Ali-Gee. Posted July 1 Report Share Posted July 1 Hi all, looking for some advice on spark plug gaps. I've done a search on here and can't seem to find anything, also searched Google and getting all sorts of different answers. My car is a mk7.5 R running a TVS stage one tune. I've bought some NGK PLFER 7A8EG plugs and I'm wondering if anyone could recommend a suitable plug gap. TIA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingodalton Posted July 1 Report Share Posted July 1 Stock gap, dont think about it.I am running stock gap St1 and now St3.If regapping, use a tool. In contrary you can weaken electrode.Sent from my SM-S931B using Tapatalk Ali-Gee. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dv52 Posted July 1 Report Share Posted July 1 4 hours ago, Ali-Gee. said: Hi all, looking for some advice on spark plug gaps. I've done a search on here and can't seem to find anything also searched Google and getting all sorts of different answers. My car is a mk7.5 R running a TVS stage one tune. I've bought some NGK PLFER 7A8EG plugs and I'm wondering if anyone could recommend a suitable plug gap. TIA. Allan: Hi. Alas, there ain't a one-size-fits-all answer for your question!! As I suspect that you probably already know, NGK PLFER7A8EG. plugs come standard with a gap of .031"/0.8mm (see HERE) and this IS the OEM recommended gap for stock E.A888 Gen 3 engines. I'm not sure of your ambitions for this car- but maybe think about how you want to "shape" the boost-curve from the IS38 turbo on this engine. On the stock engine, peak boost happens in the 16–18 (19?) psi range. However, given the stage 1 tune - you probably want to push the boost-curve into the 20–23 psi range. Closing the spark-gap to 0.028"/0.7 mm should achieve this without compromising RPM combustion stability and idle smoothness. I guess that you could go further - but I understand that some have reported hard‑start issues at 0.6 mm gap on stage 1 tunes. But ultimately the choice is yours - of course!! Don PS: don't forget the other important stuff when installing your new plugs: 23 Nm on the EA888 Gen 3 aluminum head, Always install on a cold engine Ali-Gee. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali-Gee. Posted July 2 Author Report Share Posted July 2 Thanks for the reply Don. Interesting to see your quote of 23Nm for the plugs, I've watched several videos on YouTube and they all say 30Nm. I guess 23 should be safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telly_Addict Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 It's usually 30 Nm on a fresh never-been-installed plug just to compress the crush washer, then back-off a full turn before re-tightening it to 23 Nm. Ali-Gee. and dv52 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali-Gee. Posted July 7 Author Report Share Posted July 7 Well, I've gone with .28". We'll see how it goes, can always pop them back out and adjust. While I was at it I thought I might as well fit some Racingline coil packs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplepulser Posted July 26 Report Share Posted July 26 I recently replaced my NGK Race plugs (7438-8) with OE ones, after around 10k miles usage, as I was getting hesitation, almost like a misfire. The jury is still out on whether I've got to change the cam magnets as well. All looked pretty much exactly the same, looking like things are running a little rich but not too bad. No gap changes were made, and both had been installed as is from the box. No oil present in each plug socket. Ali-Gee. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meandmyself777 Posted July 28 Report Share Posted July 28 No reason to use anything other than stock plugs and stock gaps, stock plugs are fare superior in reliability and cost than the ngk racing plugs, don't waste money on them or upgrading coils.. stock works fine whether stage 1 2 or 3. My car has been through all stages of tune. Even at near 500bhp and running just over 1.90 bar and stock coils and plugs perfom perfectly, I was using the £220 ngk racing plugs until simply running out of petrol was apparently enough to fry them immediately lol.. I have done the same thing again since 😬 but the stock plugs ran fine so that's proof to me that the genuine vw plugs are better and they're less than half the cost.. I'd say the same goes for upgrading coil packs.. why? Just wasting money.. Ali-Gee. and purplepulser 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplepulser Posted August 14 Report Share Posted August 14 On 28/07/2026 at 16:01, meandmyself777 said: No reason to use anything other than stock plugs and stock gaps, stock plugs are fare superior in reliability and cost than the ngk racing plugs, don't waste money on them or upgrading coils.. stock works fine whether stage 1 2 or 3. My car has been through all stages of tune. Even at near 500bhp and running just over 1.90 bar and stock coils and plugs perfom perfectly, I was using the £220 ngk racing plugs until simply running out of petrol was apparently enough to fry them immediately lol.. I have done the same thing again since 😬 but the stock plugs ran fine so that's proof to me that the genuine vw plugs are better and they're less than half the cost.. I'd say the same goes for upgrading coil packs.. why? Just wasting money.. Thanks for the feedback. So do you think those ngk plugs in above pics look in bad condition? how long do you think stock plugs and coils should last on average? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meandmyself777 Posted September 9 Report Share Posted September 9 I just change once a year as only £88 for a full set, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplepulser Posted September 10 Report Share Posted September 10 23 hours ago, meandmyself777 said: I just change once a year as only £88 for a full set, what's your average annual mileage? This year, mine will probably be less than 500 miles, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meandmyself777 Posted 14 minutes ago Report Share Posted 14 minutes ago On 10/09/2026 at 17:52, purplepulser said: what's your average annual mileage? This year, mine will probably be less than 500 miles, Lol okay maybe don't worry too much then buddy, I covered nearly 70k miles in 2-2.5 years..lol and it's supposed to be my weekend toy..lol cars like these are just too addictive to me, apologies for late reply.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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