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Author Topic: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX ***12k mile update on page 13***  (Read 96486 times)

Offline sub39h

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NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX ***12k mile update on page 13***
« on: December 05, 2011, 10:08:17 pm »
WHY

I had a misfire on cylinder 3, diagnosed when I went on Awesome's rolling road. Spark plugs hadn't been changed for 18k miles or so so i thought it couldn't do any harm. Awesome also suggest that any tuned car runs the colder spark plugs. They even fitted them to a brand new Stage 1 Golf R which was misfiring and it cured it (apparently anyway).

WHICH ARE THE RIGHT PLUGS FOR MY CAR?

I was reading from the NGK website about heat gradings.  They say that for every 75 - 100 bhp increase you should go a step colder. That being said the old standard heat range was six for a 2.0 tfsi.  Based on that the 7s would be good for upto 300bhp and anything over 300bhp the 8s.  I have 8s and have about circa 260 to 270bhp.  I do lots of short runs now I have moved so i am thinking of switching back to the 7s.  As the plugs will never reach the 450c temp it needs to burn of the carbon and I very rarely do long high speed runs and no track driving. I have copied a link  to the article I was reading.


http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/spark_plugs/installation.asp


SOURCING

Initially I was going to take advantage of Awesome's offer of 4x spark plugs for £32 delivered, but with the kind help of Jaywoo-GTI i was directed towards this eBay listing:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320797953741?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Items delivered quickly and safely wrapped, and for £10 less than Awesome: awesome! (Or not, as the case may be  :rolleye:)

FITTING

http://www.golfmkv.net/blog/archives/9#

i didn't have the tools (was short an extension for my socket set), so popped it down to National Tyres in Newcastle-u-Lyme where Richard quoted me around £10 to do it for me, but he couldn't do it there and then because of bookings. Instead he offered to lend me his tools so I could do it myself.

Got the coils off, at which point i noticed one of my coils (cyl 4, not the one misfiring) was rusty despite being changed less than 3 months ago under the recall:



(Advice welcome about that^.) I went inside to ask Richard's advice, at which point he came out to the car and, without me asking, changed the spark plugs for me. When I asked him how much, he said "nothing". Result!

OTHER VERSIONS

OEM
Nology
??? (feel free to add others, i didn't really research it tbh)

PLUS POINTS

1. Cost - OEM plugs are in the region of £45 to buy. These were half the price, and from some of the posts on VAGOC it looks like VAG main dealers sometimes use the NGKs anyway (?!)

2. Misfire gone (!) - so they served their original purpose

3. Increase in fuel economy? - seems that way. On my regular trip to the gym which is 16mi away (don't ask) i got better fuel economy than normal, despite the fact that it was 2deg and my car really seems to suffer in the cold. I was driving like a bit of a prat too, and even stopped off for some V-Power on the way which always hurts my fuel economy average on the DIS. 

4. Smoothness? - oh how subjective this is, but the car just feels better.

MINUS POINTS

NONE!!! If your car isn't tuned apparently colder plugs don't get hot enough to burn away deposits and you can get fouling of your plugs. I'll be going Stage 2 soon hopefully, so still happy with the purchase. I'll keep you informed if I run into trouble.

15/3/12 Update - roughly 6k miles on standard tune with no degradation in performance :happy2:

28/8/12 Update - roughly 12k miles on standard tune. Single episode of misfire 2 months ago. Disappeared with no recurrence. No fault codes logged, no problems with cold starting.

14/10/13 Update - roughly 20k miles on standard tune. No further episodes of misfiring. The plugs were changed for Nology plugs as part of a major service and does feel a little more responsive. I maintain that for a routine plug change they are good value and should not be considered an upgrade - at least not on an unmapped K03 car.

SUMMARY

For £21.32 fitted (not including the petrol it took me to drive to the garage) I'd say this is a right old result. Whether or not they make a difference is irrelevant, they're half the price of OEM and do exactly the same job. If they're better that's just an added bonus.
 
« Last Edit: October 14, 2013, 04:45:02 pm by sub39h »
2006 Phantom Black A3 2.0T S-Line
DSG | Rear Parking Sensors | MFSW | BOSE | Auto lights/wipers | Half leather
MODS : '09 tail lights | TT vents | Bilstein B14 | RNS-E 2010 | AMI | AKS Tuning custom CAI | Titanium BBS VZs | NQS BBK | WALK | Autotech RARB | Bluemotion aero | Blueflame TBE | Autotech HPFP | MY11 Wing Mirrors | Bluetooth | S3 Intercooler
PLANS: Stage 2+

Offline Eccie

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2011, 10:44:59 pm »
That's some saving over the ones from Awesome and OEM, well done :wink:


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Offline Weston

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2011, 10:59:42 pm »
Ordered  :happy2: let's hope they fix my misfire as well  :signLOL:
GTI going...

Offline sub39h

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2011, 12:14:47 am »
That's some saving over the ones from Awesome and OEM, well done :wink:

congratulate Jawyoo-GTI, not me!

