Regarding this topic, I've recently found a quite useful and detailed video on youtube that will perharps make our lives easear.

Personally I have not yet had the opportunity to change my GT's spark plugs but I think this is the easiest way to do it (as already presented by the member sunrisecirrus for exemple).

This is the link : [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUP6jePkk98&list=PLLvjEcyOlaVYv9jM-NehEQKENsmCcrbyY&index=17&t=0s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUP6jePkk98&list=PLLvjEcyOlaVYv9jM-NehEQKENsmCcrbyY&index=17&t=0s[/ame]

I like the guy in the video and he made the best video I have seen yet. Still, that is a several hours job. I will have my nightmare when the time comes.

I read through this thread recently doing some research and I just thought I'd share my experience like many others have in this thread in case anyone might find it useful.

I just changed my plugs out at 53k miles for OEM replacements. The old plugs looked pretty decent, no major wear, but the car does run notably smoother and quieter with the new plugs. There had been a rather significant shudder at a certain RPM when revving in neutral before which is now almost gone. I think people forget that aside from physical wear and buildup on the portion of the plug exposed to combustion, the plugs ability to efficiently conduct the current does deteriorate over time. My car has been driven hard and while it did still run well and strong with good MPG, the new plugs have definitely made an improvement.

I was able to do this job with no special tools and without lifting the engine as well. It is certainly necessary to have a good versatile magnet though.

I did mine yesterday at PitRow DIY, in Santa Clara.
Get a magnet and a bit of tubing that you can shove on the plug to help you start screwing in the plugs.
Oh, and rags to stuff in the gap below the plug holes.

I started on the driver's side, adjacent to the firewall. Took almost one hour to get that one out. Remaining were easier.

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Big PITA, took me about 4 hours.
Make sure your 14mm socket for the plug is narrow as what I had was too wide and did not fit in the hole so I ended up using a shorter one which made things so much harder.
Definitely get a magnet and as many already mentioned stuff some towels in gaps because you will definitely drop sockets, wrenches, etc.
With the right tools and patience I could have done it in 2 hours.

Is it worth it? Sure, I saved about $500CAD.

I like that video above but I'm still wondering about unplugging and disconnecting the coil packs. In each video I've watched they mention a clip and I know from other things that there is usually a springy plastic clip on underhood plugs. Is there anything special or not obvious on these or will I be able to feel it well enough to not break anything?

There is a clip and you shouldn't have a problem feeling your way around.

I am not looking forward to doing this. At about 3.5-4k miles a year I've been putting on, I have a little time to ready myself though in 10 years from now.

Really, that's all you put on your car? Do you have another vehicle that gets driven?

The workvan. Car is just used after work and on weekends minimally. Somebody in here in here recently said less than that, I think it was under 2k a year and it was a 13' too.

I do that much in 4-5 weeks from ~April to December. Less during the winter because I drive my beater Durango more often.

OK, so it looks like this is a major PITA either way. Is it really easier/faster to go through all these gyrations rather than just following the recommended procedure? How long does it take to do it the "right way"?

Oh, and not sure how much I would trust a mechanic that didn't know you could check the odometer without using the ignition key...

I got my 12 mm socket (I think it was 12 .. might have been 10) with my extension stuck in the ignition coil tunnel.

Walking over to AutoZone to buy a low profile jack now :/

Edit - Jack didn't help .. wondering I need to remove more things like the intake to raise the engine a bit more ..

that sucks. Happened to me a few time. That dam springy ball on the extension got engaged on the socket.

What I did was I got two long needle nose pliers. With one I held the extension and with the other I use it as a leverage point to push the socket out of the extension.

I ended up cutting strips of duck tape to place over the springy ball on the extension. It's not 100% fool proof but it can serve as a guide.