The success story of the spark plug began with Bosch over a hundred years ago. It changed the world of automobiles for good. The task of the spark plug has remained basically unchanged since the first cars came on the roads. The fuel-air mixture is ignited in the engine at the right moment. From the outside, spark plugs still  look almost identical with those manufactured many decades ago. But a range of innovations now make them far more powerful.

Extreme requirements
Only if the spark plug delivers a reliable and precise spark can the gasoline engine combust the gasoline mixture optimally. That means maximum engine performance with the lowest possible consumption.

The small component has to perform in even the toughest conditions. Sparks must ignite during cold starts at –20° C and in the summer heat at 900° C on the highway. While driving, cold air is induced and hot exhaust gases are emitted, causing strong temperature differences during every ignition (so-called thermoshock). The pressure in the engine can even reach 100 bar, 50 times the pressure on the car tires. And the combustion process leads to chemical reactions that can corrode the metal. The spark plug ignites around 200 times a minute in neutral and up to 1,500 times a minute when traveling at high speed.

So it is all the more amazing that Bosch spark plugs now drive up to 150 times longer than their original predecessors. Spark plugs therefore only need to be replaced very rarely during a car's entire lifespan.

The materials used in Bosch spark plugs are responsible for their longevity. The electrodes, the small pieces of metal between which the spark jumps, are made of especially durable materials like silver, platinum or yttrium. They prevent the electrodes from being burnt off by the spark (so-called consumption).

Sparks can jump four different ways in the Super-4 spark plug from Bosch. Four shell electrodes are set around one central electrode. This design is unique worldwide and especially reliable and durable.

Another factor is also decisive for the precision and durability of spark plugs: uncompromising quality during production. The individual parts of a spark plug like the ceramic insulators, electrodes and thread are produced and assembled with minimal tolerances.

And the scale of production is impressive. Our factory in Bamberg alone manufactures some 1 million spark plugs every day from app. 29 tons of steel, 2 tons of nickel, 1 ton of copper, 15 kilometers of nickel wire, 2.5 kilograms of platinum and 20 tons of alumina.

The right spark plug for every task
These enormous production volumes also include many different models, since Bosch provides suitable spark plugs for almost every engine. Many automobile manufacturers already fit their cars with Bosch spark plugs in their own factories, given their exceptional properties. And if a spark plug needs changing at a later date, a wide range of models is available from retailers – naturally in the same quality as those installed by car manufacturers.

Bosch spark plugs are therefore the best choice for every vehicle. They always ensure that the engine produces optimal performance, while driving as economically as possible.