I changed the spark plugs on my car today and let me tell you.. it was a bitch! The 2000+ owners would know what I'm talking about here... lol. anyway, I noticed when removing the spark plugs that they were not the normal grey color, they were black, and sooty. They also had a very rich, fuel smell to them. I have noticed over the last two weeks or so my gas mileage has gone from around 27 MPG down to to 22! I'm guessing this finding is related to that. I'm going to replace the oxygen sensor soon. anybody else have any ideas?

About the spark plug wires, yes they are definately a bitch to get off the first time. It took us 2 hours to do it on the GTP, and it only had 15,000 miles on it!!!

Now, about the black spark plugs. You are running rich. After you replace the oxygen sensor, if you are still having the problem you should get your car scanned with a scan tool somehow and get a mini-afc (yes this is getting expensive), and then you can adjust your air fuel ratio to run as rich or lean as you want. A mini-afc runs $100 at ZZPerformance.com, and the scan tools are expensive but if you know somebody that has one it doens't cost you anything. That is what I would do in your position.

Stop drivin like a granny. Burn some carbon outta that engine.

According to my sources, its best to wait for the next version of the mini-afc to be released.