RaceChip USA Kia Stinger Tuning

[PAULSTINGERGT]

They actually got the 6 plugs and coils Tuesday and called by 2 pm. I couldn't pick it up until this morning. Upon cold start it made a little stumble it had never made but everything was fine. Not sure if it was just in my mind or the new plugs and coil packs with the approximately 95 octane I was running it felt really strong. I said before I will put the race chip back on and only run sport but I think I will wait until we see what plays out with Kia and people who are running the HKS plugs if they avoid any longer term issues. I did stop by Tuesday morning to ask the tech who I thought was working on my car to gap the plugs .030 instead of .035 but he was off. The other master tech did it but I didn't speak to him. I told the service advisor to please ask them to do this but I have no idea if they did. Nothing was stated on the paperwork.

 

[robz32]

Here's the stock plugs running 94 octane

M45iL's are installed hoping for good results

Wow...definitely too much boost being ran for those plugs at that gap to handle.

Let us know how the 45's behave.

 

[RaceChip]

Thank you for all these detailed information. I discuss them with our engineers.
I personally think we should recommend replacing spark plugs in general for achieving a 0% issue rate.

 

[DodgetoKia]

Here?s the stock plugs running 94 octane

M45iL?s are installed hoping for good results

Props to you for being a good sport about this. I find it terrible that no one at Racechip is taking accountability for passing on bad information and having the customer foot the bill.

 

[RaceChip]

Props to you for being a good sport about this. I find it terrible that no one at Racechip is taking accountability for passing on bad information and having the customer foot the bill.

I am sorry, I don't understand. What do you mean with "no one is taking accountability for passing on bad information"? Did anybody contact RaceChip about this and RaceChip did not pass information?
This is a forum and no RaceChip customer support. Of course, I pass information and react to them, but I am not online in this forum every day. I am doing my very best, but I have a lot of other ongoing projects.
I am sorry for the experience of this customer and we will surely investigate this. The customer should get the spark plugs replaced by Kia (they will do it, because they know they have an issue there). Furthermore, I am glad that he gets aftermarket spark plugs for using RaceChip.
And yes, many thanks to the customer for being a good sport about this.

 

[DodgetoKia]

I am sorry, I don't understand. What do you mean with "no one is taking accountability for passing on bad information"? Did anybody contact RaceChip about this and RaceChip did not pass information?
This is a forum and no RaceChip customer support. Of course, I pass information and react to them, but I am not online in this forum every day. I am doing my very best, but I have a lot of other ongoing projects.
I am sorry for the experience of this customer and we will surely investigate this. The customer should get the spark plugs replaced by Kia (they will do it, because they know they have an issue there). Furthermore, I am glad that he gets aftermarket spark plugs for using RaceChip.
And yes, many thanks to the customer for being a good sport about this.

Your post, with 93-98 Octane Fuel you can use any mappings.
https://www.kiastinger.org/forum/th...a-Stinger-Tuning?p=16968&viewfull=1#post16968

 

[RaceChip]

Your post, with 93-98 Octane Fuel you can use any mappings.
https://www.kiastinger.org/forum/th...a-Stinger-Tuning?p=16968&viewfull=1#post16968

Thanks, no I get it. You mean the recommendation itself. Until now, there was a 0% issue rate (despite of other reports if issues already in stock condition).
So now, we don't have an 0% issue rate anymore, but a 1 or 2% issue rate.
Based on the new information I think we should change the recommendation to replacing the plugs in order to get a 0% issue rate.

 

[ihatecats78]

Thanks, no I get it. You mean the recommendation itself. Until now, there was a 0% issue rate (despite of other reports if issues already in stock condition).
So now, we don't have an 0% issue rate anymore, but a 1 or 2% issue rate.
Based on the new information I think we should change the recommendation to replacing the plugs in order to get a 0% issue rate.

For clarity sake, do you mean replacing the plugs with aftermarket (HKS), or are you recommending regapping the spark plugs?

 

[RaceChip]

Let me discuss this with our R&D please. It's 10:30 pm in Germany right now, so I won't get an answer until tomorrow.
I would say, if you want to be 100% sure, replace them. Re-gapping solves the problem, too but I just don't trust the stock plugs anymore.

 

[MurlinatoR]

Thanks, no I get it. You mean the recommendation itself. Until now, there was a 0% issue rate (despite of other reports if issues already in stock condition).
So now, we don't have an 0% issue rate anymore, but a 1 or 2% issue rate.
Based on the new information I think we should change the recommendation to replacing the plugs in order to get a 0% issue rate.

