Piggyback Tuning MEGATHREAD

[Rango]

Will regapping ... anywhere ... void my warranty? Seems like it should not. Gonna have a talk with my dealership manager.

 

[Dustin]

Will regapping ... anywhere ... void my warranty? Seems like it should not. Gonna have a talk with my dealership manager.

Just speaking out loud here, but the less your dealership knows the better.

 

[KLR STINGER]

Will regapping ... anywhere ... void my warranty? Seems like it should not. Gonna have a talk with my dealership manager.

Absolutely not. A tighter gap in the ranges being proposed will have no perceivable difference to the vehicle other than preventing blow out. Spark plugs are consumables. Tires and brakes are not items that affect your warranty. Same for spark plugs

 

[Diggerdale]

See below

 

[Diggerdale]

I’ve had RC GTS Black installed just over 2 weeks now running 93 octane only with stock plugs without any performance issues. I’ve had it in race mode one time. Today, I had the plugs changed out for HTS M45iL gapped to .024 at the advice of those on this thread. #3 and #4 were just barely cracked. Glad I had it done when I did! So here’s my next question. If I have no performance issues with the new plugs gapped to .024, should I have these plugs checked down the road, or should I be good to go? Thanks!

 

[Rango]

I’ve had RC GTS Black installed just over 2 weeks now running 93 octane only with stock plugs without any performance issues. I’ve had it in race mode one time. Today, I had the plugs changed out for HTS M45iL gapped to .024 at the advice of those on this thread. #3 and #4 were just barely cracked. Glad I had it done when I did! So here’s my next question. If I have no performance issues with the new plugs gapped to .024, should I have these plugs checked down the road, or should I be good to go? Thanks!

I do not have an answer to your question, unfortunately; but you have just answered just about all my questions about the RC GTS Black install. I have a GT2, run on 93 octane only, and was doubting that the stock plugs were sufficient. Seems they are not for this tune. I have the RC GTS Black but have not installed it yet. New race plugs and a regap seems necessary for the RC piggy to perform, without any codes popping up. Hopefully Racechip will chime in on this post. They seem very dedicated and I have seen many responses from them on this forum. Following this thread. Thanks for your post.

 

[Tonkabob]

I’m thinking i’m going to have them install new. They quoted me 2 hours and $200 to regap. I run 93 octane now, but just found a place close to me I can get 94. Can’t help wonder if as an option, maybe I just run 94 octane and leave it out of race mode all together and keep stock plugs gapped as is. If I could learn to do it myself, that solves any issue.

With 94 octane you can have RC increase performance above Race mode! I'm using Race mode on 92 octane with stock plugs but switching to the HKS plugs this weekend.

 

[Kamauxx]

I’ve had RC GTS Black installed just over 2 weeks now running 93 octane only with stock plugs without any performance issues. I’ve had it in race mode one time. Today, I had the plugs changed out for HTS M45iL gapped to .024 at the advice of those on this thread. #3 and #4 were just barely cracked. Glad I had it done when I did! So here’s my next question. If I have no performance issues with the new plugs gapped to .024, should I have these plugs checked down the road, or should I be good to go? Thanks!

@RaceChip some potentially valuable information for any future updates you may make to the software of the chips.

 

[KLR STINGER]

I’ve had RC GTS Black installed just over 2 weeks now running 93 octane only with stock plugs without any performance issues. I’ve had it in race mode one time. Today, I had the plugs changed out for HTS M45iL gapped to .024 at the advice of those on this thread. #3 and #4 were just barely cracked. Glad I had it done when I did! So here’s my next question. If I have no performance issues with the new plugs gapped to .024, should I have these plugs checked down the road, or should I be good to go? Thanks!

gap will errode over time, but high quality iridium with good shells don't errode much. Probably check them at 25K and see what the rate of errosion has been and decide from there. I would definitely replace @ 50K if you are running alot of boost and significantly increased power.

 

[RwYeAsNt]

Man, this will make me sound stupid and I'm gonna go on a brief rant... but is this a normal thing for cars? I mean, I'm young, call me naive.. but I've still owned 4 different vehicles and I've never had to do this much maintenance on any of them.

Coming from a WRX with a Cobb Accessport, tuned Stage 1+ Big SF Intake and upgraded catback and I never had to do any of this sh*t... The car just ran.. I drove that thing through hell and put nearly 70,000kms on it in 1 year and never had to touch spark plugs or any of this stuff.. just regular oil changes is all I needed and the car ran beautifully.

I'm impressed with this car but damn you all make it sound like I'll need to be in the engine bay every other month lol I'd rather keep the car stock then to have to go through this headache every 25-50k but then again, Kia has sparks listed for replacement early too.. I mean, I drive a lot for work.. I'll probably put in over 50k this year alone... if I gotta change spark plugs every year, hell this thing will be traded quick.

 

[Kamauxx]

I'll probably put in over 50k this year alone... if I gotta change spark plugs every year, hell this thing will be traded quick.

Unfortunately I believe Kia recommends new plugs every 45k.

 

[RwYeAsNt]

Unfortunately I believe Kia recommends new plugs every 45k.

Yeah, that seems crazy to me.. I bought the car in February with 3kms on the dash and I'm already at 8,000kms..

I had a BRZ (which I'm not gonna pretend it's nearly as powerful as a Stinger) for over 3 years, put over 100,000kms on it and never needed any maintenance other than oil changes..

Are these just cheap spark plugs? Or is the Stinger just badly designed? I hate to sound ignorant and/or arrogant.. but I honestly don't understand the science between needed to change our plugs so often, yet my moms 7 year old Honda with like 200,000kms still runs great... is this why Kia gets a bad rep??

