Thread: how to tune ignition ?

Is there any write up on tuning ignition for noobs? I have a nismotronic real time .
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

There is a lot of information spread across the Internet at large. I suggest you do a bunch of research and get your info that way. Or buy one of the books on tuning which should be plenty good enough. We don't have a thread on the topic here, but maybe this could turn into one. It's a very simple concept, but you can get WAY into the details and get lost quickly.

The basics are easy. A denser charge burns faster, so the more air you're flowing the later ignition timing you will use. Then on the other hand, RPM plays a factor, so as the piston gains speed it will move away from the flame/pressure front faster, which means you'll need your ignition to start sooner.

Your greatest risk for detonation (for obvious reasons) is at torque peak.

With that knowledge you should be able to tune any engine with some practice, a dyno, and maybe knock detection. EGT info can almost take the place of a dyno.

You running pump gas or E85?

I'm about to start fiddling mildly with the ignition, and since I'm such a newbie, I'm using E85 to stay on the safe side (less prone to knocking). NEMU ftw!

Wow thanks ben. What tools or guidelines can I used to know where and when to tweak the ignition.

Like I said, tools will be a dynamometer, or an EGT sensor and a known torque target.

Or you could keep things mild and realize the OEM tune has a safety margin you can exploit, along with filling up with 93. There's a bit of room to increase timing almost everywhere by 2-4 degrees and be safe. Do it at the WOT area and you'll gain power. Do it in the cruising area and you'll gain MPGs. Do it around idle and you'll gain throttle response.

There are solid gains simply by removing the factory knock sensor feedback loop. That thing is too aggressive.

Truth to that, I tried to reenable the knock sensor feedback areas, even at low timing it kept on seeing knock and pulling timing. If your stock or with bolt on's it might be fine, but once you go turbo, stiffer motor mounts, the extra vibrations get picked up as knock. Being able to adjust the knock sensor sensitivity goes a long way in this case.



On my RR with low port intake mani, running around 22-24* cruise timing yielded me the best MPG's. Stock is like 34 for RR, for DE it's even more.

where can i buy tool for knock detection and egt ? How do i go about the knock sensor feedback loop thing? i got solid mounts presently.

Your source for knock sensors and controllers, EGT sensors and controllers.

This thread is about tuning ignition timing, not where to buy equipment. Let's not fly off topic that quickly, we're only 8 posts in.

Ok sorry. Does it have a point in RPM i should focus on tweaking? Does compression ratio affect the amount of adding ?

You tell me.