Am I in the wrong forum with this question? Would this be better suited to the General Discussion Forum?

 

Doesn't matter. Engine performance mods are not that popular with the JK. $$ is better saved up and spend on gearing.

 

What ever factory uses, use that

 

Just treat it as a system. I've seen people waste money on high priced spark plugs to never really realize the gains because they were inefficient with the oem system. Spark box to coil to wires to plug. If you change from what the oem has then change the whole system. Otherwise it's not worth it performance wise. Just my opinion but that's what you guys are paying me for. Lol.

I'm new to the jeep thing but grew up in the drag racing scene.

 

That's what I was wondering about you guys, thanks for your input. I could find all kinds of other things to invest the $188 into if gains are marginal, or inadequate. This 3.8 is a lag monster and I was hoping a few hundred dollars into a full ignition upgrade was a reasonable answer.

...and yes I was gonna go full upgrade with new plugs, wires, and coil pack. Whats a good plug gap to run on these engines? I don't think I'm gonna throw big money into super fancy plugs, but I would like to get some upgrades to the OEM plugs if the engine isn't too "picky" about plugs.

If the upgraded coil pack is not worth the extra $$$ I'd rather just get a new OEM coil pack, plugs and wires @O'Reilly ;-)

 

The coil you linked does provide more (or "hotter") spark as indicated by the recommended increase in plug gap. How much difference that makes and/or if it's worth it is anyone's guess. I've read some positive end-user reports, but most of those people were upgrading from old OEM plugs and wires that were overdue to be changed anyway, so were the "gains" just from replacing worn out components or was it actually the coil?

That being said, when it was time to tune-up our JKUs, I did upgrade the wires and plugs in both. I used NGK Iridium IX plugs and my JKU got the DUI Livewires (included in the kit you're looking at) while the wife's JKU got Granatelli wires.

I did notice a difference in both Jeeps, but I was replacing crappy old plugs and original, OEM wires.

If you're looking to help throttle response and take advantage of what (little) power the 3.8 actually has, I'd recommend a Superchips tuner. I've had exhausts, intakes, etc. on both of ours, but the single best thing I did for either of them was to use the FlashPaq. I dialed-in the tire size (helps transmission shift points) and loaded the 87 octane performance tune on both Jeeps.

None of the tuning takes the place of maintenance, though. Change the plugs and wires and clean your throttle body!

 

That's the kind of input I was looking for. Thanks. I was settling on the same thought process as far as the replacing old and worn out ignition components with fresh plugs, wires, and a coil pack...surely that will help a little bit.

Thanks for the input about the plugs you run and the wires as well. Plugs and wires were my minimal "upgrade" and a OEM replacement for the coil pack, but if the price isn't much more, I may as well just buy the linked coil and wire pack and just add some better plugs like yours.

I'm not expecting any kind of major HP boost after the "upgrade", just a reasonable amount of improvement over the current ignition performance.

I am also considering the tuner as you mentioned, but I will probably have to wait until I get bigger tires or have more of a reason to spend that extra $$$...unless of course I can realize a significant savings in fuel economy or some other way to offset the cost ;-)

 

I did the screaming demon coils and wires, with better plugs and a Superchips flashpaq programmer to maximize what I could from the engine. Performance 91 got me more MPG and considerably better throttle response. I also used a K&N series 44 intake and throttle body spacer but am likely to snorkel it for a true CAI. After regearing with the exception of my #5 cylinder not firing the gains are amazing

 

My 3.8 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited I just got it and cylinder 2 and 5 have no spark no fire can somebody tell me what's wrong or do I need to replace the computer some the person I got it from said they replaced the computer once already