Geez, I don't even know where to start with this one. In a nutshell, if you advance or retard your engine's timing, you are changing the exact moment the spark is being made in the combustion chamber. If you advance it, the spark happens sooner, and your piston has not reached top dead center in the combustion chamber. If it's at 0 degrees, spark happens at top dead center. If it's retarded, spark occurs when the piston's on it's way back down. Our cars are set at 10 degrees advanced from the factory. You can advance timing more and get more hp. The tradeoff is the need to run a higher grade of fuel. A 5.0 N/A likes around 15 degrees on 93 octane for max power. How's that for an explanation?
you dont have to run higher fuel mine was about 13 advanced and i ran 97 no knocks or pings i wouldnt run higher gas unless i absolutley had to save me some cash if u have carbon build up on ur pistons then u might get a knock due to the allready increased combustion area then u would run higher octane
Uh...Black...I think you meant you run 87, not 97. Here in NC, 93 is sold as super, 89 as mid, 87 as regular. As you pointed out, you may not have to run super after a timing bump, but most people do. The best thing to do is bump the timing and see if it pings under a hard load (WOT). If no, you're okay. If it does, you'll need a higher grade of fuel.