Coilpaks - standard or premium?

[xman]

Looks like yet another coilpak has bit the dust, Skoda/VAG ignition parts really are the pits, 2 fabias and an octavia all gone at 50-70k. Fed up!!

So.....GSF offer 2 parts, a premium (last one was Bosch) and a standard (unknown manufacturer) coilpak considerably cheaper. Similarly ECP offer 4 or 5 manufacturers going from cheap to expensive.

With OEM ignition parts being such rubbish and ridiculously expensive, which version would you buy? A standard or a premium part? After all, a coilpak is a coilpak, is it not??

Edited 29 March, 2016 by xman

[newbie69]

There's always the R8 ones, a bit of an extreme option but they're supposed to outlast the stock ones. You do need a special adapter though, TMG makes them. Just saying.

[Ootohere]

Is this for a 1.2 TSI?

They are not that expensive are they.

Are the spark plugs not on the way out before the ignition coils causing premature failure of the coils.?

http://eurocarparts.com

[xman]

No not this time, its a pencil coilpak for the htp. 3rd one I've bought in about 9 years. The plugs have been changed early 30k instead of scheduled 40k, with current Bosch plugs less than 20k.

 

As for our 1.2 tsi, the 4 way coilpak went not long after warranty expired, skoda wanted £360 for just the part. Got "goodwill" and paid "only" £180. The culprit was no 3 lead which is known issue as it rests over the exhaust, but skoda don't want to acknowledge it officially (as with most known issues). One lead costs £25, or £100 a set, plus vat....!!

Edited 30 March, 2016 by xman

[rum4mo]

I'll just roll out my "I like Eldor as a COP manufacturer - the older the better as they should have been make in proper Europe"

 

A coil is just a coil etc, but some manufacturing plants in modern Europe don't seem to bother too much about quality control, then there are the lookie likie ones - - - .

[fabianoh5n1]

There's always the R8 ones, a bit of an extreme option but they're supposed to outlast the stock ones. You do need a special adapter though, TMG makes them. Just saying.

they fit fine without the adapter . a friend used them without it for over 2 years 

[Ant-Vrs]

Also you have to change the wiring on the plug when using the r8 ones

[xman]

In the end, I bought a "premium" coilpak from GSF at the weekend to take advantage of their 40% weekend discount. I picked it up today expecting a bosch or beru part like last time I bought one, but it turned out to be a BBT (aftermarket) part. The annoying thing was that ECP offers the BBT part at 20% lower price than even GSFs 40% discounted price! And if I'd ordered last week I would even had another 20% off on their easter sale....

Normally I prefer GSF to ECP but I notice that ECP are now more open about the part manufacturer than GSF so that will influence future purchases.

It was no.3 pak that had gone this time (first failure this car) and I checked the bosch plug fitted but that was in very good condition so that cant be blamed for the failure.

I've been fortunate in that the 3 previous cases of pencil coilpak failure occurred on cold starts at home. (Not so the very expensive multi coilpak on the Octavia 1.2tsi) . I'm thinking now that it may pay to carry a spare pencil coilpak just in case of a failure away from home and manufacturer and price doesnt really matter.

[MillsyVRS]

I thought about getting the Okado Plasma coilpacks as one or two others have got, but then I was given the price of €790 (with a 5% discount).

Erm.. I'll get back to you on that..

[xman]

The BBT coilpak looks pretty well made and their website bbt-automotive claims they give 20% more current in the spark than a standard pack backed up with some fancy graphs. They are made in Germany as opposed to the VAG originals which were made in Turkey.

Anyway, bought a spare one today to pop in the glovebox for only £18 quid from ECP using easter20 discount, which is over £8 cheaper than GSF with their weekend40 discount. Its only a matter of time before another VAG original fails and this time I might be miles a away in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday night...