Ordered  :happy2: let's hope they fix my misfire as well  :signLOL:

good luck  :happy2:
2006 Phantom Black A3 2.0T S-Line
DSG | Rear Parking Sensors | MFSW | BOSE | Auto lights/wipers | Half leather
MODS : '09 tail lights | TT vents | Bilstein B14 | RNS-E 2010 | AMI | AKS Tuning custom CAI | Titanium BBS VZs | NQS BBK | WALK | Autotech RARB | Bluemotion aero | Blueflame TBE | Autotech HPFP | MY11 Wing Mirrors | Bluetooth | S3 Intercooler
PLANS: Stage 2+

Offline Weston

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2011, 12:16:52 am »
Thanks I'll update once they're fitted
GTI going...

Offline berg

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2011, 12:10:20 pm »
ordered, dont need just yet but planning to change plugs in Feb and I like to have thing sin stock in my garage (bat cave to copy RR  :grin:)
Diamond Black Pearl Edition 30, still going strong but now back to Stg 1

Offline Jaywoo-GTI

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2011, 12:15:40 pm »
Nice to see they cured your problem, and glad i could help :happy2: (even if you do drive a rich mans golf :P )

Offline alexperkins

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2011, 06:59:07 pm »
I fitted a set of these a few weeks back - unfortunately didn't see this post so paid a bit more via awesome!

They've cured my little misfire on idle, and the misfire on WOT at low revs has disappeared

The pops between changes on the DSG have improved too, so all round a winning purchase. Car feels like new again


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Offline Weston

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #8 on: December 17, 2011, 07:17:14 pm »
I fitted a set of these a few weeks back - unfortunately didn't see this post so paid a bit more via awesome!

They've cured my little misfire on idle, and the misfire on WOT at low revs has disappeared

The pops between changes on the DSG have improved too, so all round a winning purchase. Car feels like new again

These cured my misfire under load to  :grin: And it's weird that you'd mention the pops as I thought today that they sounded better  :driver:
GTI going...

Offline maxload

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2011, 08:43:27 pm »
Nice write up there mate 

Ill be purchasing these and fitting in the new year  :drinking:

Offline Tfsi_Mike

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2011, 09:20:46 pm »
Do you have an engine cover? Water in no4 and rust cool pack is common and I've had 3 or 4 rusty no 4 coils.  

Might try a touch of grease to make a better seal.

Good write up.  I use the 7s on st2+ and gives the car a new lease of life when I change them.  I'm anal and do them every 6 - 10k


Thanks

Mike
« Last Edit: December 20, 2011, 10:48:48 am by Tfsi_Mike »

Offline sub39h

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #11 on: December 18, 2011, 07:20:24 am »

Do you have an engine cover? Water in no4 and rust cool pack is common and I've had 3 or 4 rusty no 4 coils. 

Might try a touch of grease to make a better seal.


Thanks for the info. Nope, no engine cover. I'm gonna change it and as you suggest use a little grease to improve the seal :happy2:

Good write up.  I use the 7s on st2+ and gives the car a new lease of life when I change them.  I'm anal and do them every 6 - 10k

Yeah definitely. There's something tangibly different about the car, but it's not something I could measure objectively

Almost forgot to ask, do you use the pad dampers or an alternative (or nothing at all) and do you get squeezing.

Thanks

Mike

Not sure what you mean Mike
2006 Phantom Black A3 2.0T S-Line
DSG | Rear Parking Sensors | MFSW | BOSE | Auto lights/wipers | Half leather
MODS : '09 tail lights | TT vents | Bilstein B14 | RNS-E 2010 | AMI | AKS Tuning custom CAI | Titanium BBS VZs | NQS BBK | WALK | Autotech RARB | Bluemotion aero | Blueflame TBE | Autotech HPFP | MY11 Wing Mirrors | Bluetooth | S3 Intercooler
PLANS: Stage 2+

Offline sub39h

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #12 on: December 18, 2011, 05:36:29 pm »
ah. i've not fitted my NQS yet, and i was gonna give it a go without the dampers because DaveB didn't have a set for me when i bought... but he said i don't need them?
2006 Phantom Black A3 2.0T S-Line
DSG | Rear Parking Sensors | MFSW | BOSE | Auto lights/wipers | Half leather
MODS : '09 tail lights | TT vents | Bilstein B14 | RNS-E 2010 | AMI | AKS Tuning custom CAI | Titanium BBS VZs | NQS BBK | WALK | Autotech RARB | Bluemotion aero | Blueflame TBE | Autotech HPFP | MY11 Wing Mirrors | Bluetooth | S3 Intercooler
PLANS: Stage 2+

Offline alexperkins

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2011, 06:46:06 pm »
To add, I did 140miles today and these plugs have made the car a different beats. The map is just as it should be now. No hesitation, misfires or other complaints

So pleased  :xmassmiley:


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Offline maxload

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Re: NGK Iridiums BKR8EIX
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2011, 07:56:58 pm »
To add, I did 140miles today and these plugs have made the car a different beats. The map is just as it should be now. No hesitation, misfires or other complaints

So pleased  :xmassmiley:

Dont you just love spark plugs  :jumping: