The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
More Is Not Always Better Quite often people, particularly racers, think timing is an arbitrary setting, and that once it is set it should never be changed. Or, that a little timing advance is good, so a lot of advance is better. This is never the case. Sometimes you need more timing advance to start off, then some retarding as the rpms come up. This is standard fare for today's aftermarket ignition controllers and can be infinitely adjustable with the turning of the knobs, but, what it's really telling us is that it's harder to get the fire (combustion) going at the lower rpm, so we have to start the process sooner. Peak pressure has to be produced at the right time to make peak horsepower. If the resistance to create a spark is greater at lower rpms, then the spark has to start earlier to overcome this added resistance, so peak pressure can be produced at the right moment. As the engine rpms increase, the efficiency of the engine increases mechanically, and the resistance to create a spark is reduced so spark timing can be retarded.
