as always this was my experience with my 2008. your vehicle may vary!
i have one of those specialized spark plug sockets that have the rubber ring on the inside, so the sparkplug doesn't just fall out. i'd highly recommend having that socket.
i'd also highly recommend having 2x 3in extenders and 1x 6in extender for your socket driver, i'll explain more on that later.
you'll need a 10mm socket as well for the plastic engine cover (forgot what it's called) and for bolts that hold the coil packs on.
so here we go. the red circles are the only two bolts (10mm) holding the engine cover on. the blue circles are those snap in type connectors. i was a little wary at first, but after undoing the front bolts, just lift that plastic piece like the hood, and it will pop right off.i also took off the intake tube. you probably don't -have- too, but it did give me a little more room to work with.
in my opinion the passenger side plugs are the hardest. not that they're impossible to get out, you just don't have alot of room to wrench, and there's a couple wire bundles that don't like to move very far. the red circles are where the coil packs are. you can see the #2 (counting from the right of the pic, which is the front of the vehicle) coil pack really well. i undo the wire harness first (some are easier than others to get off), then unscrew the silver bolt (10mm). this valve cover IS plastic (i mean really, wtf) so do be a little careful when screwing/unscrewing. you'd hate to strip anything. once you undo the bolt, the coil pack should slide right out. do your socket thing for the plug and swap it out. repeat for the rest of the plugs. some notes though- the wire bundles that i highlighted in yellow do not like to move very far. they were a PITA to try to hold that and get the socket in there and bend over the car, etc. i found it a little easier if you stand on something and then bend over to get in there. just be careful of the hood, i banged my head into the corner pretty good. also this is where the 2x 3in extensions come in. there's a couple plugs that you can't get the angle to use a 6in extension, so you have to break it up and use the 3in ones. you'll see what i mean if you do this. same goes for one of the drivers side plugs. there's just not quite enough room (or i didn't find the right angle) to get the 6in ext into the plug hole. the 3in ones work fine though.
the drivers side is a piece of cake. more room to wrench in and less wire bundles in the way. this side probably took me all of 20 minutes. again the coil packs locations are circled in red and i would recommend unclipping the brake booster hose highlighted in yellow and moving it out of the way- it will give you a bit more wrench room for the rear plug.
and for what you've been waiting for, the plugs i replaced. they were infact the DILFR5A11's
while i didn't notice a -huge- performance increase after the change, it did seem slightly more peppier. could be placebo effect, or the awesome weather we're having right now. i think i will try cleaning the MAF sensor next and doing the relearn.
while in there i also found this under the plastic engine cover, towards the rear of the engine bay. i'm sure it's some sort of coolant hose as i could hear the water sound in the engine bay when i squeezed it a few times. while the hose has this really soft cushiony outside and a harder (but not that hard) inside, i'm not going to take any chances of it blowing, and it looks easy enough to replace (just a couple hose clamps).
