2006 Galant Spark Plugs and Gap??

ive been researching and read that the stock is .044 and to use NGK spark plugs on a 2006 Mitsubishi Galant. So i went out and bought the NGK Laser Iridium spark plugs that come "pre-gapped at .032" Now here is the weird part, i am getting mixed answers on weather or not to gap them to .044 up from .032. I tried to gap (2 of the 4 plugs) to .044 and ended up damaging the center electrode on the spark plug. I bought another two but i want to know what am i supposed to do from here gap them or not because it almost seems impossible to gap these "NGL Laser Iridium" plugs without damaging the center electrode using the normal gapping tool.

So basically in a nutshell here are my concerns:

1) Do i gap them to .044 or leave them at .032?
2) If i do have to gap them what do i use as the "average circle gapping tool" does not work?
3) What will happen if i leave it at the 0.32 gap instead of using .044?

If your motor is otherwise stock, I'd buy the stock plugs from the dealer, they usually are the right kind with the right temperature range and usually come with the right gap already.

I know with platinum and iridium plugs, the center electrode is so fine and brittle it will break if gapped with the "average circle gapping tool."

Now I've read that iridium plugs may have a smaller gap but are more powerful so you can still work with the smaller gap. I wouldn't trust that. For an otherwise stock motor, you'd be better off with stock plugs.

Iridiums and platinums don't make more power or anything, they just resist corrosion so they can last longer. But because the engine isn't designed for that, it may run worse. I know when I ran platinums in my car it misfired like crazy. Put the copper ones in and it was fine. I hope this helps!

Iridiums are already pre gapped from factory. I would not re-gap them as the electrodes are delicate. My galant came from factory with iridium. When I replaced them I just installedit straight from box. I think you can install them without regapping. If it runs fine then plugs are ok.

thanks guys for the info, from what i understand the iridium NGK plugs are OEM recommended for my 06 galant .. i ended up just putting in the NGK laser iridium part # LZFR6AI 3656 which from what i read come pre gapped at .028 to .032 into my Mitsubishi galant .

So far so good, the car actually seems to idle less rough, i wonder my Mitsubishi calls for these plugs but yet they come pre-gapped so small, strange. For those that choose gap them to .044 i read that u should use needle nose pliers from the top of the plug. unless u wanna buy the expensive tool. ill just stick with the factory shipped gap though unless i notice any strangeness, but like i said so far so good.


i figured ide add the pix for future readers.

DIY - HOME GARAGE STYLE (this is not an acutal pic of the spark plugs i bought, pic is for educational purpose on gapping)
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/4705/ngkplugs.jpg


Professional tool $$$
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5661/sum900313w.jpg