I took my car in for my 15K service today and I got the TSB work done. First off, when I drove up, they told me the 15K service was going to cost about $145. I told them that I didn't want anything done that was not listed in the owners manual. I also told them I had a K & N filter and that I had tire rotating and balancing through Discount Tire, so I didn't need those services performed. It ended up costing me about $37, which is much better than $145. Second, I mentioned to the service advisor that I was experiencing some hard starts, especially in the cold. That was about the extent of my complaint. When I called to check on it, they told me that they had replaced the starter and installed the new spark plugs. The OEM battery was still good, so it wasn't changed. Anyway, it starts much better now. I don't know if it is just a placebo effect, but the car seems to run alot better now. It was starting to feel a little sluggish and heavy, but now it is zippy again. Definitely a nice suprise, especially since I didn't have to fight with them, or flood it to get the new parts.

New plugs make a huge difference in this car...too bad they are $150 a set :(

$150? Damn..thank god for warranty work

My battery had actually gone bad after several hard starts... The dealer replaced battery, starter, and plugs -- plus did the oil/filter and most recent PCM flash, gratis

A new thread on DYNO Data (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=77031) appears to show a respectable improvement for engines with the new plugs installed.

Is this with new plugs, or specifically these new plugs that are part of the TSB?

I've seen a few sources where just replacing the plugs with new ones will improve performance. I think superstreet has done it twice now and each time it resulted in 5hp gain. Must have been some pretty fouled plugs...

Do you happen to have the part# (or any other info) for these new plugs on your invoice by chance? I'm coming up on 60k and am going to change the plugs, and would like to use these (hopefully finding them elsewhere for less than $150).

look in the TSB. I am pretty sure its posted there

http://www.sparkplugs.com/results_app.asp?productTypeID=1&AAIA=1416844

Aren't the new plugs great? I had that work done at the same time my new exhaust was installed. The car feels SO much better all-around now.

Well...I was flooded this morning. Got towed into Jeff Haas. They replaced the starter with a higher torque/rpm version replaced the top 2 plugs with higher output ones, replaced the battery with a higher output one and they reflashed.

I haven't driven the car enough to notice a difference in performance yet but there is a noticable difference in starting. The new starter, battery, plugs, and flash combination make for quick starts. I can definately tell a difference in how the new starter turns the motor over faster.

The true test will come in the morning... ;)

CajunTexan8

I hate to tell you but I got the new plugs, starter & battery about a year ago. The new starter/battery combo seemed great - spins so fast it could never flood. WRONG! I had my first flood yesterday and had it towed to the dealer. The deflooding procedure didn't even touch it. It was starting a little hard sometimes before it died for good but the new starter spins so much faster I thought it would be able to crank through it. Nope! The plugs had about 10K miles on them and the replacement interval is supposed to be 60K. Now I'm thinking that the plugs need to be changed every other oil change to keep the beast alive.

Did the new starter, battery and leading plugs last week along with new heater control/ (entire radio/heater/cd etc) unit just because the defrost button broke.
Is it true they really replaced the radio etc. just for that one button?

I hate to tell you but I got the new plugs, starter & battery about a year ago. The new starter/battery combo seemed great - spins so fast it could never flood. WRONG! I had my first flood yesterday and had it towed to the dealer. The deflooding procedure didn't even touch it. It was starting a little hard sometimes before it died for good but the new starter spins so much faster I thought it would be able to crank through it. Nope! The plugs had about 10K miles on them and the replacement interval is supposed to be 60K. Now I'm thinking that the plugs need to be changed every other oil change to keep the beast alive.

Well that's discouraging. I just got the batt/4plug/starter set up applied this week, fortunately without ever having a flood. I have 22K miles with an Aug 2003 build, and hoped this would getter me farther up the no flood curve.

BTW ... Schedule 2 suggests changing the plugs at 28 months or 35K miles.