My XR6 5 spd has been playing up a bit lately.

It was missing a fair bit and not acceleratin or deaccelerating very smoothly. I changed the leads and checked the plugs which solved the problem on acceleration, it now does so fine. However as the car slows, the engine seems to cough or misfire every now and then.

My head gasket is slowly on the out, but i don;t think thats te wcause as my coolant level has barely moved, no traces of water in the oil, and my fuel economy is still good.

any ideas?

mine crackles and carries on, and i like it,
it sounds brilliant when you're inside the cabin.

My EL 5 speed does too.. I think its a sign your car is running rich (as al 4.0's do) and its unburnt fuel.

Sounds tough!