I bought it off eBay and saved about $100 from the going price at the major sites.

The unit consists of a gold box bearing the HKS logo and a wiring harness. I decided to install it myself. It probably took me about two hours, so I’m confident that anyone reading this could do it in about an hour and if they have small fingers, a little less.

There were three difficulties, well actually four. The first one is that HKS apparently hired the guy who used to write instructions for the wiper blade industry. Then they must have made a rudimentary attempt to teach him Japanese.

Next, until one looks around, it doesn't jump out at you that very little room remains to install anything larger than a postage stamp on an open metal surface in the engine bay. The unit ended up adjacent to the top of the passenger side shock absorber and there was a bolt nearby that was a convenient grounding attachment. I did want it in a conspicuous spot, just in case someone happens by when the hood is open. If nothing else, it looks like it probably does something and maybe the guy lookin' has heard of HKS. (How come there are so few girls in this game, anyway?)

Running the wiring harness was harder than I thought (of course). When you unpack the wiring harness, there are suddenly attachment plugs everywhere and my first attempt at running it around the engine looked like Charlotte’s web. Then I placed the long end in a plastic bag and wound it with electrical tape to help negotiating the maze of hoses and wires already there. That worked pretty well, but a little later in the install, I realized how important it is to plan the wire approach for each plug before starting the attachment process.

There was a real temptation to tug hard on the wiring harness when the plugs resisted going where I wanted them. But the temptation went away when I thought about the consequences of just one of those little wires pulling out of its plug.

If I were to do it over again, I would lay out the wires near the plugs on the passenger side and then thread the long end behind the engine giving attention to the length needed to access each plug on the driver’s side.

Next I found out that it is much easier to see the attachment plugs on the coils than it is to reach them. Well, one at a time and the job does move forward. Be sure to slide each attachment into place until it clicks. I missed one, and when I started the car, it didn’t run very good.

At first, I was just going to let it run on five cylinders just to spot all the ‘vetts a little edge, but then I decided, “No more Mr. Nice-Guy,” and investigated until I found the problem. That eighteenth click made all the difference. Needless to say, it would have been much easier to make sure it was right the first time since I had to pull the Z-tube to access the connectors on the driver's side.

I debated about not removing the negative battery cable for a while before making the connections because of all the resetting issues, nav system, etc., but in the end decided that discretion was the better part of time management and pulled it.

Well, as I’ve hinted already, the car started on the first try. Whew! Then it was time for a test ride. You know the feeling – high hopes mixed with that apprehension of the dread that maybe some money was blown for nothing.

So does it run any better? Maybe. I think I can say it doesn’t run any worse. I’m tempted to say it runs a very small amount stronger (N/A here), but the improvement seems the greatest when I think about what it cost. I went through this with a bunch of other bolt-ons, most notably my dual exhaust. I was convinced the car was faster until I had it dynoed. Then I realized it was just louder.

In any event, it’s one of those little tweaks that contributes to the total. And, the car is one notch closer to being high-boost ready.

 

good write up,i was thinking about getting this.thanks.

 

You should, I thought a couple people mentioned stage 4 was giving them issues with plug life, lots of carbon deposits and such. This would definitely help to combat it. I ordered it with the group buy last month as a preventative maintenance mod for down the road.

 

Could you post a pic of what it looks like and where you mounted in your car?

 

i probably still will get it.you can open up the gap on the plugs a little also.

 

Here is the location behind the PS reservoir



From this angle, to the right of the box and a little down, you can just see the top of the Tokico shock, the cap over the adjuster

https://g35driver.com/forums/attachm...1&d=1154635501

 

maybe it will help in the MPG category. i have found that installing ignition upgrades (on vehicles with distributors anyway) helps, even though ever so slightly (but with these gas prices, i'll take what i can get). if you noticed how many MPG you got before and after, posting that up will be rather helpful!

 

Preliminary indications are that the gas mileage has remained about the same.

However, I do push the car a high percentage of the time, so I don't consider local driving a reliable measure because of the great number of variables. The only way that I know of to reduce the variables so that meaningful comparisons can be made is during steady, interstate cruising, and then more than one tankful is needed.

If anything significant is noted (i.e. at least a 1 mpg improvement) I'll post a followup.

 

i agre that the only way to get a good measure would be on very stable conditions, preferably loooooooong drives. but who is going to drive 250+ miles for this? if you do happen to note anything though, let us know!

 

hey iv'e about this hks box in another forum posting saying that he gapped the plus .44 over stock setting and said that he notice a big difference over stock plug settings..maybe it's something worth checking out??

 

Its important not to re-gap the factory setting on platinum/iridium plugs. Flexing the electrode can cause the bonded/plated coatings to flake off into the cylinder.

If you're going FI, better to use the 1 step colder, copper core, standard electrode plugs. If not FI, then no need for this amplifier anyway as it is mainly for high RPM (8K+) or very rich boosted conditions to prevent fouling.