Yeah Cap, the original dual electrode platninums don't perform very well once that core starts to wear...that's why I switched to the quad electrode platinum/iridium models. Pre gapped, no muss, no fuss.
I put a lot of miles on my cars...combo highway/city...through traffic jams and all...for the last 4 years it's been minimum 500 to 600 miles a week running the crap gas sold in Wisconsin...with standard plugs I would set the gap, put them in, check them every 3 months and re-gap as needed...average 9 months of use...no other plugs have been as good as the Bosch quad platinum/ir's...not even the Bosch double platinums...and I still check them every 3 months. And when I buy a car, first thing I do is toss out the dealer plugs, plug wires, filters and fluids.
Eagl...how else would a Dodge 2.0 engine run but poorly? Especially with crappy gasoline...the only engine worse was that Pontiac quad 4.