell it off. Motorcraft plugs were made by Autolite for years after that. But it has been a long time since I used Autolite. I have never used a Champion in a Pontiac before. These days you can find ACDelco plugs made by other companies, sometimes even NGK is printed on them. Motorcraft and ACDelco are both sometimes made by Denso. It is tough too keep track of who makes what anymore.