I have had this problem for the the past 6 months and have not got around fixing it. Used to be only if the car was undriven for more than 8 hours but now the frequency of difficult starts are less than an hour.

I've changed the plugs, air filters, distributor cap+rotor but yet the car takes ages to fire.It cranks but feels like no firing from the plugs. When it finally starts, there's tons of soot coming out of the tail pipe for a couple of seconds. I guess the injectors and fuel pumps are working.

Funny thing is the car runs great once it's fired up. Immediate restarts after cut-out is fine. Fires up immediately. It's only when its left for some time that it becomes difficult to start up again.

Can you guys please point out any similar situations or suggestions. I suspect the HT coil but again I am be wrong .

any help much appreciated.

alex