We need to remember that we still don't know if the STOCK plugs gapped to .025-.03 will have the issue. We only know that the stock plugs with the large stock gap will have the issue.

There is a potential that the stock plugs with a tighter gap will work fine.

 

[JonYYZ]

Let me discuss this with our R&D please. It's 10:30 pm in Germany right now, so I won't get an answer until tomorrow.
I would say, if you want to be 100% sure, replace them. Re-gapping solves the problem, too but I just don't trust the stock plugs anymore.

On a side note the car is running great so far with the m45iL?s

 

[RaceChip]

We need to remember that we still don't know if the STOCK plugs gapped to .025-.03 will have the issue. We only know that the stock plugs with the large stock gap will have the issue.

There is a potential that the stock plugs with a tighter gap will work fine.

True! No issue with re-gapped spark plugs reported yet.

On a side note the car is running great so far with the m45iL's

Great, thanks for sharing this information!

 

[RaceChip]

Updated spark plug recommendation

UPDATED RECOMMENDATION (May 22)

Until now, we discussed that the Kia Stinger stock spark plugs can have issues in combination with bad fuel quality. Now we have seen an issue with stock spark plugs in combination with 94 octane (see post above). For this reason we adapt our recommendation.
We do not want our customers to have any hassle. We are aiming for a 0% issue rate and 100% customer satisfaction. Accordingly, we now start highly recommending using performance aftermarket spark plugs instead of the Kia Stinger stock spark plugs.

Quite a few RaceChip customers re-gapped their stock spark plugs to 0.024-0.028 (from stock 0.034-0.036) and report good performance. None of them had any issues so far. So, re-gapping the stock spark plugs might be a good alternative to replacing them. However, we did not extensively test the re-gapped spark plugs in the US, so our official recommendation will be replacing the spark plugs.

Notice: This recommendation affects only RaceChip performance upgrades and not our throttle tuning XLR. RaceChip XLR does NOT require replacing or re-gapping the spark plugs.

We apologize for this inconvenience. The issues reflect only a small single-digit percentage area of all Kia Stinger owners with a RaceChip. RaceChip is offering products for 4,000 car models and this is the first time that users are dealing with poor spark plug quality.

 

[WhiteStinger33]

I literally regapped the stock spark plugs two days ago, received the product last night and installed it. My timing couldn't have been worse.

Is there some explanation from Racechip engineers as to why new plugs are preferred over regapped OEM plugs?

(My assumption can only be the heat range?)

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[MurlinatoR]

I literally regapped the stock spark plugs two days ago, received the product last night and installed it. My timing couldn't have been worse.

Is there some explanation from Racechip engineers as to why new plugs are preferred over regapped OEM plugs?

(My assumption can only be the heat range?)

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I believe that they are just covering their butts. I have not seen a single issue with anyone running the stock plugs regapped. I believe that the issue will be resolved by the tighter gap. Even aftermarket plugs are being put in with a gap around .025-.03. If you took those aftermarket, colder plugs and spread the gap to near .04 like the stock plugs are, I bet you'd find them starting to foul out as well. That is just a wide gap for pushing boost. My $.02.

 

[ihatecats78]

UPDATED RECOMMENDATION (May 22)

Until now, we discussed that the Kia Stinger stock spark plugs can have issues in combination with bad fuel quality. Now we have seen an issue with stock spark plugs in combination with 94 octane (see post above). For this reason we adapt our recommendation.
We do not want our customers to have any hassle. We are aiming for a 0% issue rate and 100% customer satisfaction. Accordingly, we now start highly recommending using performance aftermarket spark plugs instead of the Kia Stinger stock spark plugs.

Quite a few RaceChip customers re-gapped their stock spark plugs to 0.024-0.028 (from stock 0.034-0.036) and report good performance. None of them had any issues so far. So, re-gapping the stock spark plugs might be a good alternative to replacing them. However, we did not extensively test the re-gapped spark plugs in the US, so our official recommendation will be replacing the spark plugs.

Notice: This recommendation affects only RaceChip performance upgrades and not our throttle tuning XLR. RaceChip XLR does NOT require replacing or re-gapping the spark plugs.

We apologize for this inconvenience. The issues reflect only a small single-digit percentage area of all Kia Stinger owners with a RaceChip. RaceChip is offering products for 4,000 car models and this is the first time that users are dealing with poor spark plug quality.

All of this back and forth isn't the way to do business. I just purchased additional stock spark plugs to have re-gapped and installed. The reason I did this is because I wanted to be absolutely sure that no damage had been done to my plugs after running this product for over a month in various modes. I also didn't want to go through the expense of having a mechanic pull my plugs to re-gap only to find that they were damaged.

