INSTALLED: Evo IX SpoolinUp COP & Denso IKH24 plugs

[Kracka]

First of all I will start by mentioning my car has 46k miles on it with untouched stock NGK spark plugs and have never once given me any ignition problems or misfires.

Yesterday I removed the stock coil/boots/wires and installed the SpoolinUp COP setup (used coil version) retaining the stock spark plugs (untouched, never removed) to see if there would be a noticeable difference. I will note that my coils/boots/wires came out of my car appearing to be in perfect condition with no noticeable wear or discoloring of any sort.





This thing obviously looks amazing in the engine bay, the only thing I'm not impressed with is how the one coil plug touches the o2 sensor plug. This makes me think the passenger side coil should be rotated slightly clockwise in order to fit better.

At first I didn't really notice a difference at all with the COP installed, but after a bit more driving around it does seem to be revving up smoother when leaving from a stop and the low-RPM (<2000) drivability definitely seems smoother (this is huge for me since I have FP4R cams). It's tough to say whether or not this smoothness can be credited to the COP or if it just means my stock wires/boots were due for replacement. It does seem that even people with very low mileage IX's are still reporting this same improvement in smoothness though. DAY 1 COMPLETE and I am satisfied with my purchase thus far!


Today I removed my stock spark plugs and overall they look very good as well. Again, they never once gave me any ignition problems or misfires that I noticed. I believe they look very good especially considering their age and show my car to be in good running condition with a proper tune. This is the first time the stock spark plugs were ever removed from my engine and are currently sitting at a (from passenger to driver side) .025", .025", .023", .027" gap (factory spec is .020-.024" gap).



Although I generally am a fan of NGK, I decided to replace my stock spark plugs with Denso IKH24 iridium plugs since I wanted to go 1 heat range cooler due to my mods and increased boost level (26 psi peak with the stock turbo). They came out of the box pregapped to .030-.031" and I left them there; very tight consistency which I haven't seen with plugs I've bought for other cars in the past. I installed them with a small amount of high-temp copper anti-seize on the threads and some dielectric grease on the top.



Here are the final installation pictures:





The car felt and pulled very smooth during the final test-drive. With the new plugs the car felt even smoother yet and did seem to pull a bit cleaner into the high RPM's. With the gaps set to .030-.031" there was no break-up or misfires. It would have been interesting to see how the car performed with the new plugs using the stock coils/boots/wires, but I don't feel like tearing everything apart again since I'm very satisfied with the end result.

DAY 2 RESULTS are impressive, I'm glad I did this round of modding. It is not a night and day difference like some are claiming, but it does make a nice subtle change leading to a smoother driving car. I'm not going to make any horsepower claims or estimates since that should only be done with dyno sheets as backup/proof.

[Kracka]

My final thoughts and impressed posted!

[v8klla]

send him your pic its better than whats on his site.

[123abc]

How come on an Evo its alright to do that on wasted spark but on a DSM everyone jumps on your back unless you have an amplifier?

I noticed the same differences you speak of when I put together my COP setup using Intrepid 2.7L coils.

[mike55112]

How do these compare to the spark tech non cdi kit?

[Shane@DBPerformance]

Originally Posted by 123abc

How come on an Evo its alright to do that on wasted spark but on a DSM everyone jumps on your back unless you have an amplifier?

Most of the cheap COP kits for DSMs use questionable coils and the DSM ignition system is a bit different. The Evo also has a weak stock ignition system, while the stock DSM ignition system is very strong.

[scheides]

Awesome dude! I'm glad you like it, next time you're up here, perhaps a re-tune with a bit more boost is in order I'm glad someone else had a similar experience as me, not an insane improvement but just general driveability and overall smoothness gains. One guy claimed he saw like 40whp gains with this....there's no way, unless his stock ignition was fuct up. Will be curious to see if you see any mileage improvements.

Originally Posted by 123abc

How come on an Evo its alright to do that on wasted spark but on a DSM everyone jumps on your back unless you have an amplifier?

I noticed the same differences you speak of when I put together my COP setup using Intrepid 2.7L coils.

There's two ways to look at a mod like this:
-it's not needed if the car isn't breaking up, its one more thing to break/go wrong
-its worth doing if it is proven to improve driveability and power (probably assuming a re-tune to actually see it)

Either way, .030 gap at any reasonable amount of boost(24+) is fantastic! As long as its reliable, its worth doing in my book!

[Shane@DBPerformance]

Originally Posted by scheides

One guy claimed he saw like 40whp gains with this....there's no way, unless his stock ignition was fuct up.