 

[ScottyDangles]

Yeah, that seems crazy to me.. I bought the car in February with 3kms on the dash and I'm already at 8,000kms..

I had a BRZ (which I'm not gonna pretend it's nearly as powerful as a Stinger) for over 3 years, put over 100,000kms on it and never needed any maintenance other than oil changes..

Are these just cheap spark plugs? Or is the Stinger just badly designed? I hate to sound ignorant and/or arrogant.. but I honestly don't understand the science between needed to change our plugs so often, yet my moms 7 year old Honda with like 200,000kms still runs great... is this why Kia gets a bad rep??

Spark plugs will eventually wear regardless of brand, its like anything, a little preventative maintenance goes a long way. Turbo charged cars will have a shorter maintenance interval than NA cars due to the added heat. Every car I've owned suggested they be changed at 60,000KM. (VW Golf GTI MK5, Golf R MK6, Golf R MK 7) Kia recommends 70,000KM on the Stinger, not bad. I'm sure you can forego the manufacturers conservative recommendation and go longer but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[RaceChip]

Welcome to the piggyback tuning megathread. The idea is for this to be a 1-stop-shop for all the available information on tuning chips as well as a place to get your questions answered.

I just want to let you know that we are changing our spark plug recommendation.
Spark Plug Advice

 

[Ahawk1968]

Maybe I'm showing my age here but....
Does anyone remember what had to be done to wring an extra 75+ HP out of a motor just a few years back???? Short of nitrous, it was quite a bit of work!
Holy cow, y'all are complaining about spark plugs gaps?!? If all I ever had to worry about was plug gaps and changing them periodically on past vehicles..... The HP and torque from 3.3 liters, not to mention reliability, let's throw in great gas milage, ect... Wow!

Getting your hands a bit dirty was always part of the fun.

 

[StungBlueGT2]

Maybe I'm showing my age here but....
Does anyone remember what had to be done to wring an extra 75+ HP out of a motor just a few years back???? Short of nitrous, it was quite a bit of work!
Holy cow, y'all are complaining about spark plugs gaps?!? If all I ever had to worry about was plug gaps and changing them periodically on past vehicles..... The HP and torque from 3.3 liters, not to mention reliability, let's throw in great gas milage, ect... Wow!

Getting your hands a bit dirty was always part of the fun.

I agree and shows how far we've come in such a short time. Unfortunately it also shows how spoiled people have become with technology and some just expect everything to be easy. Maybe its something the younger generations weren't taught, but I grew up believing "Nothing in the world worth having comes easy"...

I digress, and back to the point. I do remember having to spend thousands to put Hooker headers, High-rise Edelbrock Performer RPM manifold, Holley 750 Double pumper and high lift Crane cams just to get another 80-100HP out of my 455ci V8 Trans-Am. That was tons of work, but as you said was alot of fun too!

I never got to dyno the Trans-am, but based on upgrades it should have been around 450Hp & 500+Tq. That thing was wicked quick, but only got 5-10mpg and I had to fix little issues every month... It is really amazing that a V6 Kia can be reliable, get 19-25mpg, and basically match my upgraded V8 power with just a RaceChip & re-gapped plugs.

What an amazing world we live in, and Wow is an understatement!

 

[gilthanis1]

Maybe I'm showing my age here but....
Does anyone remember what had to be done to wring an extra 75+ HP out of a motor just a few years back???? Short of nitrous, it was quite a bit of work!
Holy cow, y'all are complaining about spark plugs gaps?!? If all I ever had to worry about was plug gaps and changing them periodically on past vehicles..... The HP and torque from 3.3 liters, not to mention reliability, let's throw in great gas milage, ect... Wow!

Getting your hands a bit dirty was always part of the fun.

Your exactly right! I can get 50-75 HP and as much torque from a chip and changing the plugs..........oh gee what a hard upgrade and preventive maintenance. You wanna go faster, you gotta put in some work and keep a little closer eye on things. It's just part of the game, albeit a fun part compared to some other things.

It's better than what has been stated, hours of work for a little gain, constant maintenance, and most likely not very livable as a DD. I would say we're doing pretty dam good. I can add 100 extra HP pretty easily with the Stinger and still cruise to work w/ the AC on, radio blasting and comfortable as hell.

Yes we live in horrible times now....(/sarcasmoff)

 

[Ahawk1968]

Yup... Long gone are the days of fiddling with valve lash, timing advance springs, carb jetting, ext. I think I'll keep my eye on the racechip just a little longer to see how it's working out for folks... Ahhhhh. Technology! Rock on!

fwiw....if anyone would have suggested to me back in the early 90's that I'd own a 365 horse, almost 400 ft lb of torque car from KOREA no less.... I'd swear they were smoking crack!

 

[DiabloStinger]

Maybe I'm showing my age here but....
Does anyone remember what had to be done to wring an extra 75+ HP out of a motor just a few years back???? Short of nitrous, it was quite a bit of work!
Holy cow, y'all are complaining about spark plugs gaps?!? If all I ever had to worry about was plug gaps and changing them periodically on past vehicles..... The HP and torque from 3.3 liters, not to mention reliability, let's throw in great gas milage, ect... Wow!

Getting your hands a bit dirty was always part of the fun.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. I spent about 5k on downpipe, modified turbo, fuel pump, fmic, exhaust and manifold to get 50 out of my speeds. Then another 800 for an accessport to utilize those items. And yes, I had to run hks iridium plugs.

 

[xot1]

Not a Stinger but I thought it was worth sharing since we share the same engine/transmission.

This is a G70 with a LAP3 Pro Chip, primary and secondary cat delete (stock end muffler, no intake mentioned) :


(491hp and 500lb.ft)