Now the recommendation (I guess we're on the third change now?) is for aftermarket plugs. I got an email from race-chip offering me a $100 voucher for another one of their products. I can't imagine purchasing another product from RaceChip after this huge run-around.

How about this? I uninstall the chip and return it for a full refund? I'm aware that it's been more than 30 days, but it's hogwash that I have to sink so much money into this chip. I bought it because I supposedly didn't have to modify anything else on the car. Then I was told I just needed to re-gap. Now it's something else.

What's next? Do I need an intercooler upgrade and aftermarket exhaust for you guys to feel comfortable with the chip being installed in my car?

Unbelievable.

 

[Marc Collins]

All of this back and forth isn't the way to do business. I just purchased additional stock spark plugs to have re-gapped and installed. The reason I did this is because I wanted to be absolutely sure that no damage had been done to my plugs after running this product for over a month in various modes. I also didn't want to go through the expense of having a mechanic pull my plugs to re-gap only to find that they were damaged.

Now the recommendation (I guess we're on the third change now?) is for aftermarket plugs. I got an email from race-chip offering me a $100 voucher for another one of their products. I can't imagine purchasing another product from RaceChip after this huge run-around.

How about this? I uninstall the chip and return it for a full refund? I'm aware that it's been more than 30 days, but it's hogwash that I have to sink so much money into this chip. I bought it because I supposedly didn't have to modify anything else on the car. Then I was told I just needed to re-gap. Now it's something else.

What's next? Do I need an intercooler upgrade and aftermarket exhaust for you guys to feel comfortable with the chip being installed in my car?

Unbelievable.

It's not really unbelievable. KIA has used sub-par plugs. "RaceChip is offering products for 4,000 car models and this is the first time that users are dealing with poor spark plug quality."

I am not surprised that the Stinger has under-engineered parts that would only affect mods (hopefully they are OK long-term for stock boost range). They had to cut costs somewhere and there are several other places where this shows--some mechanical and some trim/materials-related.

If people are going to get bent out of shape at having to buy a set of plugs to accommodate a major performance boost, when more expensive higher octane fuel will also be required and there is real hassle and risk with warranty (this is potentially worth thousands of dollars), you're not serious about modding, or, you thought there was a "free lunch," which we know there never is.

 

[ihatecats78]

It's not really unbelievable. KIA has used sub-par plugs. "RaceChip is offering products for 4,000 car models and this is the first time that users are dealing with poor spark plug quality."

I am not surprised that the Stinger has under-engineered parts that would only affect mods (hopefully they are OK long-term for stock boost range). They had to cut costs somewhere and there are several other places where this shows--some mechanical and some trim/materials-related.

If people are going to get bent out of shape at having to buy a set of plugs to accommodate a major performance boost, when more expensive higher octane fuel will also be required and there is real hassle and risk with warranty (this is potentially worth thousands of dollars), you're not serious about modding, or, you thought there was a "free lunch," which we know there never is.

I'm not upset that I have to upgrade the spark plugs. I am upset that we were told that this was not necessary at all. Then we were told that it was necessary to re-gap the stock plugs ONLY if we didn't have access to 93 octane fuel. THEN we were told that regardless of access to 93 octane, that we had to re-gap the plugs. FINALLY, we were told that we need aftermarket plugs to run the chip.

It isn't the purchase of plugs. It's the inconsistency of information - changing weekly from one recommendation to the other. It leads me to believe that there is far less "engineering" going on than I have been led to believe. I stand by my pissedoffedness.

 

[MrMr]

It leads me to believe that there is far less "engineering" going on than I have been led to believe. I stand by my pissedoffedness.

We are their guinea pigs.

 

[RaceChip]

I literally regapped the stock spark plugs two days ago, received the product last night and installed it. My timing couldn't have been worse.

Is there some explanation from Racechip engineers as to why new plugs are preferred over regapped OEM plugs?

(My assumption can only be the heat range?)

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I am truly sorry for your hassle.
Many customers re-gapped their stock spark plugs and nobody had any issues.
The only reason for our recommendation is the fact that we don't want to ever change this recommendation again. Understandably, many customers are upset that we changed our recommendation for the second time. We just cannot exclude the possibility, that one day a user with re-gapped spark plugs will have an issue, too. Even if it was because he forgot to replace the stock spark plugs as recommended by Kia within the replacement interval.
We will put a recommendation on our website and we did not want to comminicate something different in the forums.
My personal opinion:
If I had just re-gapped my spark plugs, I would not replace them. However, after 10,000 or 20,000 miles I would take a second look at them whether they are still okay and within the recommendet gap range. But that's just my personal opinion.