The NGK OEM JCW plug has been the most popular. 4 prong, no gapping or indexing needed. And it performs great. I also went with the MSD coil after seing the corrosion problems I and many of my club-mates had. I just drilled out the metal sleeve and used the OEM bolts, worked fine.
The center electrode on the Denso sparkplug often deteriorates in less time than a thicker wire plug when used in the MCS. I've seen a Denso electrode disintegrate in nine thousand miles. Denso plugs also have a history of ejecting along with head threads. This can happen with any sparkplug not torqued properly or allowed to loosen over time; the Denso plug just has a stronger correlation with this failure. Power performance wise there's not a difference, and really no advantage with special metals plugs in most cases. Thirty thousand miles is pushing the service interval for a single ground plug in a high performance application. Denso life is around fifteen thousand miles.
Not really, about the same. That said I've never run an Iridium plug more than 10,000 miles which I thought was the recommended life on the Densos and most high performance plugs anyway. Now in my BMW I run the NGK three prong plugs and more mileage. As others have said, keep a check on the torque. I like to change and torque mine when the motor is cold, and on brand new plugs I like to torque the plug down, then back it back off and torque again a couple times to make sure the seats/washers have properly compressed. 2cents
Okay, here's one I haven't bought as of yet. Opinions, please... Cold Air Intake Mini Madness, Craven Speed, Alta, etc. ???
And the above post moves this thread along how? I'm biased, I like the Craven Speed one. The 2 generation of their CAI addressed a lot of the items I thought were an issue in the earliest models, of which I had one.
Thanks, Nathan. Yeah, I was wondering about Betty and Reefer Madness too... I'm leaning toward the Craven 2nd gen, thanks for the vote of confidence!
Aw man.... Sorry, I thought I was in "Older Than Dirt".... Can they be moved? I must be dyslexic.... Where's my meds?
First off I don't think there is much advantage to an aftermarket intake for a street car with conventional bolt-ons. It is much easier to discard the stock cellulose filter and replace with a clean new one. Nanofiber is fairly easy to clean, but vacuuming the filter became a chore for me after a while. Cellulose does a great job of filtering, much better than foam, and filtering airborne particulate is what an air filter is supposed to do. Now if you dig the additional noises aftermarket intakes make, that's as good as reason as any to own one. The real reason I posted is to plug my most noisy intake of them all offering. http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/1st-generation-parts-sale/10698-alta-air-intake-w-hose.html
MSD Coil Differences In the light that this may help someone... MSD offers two coil packs for the Mini, one with ROUND (#8229) terminal pins and one with FLAT (#8239). Our car had the flat, thus we installed the #8239 coil.
UPDATE: Last weekend, we replaced the ignition with the following: - MSD 8239 Coil - MSD 32879 8.5mm Wires - Denso IK22 #5310 Iridium Plugs (in prep for 15% pulley) The idle is smoother, no MPG data yet. This weekend, the plan is to first install the new ATI 917992 damper ($339 @ Summit!) with a new belt (Gates K060539) and attempt to duplicate the P1688 scenario. If successful, the Alta 15% pulley will be added along with a tensioner stop. We'll see...
UPDATE - SUCCESS!!! I just completed (finally) the install of the ATI damper, "39" belt, and 15% SC pulley. Major difference!!! No more limp mode, pulls very strong to redline. No codes!!! Bye, bye, P1688!!! So I treated her to an oil change and new air filter. Who's a happy car...
Just a comment....several have had issues with their ECU's that stem from the use of a MSD Coil. Surely not trashing it, just want to make you aware. RMW recommends the use of an OEM coil to eliminate the issue.
^^^^ yup I have seen pictures of them splitting in half and cooking and ECU and the MSD coil is not worth the risk. OEM coil and wires are are best.