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2.0 Stinger LAP3 After 3,000 Miles

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#1
This is SPECIFICALLY for the 2.0

Warning: This will be a long post.

First, I want to say that I have never used a piggyback before, but have had custom tunes done on a previous vehicle. I am not a mechanical engineer and don't pretend to be one. This has been MY experience with the LAP3 piggyback.

Starting out, everything was going well. Originally, I did not change anything and ran the LAP3 at the 93 octane rating. At around the 1,000 mile mark, I started to hear a singe ?tick? noise under high boost at low RPM. It was always one tick. That's never good (and never good to lug a turbo engine. Lug your GDI engine at your own risk!). I attributed the sound to LSPI? Low Speed Pre-Ignition. I am about 99% sure that's what it was.

I quickly set out to get rid of this potentially destructive phenomenon. First, I went back to stock. No sound, so it had to be the chip. I plugged the chip back in and turned it down to the 91 setting and threw octane booster in the gas. According to the octane booster, I should have been running around 100 octane (I know, I know, but I wanted to try it). This was my cheap solution to a critical problem. Guess what? The sound was still there. Okay, so my second idea was to just regap the OEM spark plugs. I regap the oem plugs to .25 and still the tick is there. I also lost power on the low end of the RPM, which was very interesting. I thought I would be able to hold out on buying new plugs, but I was definetly wrong.

Lesson learned: Listen to the Hive.

Now, The HKS M40xl are the plugs recommended for the 2.0. I'm sure they are great, but I couldn't justify spending 100+ bucks on 4 spark plugs. I did the next best thing. I found the NGK equivalent. The NGK 1422 ILKR8E6 is the same plug and a colder range. It's the same plug they use in the evo 4G engine. 50 bucks shipped and I'm sold. I recieve the spark plugs and quickly install them. An aside? the spark plugs in the 2.0 stinger are so easy to change. I feel bad for the V6 owners. These plugs are supposed to come pregapped around .25. Perfect. Everything should work. I install them and take her for a drive. The noise is still there! This was getting annoying. I pull the new NGK plugs and see what they were gapped at. LESS THAN .20. I couldn't even fit them on my spark plug wheel. I regap the new plugs to .30 and ran the car. IT WORKED. Everything went back to normal! She picks up boost now early in the range and, best of all, NO TICK UNDER LOAD. I regapped the Plugs to .35 to see if anything would change, and thought it felt a little better (probably just in my head). I kept the gap at .35, but might put it down to .30 eventually. The car runs beautifully now. It feels much better driving the car and not worrying about that ?tick? noise. I never knew spark plugs could make this big of a difference.

My theory: Everything that I have read about high(er) boosted engines is they like smaller plug gaps. MY experience with MY car is that is likes the gap in the .3 range. My illogical reasoning? It takes more voltage from the coils to ignite the spark with a wider gap, allowing more air and fuel into the chambers to ignite. I think original gap was too small and igniting before all the a/f was in the cylinder. The OEM plug was definitely running way too hot. This lead to extra heat in the chamber and to my pre-ignition problem. What do I know though

TL;DR ? If you have the 2.0, you must go to a colder spark plug. I chose NGK. I'm sure HKS is great. My car ran perfect at the .3 and .35 gapped plug. Yours might be different. This must be addressed for the people still running stock plugs with LAP3 ? CHANGE THEM. Doesn't matter what brand, but you need a colder range. Make sure you check your spark gap before installing. If you don't address this, it could be bye-bye engine.
 
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#2
Thank you for the post [MENTION=441]Marty17[/MENTION]. Any chance you know what the stock plugs are?
 
OP
M
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Thread Starter #3
Thank you for the post [MENTION=441]Marty17[/MENTION]. Any chance you know what the stock plugs are?
So stock plug number is telling me it?s NGK SIZKR8H9G but I can?t find them anywhere. I?ll recheck the stock plugs tomorrow.
 
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What I Drive
2018 Kia Stinger
#4
Great post, have you noticed any power difference between these plugs and the stock plugs? How many miles have you put on the new plugs?
 
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#5
Thanks for the headsup and review.
 
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#6
Would you recommend changing the spark plugs to these without the LAP3?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Thread Starter #7
UPDATE: I?ve since regapped the plugs to .27. The car is more responsive. I guess every website saying ?gap a small engine, high boost engine spark plug small? was right. I was wrong. Everything so far feels great and I feel much more comfortable driving the vehicle. Still on setting 666 running 93 octane.
 
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Thread Starter #8
Would you recommend changing the spark plugs to these without the LAP3?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
NO! No need to change out the stock plugs to a colder set unless you are turning the boost up. Even at that it?s recommended that every 70-100 hp you should go to a colder plug. That is a guideline.
 

TJH

New Member
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#9
NO! No need to change out the stock plugs to a colder set unless you are turning the boost up. Even at that it's recommended that every 70-100 hp you should go to a colder plug. That is a guideline.
Do you know the heat range of the stock plugs? From the stock plug number you quoted -- NGK SIZKR8H9G -- it seems, the heat range could be NGK 8. If that's the case, it would be the same as the replacement plugs NGK 1422 ILKR8E6.

Did you also take note of the original stock spark plug gap?
 
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Thread Starter #10
Do you know the heat range of the stock plugs? From the stock plug number you quoted -- NGK SIZKR8H9G -- it seems, the heat range could be NGK 8. If that's the case, it would be the same as the replacement plugs NGK 1422 ILKR8E6.

Did you also take note of the original stock spark plug gap?
TJH, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I called up NGK and they said the plugs were the same heat range as the stock Stinger, but totally different otherwise. The car still feels better running the 1422. The guy I talked to recommended I go with NGK ILKR9Q7G and I just ordered a set today. They are one step colder and should work perfectly in the motor. They are pretty hard to find but only 15 bucks a plug.

Man, all of this for just new spark plugs. I should have called NGK first.

Stock 2.0 Stinger gap is ~ .36
 
Messages
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State
FL
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What I Drive
2018 Kia Stinger 2.0l Premium
#11
Thank you for the update. Let us know how the next 3k goes!
 

kenmsax

New Member
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#12
TJH, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I called up NGK and they said the plugs were the same heat range as the stock Stinger, but totally different otherwise. The car still feels better running the 1422. The guy I talked to recommended I go with NGK ILKR9Q7G and I just ordered a set today. They are one step colder and should work perfectly in the motor. They are pretty hard to find but only 15 bucks a plug.

Man, all of this for just new spark plugs. I should have called NGK first.

Stock 2.0 Stinger gap is ~ .36
Any updates? How's the car running?

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk
 


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