I heard you can do a timing mod on you car which will increase torque by quite a bit at lower rpm. has anyone done this and do they feel a difference?
Yes I did it as soon as I learnt about it,massive difference cant give figs but but bum dyno says YES
In my past experience with timing advance, I’d say that whilst it may give a little improvement, it’s not going to be huge.
The car will also run leaner and a little hotter.
I personally wouldn’t bother.
I got a noticeable improvement on my early Mk.1 with 1.6 engine. Not sure if it works on the 1.8 engine so would be interested to hear from people who have tried that as it’s on my list of things to do no my current car.
The generic timing of a mass produced vehicle will always be on the conservative side, in order to keep the engine safe from pre-ignition (and them from warranty claims). This is because vehicles run under conditions not under the control of the manufacturer (quality of fuel being one of them).
From past experience of building and tuning my own engines, some forty years or so, I always like to experiment with the ignition advance curve settings. One older engine I rebuilt (and modified for more output) had a “standard” setting of 0 degrees BTDC. I found it ran far better with a setting of 17 degrees BTDC! Obviously, it was increased incrementally with a lot of road and rolling time given to it. It was also run on super unleaded fuel, rather than the old “cooking” 2 or 3 star petrol it was originally designed for.
I’d like to do the same with my own MX-5 but unfortunately it’s a Mk2 1.8i and not adjustable on these without ECU alterations.
I’d do the mod if it was my car, but care needs to be taken to avoid any signs of knocking from detonation.
Yes. Best free mod’ there is
My previous 1.6 was running at 16. Tried 18 but it didn’t like it quite as much, so turned it back a notch.
My Mk1 1.8 was very sedate when bought. Turned out to have been set ‘the wrong way’ and was ambling along at 6btdc. Put it up to 10 - loads better. It’s gradually been increased to 18 without pinking. Takes the top end off but puts it all down at the bottom end, ideal for country roads, twisties and local driving (As above, both done incrementally - and reduced a little in the case of the 1.6)
All done for me by a good friend, not me!
Sounds like a good mod if I do it correctly then! the people who have done this have you used more fuel or has this been better for you on fuel?
It’s better for economy as well as performance because the engine is making better use of the fuel.
I generally like my engines to run just short of “pinking”, as others mentioned above because that’s the best you’re going to get out of it.