Just had the EML light on followed by a drop in power. Felt like one of my previous cars when a coil pack went. VCDS Lite shows these codes :-

 

2 Faults Found:
16804 -  Catalyst System; Bank 1: Efficiency Below Threshold
            P0420 - 006 -  Short to Plus - Intermittent
16685 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs
            P0301 - 006 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent

 

P0301 is Cylinder 1 Misfire so am i right in thinking i should replace the coil pack first? Could it be related to the Catalyst error?

 

I switched the ignition off for a few minutes and when I restarted it was fine for the short journey home.

 

Edited 28 October, 20178 yr by garibaldy

When the ECU senses a repeated misfire on a cylinder it shuts off the injector to that cylinder to prevent unburnt fuel fouling the catalyst, that was the drop in power you felt.

 

You are almost certainly right in your diagnosis of coil pack failure, to be certain you can swap 1 and 2 round and see if the fault follows that coil pack.

Update: I swapped coil packs 1 and 2 over a couple of weeks ago and the car has been fine for ~200 miles. I'm guessing the pack may have needed reseating?