Ask the Editors: What Ever Happened to Splitfire Spark Plugs?
Welcome back. If you were involved in the mid to late 1990s; indeed Splitfire was quite the rage in spark plug technology at the time. For those who don’t recall, their notoriety was a plug with a v-shaped cut electrode on the bottom. Their claim at the time was that by allowing the electrical spark resulting from the plug’s charge to pass directly through the electrode, rather than around it as in a traditional design, the fuel and air mixture it would contact should ignite more effectively.
The future was extremely bright for the company until 1997 when the United States Federal Trade Commission came down hard with accusations that the science behind the split electrode concept was faulty. What resulted were charges of deceptive advertising and a settlement whereby Splitfire could no longer make boasts of increased fuel economy/ decreased engine emissions by using the product.
While this would have been the kiss of death for most brands, Splitfire was able to weather the storm for quite a few years following the debacle. Unfortunately it seems as though they may be just about out of steam these days as indicated by the fact that their official site is shut down and the product is becoming fewer and farther between on store shelves.
This isn’t just sad news for the company but for the industry as well considering Splitfire was very supportive of powersports and racing in general with its sponsorship programs. The documentation surrounding the FTC case against them can be viewed here.
