The engine in your car, truck, or crossover operates on the simple principle of capturing the energy from countless tiny explosions created when a mixture of gasoline and air is ignited inside of its cylinders. Deep inside of your engine, fuel and air are drawn in and compressed by the pistons before being ignited many times per second. This creates an energy-dense explosion whose power is used to drive the vehicle.
The lowly spark plug is responsible for trigging this explosion when an electrical current flows between its center electrode and ground electrode, creating a tiny spark. Though small, inexpensive and often overlooked, the spark plug is one of your engine’s most vital components.
Like most parts of a vehicle, spark plugs need occasional attention — most often via the removal of old and worn-out plugs and replacement with fresh new ones. Spark plugs wear down and wear out over time, and when they do they’ll reduce your vehicle’s fuel economy, cause its performance to suffer, and may even cause damage to other engine parts.
As such, replacing your spark plugs is an important part of keeping your engine ticking in tip-top shape, the way the factory intended. After all: if your spark plugs are worn, dirty, or past-due for a change, they can’t do their job effectively, and your engine’s performance suffers for it.
Below, we’ll look at some common and highly rated spark plug options, everything you need to know about them, and a list of the top spark plugs available. We’ll start with the best spark plugs, but if you want to learn more about them, use the table of contents to navigate.