[MillsyVRS]

The BBT coilpak looks pretty well made and their website bbt-automotive claims they give 20% more current in the spark than a standard pack backed up with some fancy graphs. They are made in Germany as opposed to the VAG originals which were made in Turkey.

Anyway, bought a spare one today to pop in the glovebox for only £18 quid from ECP using easter20 discount, which is over £8 cheaper than GSF with their weekend40 discount. Its only a matter of time before another VAG original fails and this time I might be miles a away in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday night...

I decided the other day I'd change the ignition coils after 57000 miles as was a little afraid the standard ones might fail soon, so also ordered the BBT ones. Fitted them along with Denso spark plugs (decided I don't like the NGK's I put in there only a few thousand miles ago) and the engine does actually seem to feel better. Quieter and less vibration on start up, quicker to settle down to tick over rpm and just felt smoother to drive this evening too. So quite pleased overall.

[xman]

Update: Since fitting the BBT coilpak, the economy of the car has shot up, first time ever its hitting 50+mpg when upper 30's mpg was more the norm. So today, I decided to fit the 2nd BBT coilpak I purchased as a spare, mainly to check it works, and WOW! What a transformation! The engine is now noticeably smoother and getting 50mpg is a cinch with gentle motoring. Looks like the Turkish coilpaks have been sub par from day one and/or the 20% extra spark current from the BBT coilpaks makes a difference. I would never expected that an ignition coilpak could make such a difference.

At motorway speeds, again the first time I've witnessed this, if I switch the MFD to display instantaneous mpg and hold a steady speed, the read out is steady. Before it was up and down like a dogs dik, its seems the ecu was struggling to maintain a steady power output. Also, although it may be premature, the strange idle hunting that I got when the engine was hot and released the clutch after a high speed run has disappeared. (dipping to 500 rpm up to 1200 rpm repeatedly until I dabbed the brake pedal) I mention this as I seen a few posts from HTP owners complaining about this.

I have moaned about the htp's poor fuel consumption from day one (mid 30's at best when I bought it new). Hopefully now have cracked the problem.

Just need one more coilpak to ditch the final VAG coil.

NOTE TO VRS OWNERS: I believe these are the same coilpaks as fitted to the VRS. Maybe the Turkish OE supplied paks are sub par all round. Although I havent had the BBT paks in long, I can certainly vouch that a difference is noticeable. Who knows, the VAG coils may be part of the VRS engine problem.

Edited 20 April, 2016 by xman

[Breezy_Pete]

I'll be watching this with interest.  On the missus's htp (Mk1 64hp) it's still got all three original coils at 140k miles, judging by the date codes on them. I keep a spare in the car for when/if an AA man needs one at the roadside, but I wonder if it may be worth pre-emptively swapping them out for these BBT ones if there might be efficiency gains to be had. 

I have mpg brim-to-brim records for every fill-up in the 4+ years we've owned it (just less than 41mpg overall) so it would be easy to spot an improvement, if there were one.

 

Only thing is, its original coilpacks aren't Turkish made IIRC.

[rum4mo]

Only thing is, its original coilpacks aren't Turkish made IIRC.

The Eldor coils (not made in New Europe)in my wife's old Polo 1.4 16v BBY did last well enough, in my mind well enough for me to always try to buy NOS Eldor coils (not made in new Europe) from ebay as back-up, bought 2-off and used them over 13 years 105K miles.

Turkish Delight = good, COP assemblies manufactured in Turkey = very bad !

I too (have too much time on my hands - or something), have fuel records for all cars from the past 20 or so years, it is a smart move as you can spot immediately if something has changed, and not be left pondering, like others, if it is the price a litre that is causing the problem!!! ( " my miles per £ has dropped" )

Edit:- one observation, COP fitted to newer models, in my case new Polo 1.2TSI 110PS and S4 are more mansized than the older - or original VAG COPs. I'm sure that increase in size has more to do with lessons learned than style/fashion!

Edited 20 April, 2016 by rum4mo