Jim changed his perfectly fine looking stock iridium spark plugs to a new set of stock spark plugs and gained a massive amount of power, maybe that guy had a similar thing happen or he had a bad coil/blow out.

We have dyno tested some of the replacement aftermarket expensive coils, like these http://www.lethalperformance.com/99-...0ae0dhuk8af750 and the Okadas on Hondas. Changing to a new set of spark plugs gave a measureable gain on both cars, swapping on the new coils after already changing the plugs didn't gain gain any power. We didn't spend all day playing with around with opening up the gap though either. I haven't seen running a bigger gap make a huge difference in power at WOT on turbo cars(we are normally just happy to avoid misfires though), but it does make a difference in idle, cruising and start up.

The SpoolinUp non-CDI kit is definately a nice upgrade for the Evo guys.

[scheides]

It's been said that running these coils with the larger gap will let you run more boost on pump gas, have you seen that at all shane? There's people tuning to ~28psi more and more, I'm curious to see if that's possible on a well setup car.

The startup, idle, and cruising gains make these worth it for me.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

Originally Posted by scheides

It's been said that running these coils with the larger gap will let you run more boost on pump gas, have you seen that at all shane?

I don't know. Who runs pump gas in MN besides you, now that Kracka moved away?

I could possibly see some 28psi on the BP 93 pump gas that we have now. With the 91-92 swill that most of the gas stations around here sell, we usually had to pull so much ignition timing when we tried to run over 25psi that we didn't gain any power.

I could also see the the stronger ignition doing away with any light misfires under higher boost, the kind you really can't hear or feel that much but get picked up by the ECU as false knock or causes real knock(cars often detonate during misfires).

[Kasey at MAP]

Originally Posted by mike55112

How do these compare to the spark tech non cdi kit?

I think the only way they compare is they use the same coil. But as far as quality, you cant beat Spark Tech. I have had one on my personal car for a while and I have a friend with one for over a year. I can guarantee the Spark Tech will hold up a lot longer under the harsh temperatures that Evo motor gives. Just my .02 cents.

[Kasey at MAP]

Originally Posted by scheides

It's been said that running these coils with the larger gap will let you run more boost on pump gas, have you seen that at all shane? There's people tuning to ~28psi more and more, I'm curious to see if that's possible on a well setup car.

The startup, idle, and cruising gains make these worth it for me.

I do agree the startup , idle and cruising is better, but 40whp is crap unless there stock ignition is messed up. I would say 10 is more like it. Larger gap does mean better spark which means you will need more fuel to ignite.

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by mike55112

How do these compare to the spark tech non cdi kit?

Same coils, half the price. I love SpoolinUp's carbon fiber mounting plate, but I prefer SparkTech's wiring. SparkTech's coils, even though they're the same Denso coils, don't say Toyota on the side. It would have been an extra $115-125 to get new coils instead of used from SpoolinUp which is still far cheaper than SparkTech so it really comes down to how much are you willing to pay for a nicer looking wire?

[scheides]

I just love this kit because it really is a DIY setup done right, w/o a huge markup. The spark tech kit is nice, but honestly this SpoolinUp kit is the best bang for your buck.

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by v8klla

send him your pic its better than whats on his site.

I told him he can use any of my pictures for his site. Thanks for getting me those spark plugs so quickly!

[turbotalon1g]

I emailed him about the kit for DSMs and he said nogo because they use a different style ignition system, but the guy got back to me within an hour and was cool as shit as we emailed a couple times.

Good product and customer service, sounds like a score.

[TalonFiero]

Yeah, my stock IX plugs were shot so thats why I gained a bunch of power at one point.

My setup tends to go through plugs faster than a pump gas stock turbo evo. The COP setup definitely lets me get a little more life out of the plugs and Chris I also noticed leaving stop lights and part throttle cruise areas cleaned up very noticeably for me.

Did I gain more top end power from the COP? Highly Doubtful. Did it clean up some driveability on my specific set of mods and E85? Yes!

I can probably push the car past 35psi without worries of blowing the spark out now too. Of course 50K+ miles of 30+psi on the factory original headgasket and head bolts, I may be asking for trouble over 35psi.

[scheides]

Get some wider plugs like this and go for it!

[Andrew7dg]

Originally Posted by turbotalon1g

I emailed him about the kit for DSMs and he said nogo because they use a different style ignition system, but the guy got back to me within an hour and was cool as shit as we emailed a couple times.

Good product and customer service, sounds like a score.

Looking at how they fire, with a little wiring you could wire them up so that they would work on a DSM I believe. They just have the ignitors built into the COP stick.

However our coilpacks handle 500hp and are an upgrade for evos

[Kracka]

A little extra carbon fiber to go along with the COP plate: