Is 18 degrees advanced too much timing?

I've been kind of wondering what kind of happy medium I should be aiming for on mine, too. I'm running 91 octane all the time (can't find anyone around here that pumps 92 or 93 octane), and I've only got my timing at 12*. I guess I could try fiddling n' farting around with running 89 octane and seeing if I can push 14* - if so, hey, that's money saved and more (or the same) power for free. Only problem is, it's hard to tell for sure whether my occasional pinging issues are due to octane/timing settings or my timing chain stretching at high-RPM's (see other post about pinging/smoke)...

Guess it's all kind of a tinker-and-test game for everyone, since these cars aren't so exact in design and function that one specific setup works for everyone...?

15 advanced with 93 Sunoco.
Stock motor and heads.
I wouldn't go any higher than 15.

rock4451 said:

my timing is at 16 on my 87 notch 5.0. is that too much>?

Click to expand...

What octane do you use?


As Hissin says, your initial timing is too high if you have to start using a higher octane... Depending on heat, conditions, etc. Generally right around 12 degrees initial and you can use 87 octane.

I had mine up to 15 once and the car fell flat on its face at around 4 grand. For me, my happy medium is right at 12 deg, with the cheap gas.

you guys arre crazy...i run 18* and 91 with no problems what so ever on my setup! let it rip man

i read some where that the computer advances the timing a total of 16 degress wide open plus your base timing so if you had you base at 15+16= 31 thats alittle low to me when i had my car carburated i ran total timing at 38 any more or less i could tell a difference! so does fuel injection change what total timing the engine likes ? i thought the heads and cam determined that...... i don't see why 18 base would hurt on some setups ! every car is different though..... just listen for pinging or hard starts.

I run 18 as well but on 89 octane. I run this because it made the most power here, not because it's cool. Never seen an ill effect and the car runs alright!

i run 18* at idle on my 347, with holley comander 950software, and 45 during cuise,34 at wot, with the cheapest 92 octane i can find,no problems what so ever

Random thoughts:

If guys have alum heads or have been inside the motor, all generalities are off. They can often get away with a good bit more timing.

To kind of answer something asked, spinning the dizzy should only affect global spark. There are spark modifications for given conditions/sensory input, but on an A9 processor, the computer doesn't see that you changed global spark and accomodate it.



And FWIW, timing is seriously-pulled when starting the car - it's not a valid concern. Now on carbed stuff, I'm down with worrying about it - just not with EFI.

The quality/consistancy of gas is a worry with me these days. I won't run at the ragged edge of detonation if I can help it. Add to that, dyno pulls have shown a drop-off in peak power before pinging becomes audible to humans. Yet another reason not to push it. That's not directed at anyone on this thread (I think it's great that y'all can run so much timing) but rather a justification for other folks to not feel bad about trying to get every 1/2* advance that they can.


Random thoughts.

16* on 93 octane no problems......if you have no knocks let it go

Everyones setup will act diffrently. I put my 306 in had it on 15.. ran OK... bumped it up to 18 and i love it.. always ran 93 octane...9K on motor NO PROBLEMS

I'm getting a new crate motor, Ford racing Gt-40.
C&L told me to run 24# injectors at 38psi fuel pressure and timing set to 18 advanced. Ford racing told me to run 15 advanced. There deffinately are some gains in advancing. I saw my et's drop about .5 seconds after going from 10 to 14. And I run 93 octane just to be safe.
I think, from all I've read, that on a basically stock motor, 10 is stock setting, advance to 12 to 14 without detonation, 15 max., maybe 16, every car is different. I wouldn't go past 15. Every post and article that I've read says that after a certain point of advancing your timing that your horsepower goes back down and it only causes more wear. Just my 2 cents.

Without strapping it to a dyno or taking it to a track why bump timing up that much. 14 sounds good for a street car that doesnt need to be tuned to run the hardest it has to. The true test of whether its good or not is the track (or the dyno).