They are good wires, no doubt about it. I was not saying the wires are bad at all. The problem is they are a PITA to get off compared to aftermarket wires (yes, even when you have the tool), and half the time they break when you pull them off and you will have to replace them anyways. The wires are very good wires, they just don't make it easy to change spark plugs. Like I have said in the past, it takes us 20 minutes (or less) to change the spark plugs in the GTP, but on the SSEi (or the GTP the first time), it took us a good 4 or 5 hours, because the wires were seized to the plugs. Aftermarket wires are just much easier to work with.

Maybe that is because the Delco wires had been on the car for a long time, whereas you take the aftermarket wires off on a regular basis. Let me know how the Taylors come off after 5 years or so of baking under the hood.

The Delco wires were on the GTP 15,000 miles before we took them off, and the car has never been exposed to extreme weather conditions (temps over 100, or lower than 30, as it is stored winters and it doesn't get over 100 much here), and it is VERY WELL cared for, and just like the SSEi it took ~4-5 hours to get the wires off the first time. The Taylor wires have been on the SSEi since 65k and it now has almost 81k on it, and we have never pulled them off. Do you want me to pull the taylor wires off the SSEi and show you? I would be willing to bet a lot of money that they come off VERY VERY easily. Hell, I can wait a month for it have 85k on it. Or, I can even wait until the end of the year when it should have ~100,000 miles on it, and then pull them off. 35k should be pretty good proof that they are better than the stock wires with 20k LESS miles on them.

Like I said, I am not saying the stock wires are bad wires at all, I actually think they are very good wires, they just don't come off very easily compared to they Taylor and MSD wires that are available, and they don't make it easy to set your car up for quick plug changes.

The heads and exhaust on these engines run WAY hotter than my old V8 engine.
I measure the exhaust headers and head surface temperatures that are radiating heat at temperatures of over 600 deg F, after normal driving.
Unless you shield your wires, they will cook.
Most are only rated for 400 deg F max temps.
Shields will drastically increase wire life around the header boot area.
The heat may affect electrical conductivity at the boot to plug connection but the main purpose is to prevent thermal breakdown of the plug wire.

The Taylors are rated at 600 F. Still cutting it too close for me.

Once after some spirited driving I measured the temps at 750 F.
Of course, as long as they aren't actually touching, the radiant heat temperature will be somewhat less......maybe 600 F

Why chance it. Well it could be the cost of the Taylor boots. They cost me as much as the wires themselves. :( but should pay for themselves by extending the wire life.

That must be why the factory uses a shield on theirs. They usually don't spend money on things that aren't critical to parts outlasting the first year all encompasing warranty where most lease owners (the majority now) use up to almost the limit of the 60,000 km.