Oil and plugs?

[Tyson Varosyan]

Hi Guys,

I got a 2.8L 30V in my '98 A4. I am having a little bit of a rough idle and
sometimes a bit of a miss under load below 1500RPM. I think the plugs need
to be changed. I don't know how this car is, but I have had plug nightmare
stories on my mitsu, so I want to get a feel on how plug-picky this car is.
Will generic $4 copper Autolites work (as they do in all my Audi's) or does
this thing need $14/ea triple platinum NGK's custom ordered from TimBuckTu?
For a number of reasons, I prefer plugs with single electrodes. What should
the gap be set to on these guys?

Also, I did not get an owners manual with my car. Can someone post a
chart/table of oils that I should be using under various conditions? I am in
Seattle - the car will see 25-50 degree weather in the winter and 40-100
degrees in the summer. I use 100% synthetic - either Redline or Mobile1. Car
seems to be "eating" about 1/2qt every 1000mi or so, which is not so bad -
but I gotta know what to top it off with.

Tyson Varosyan
Technical Manager, Uptime Technical Solutions LLC.
tyson at up-times.com
www.up-times.com
206-715-TECH (8324)
UpTime/OnTime/AnyTime