Timing advance vs. Octane

The Yugo calls for 89 octane fuel, and 10 timing at 800 rpm. Could I safely bump it up to 12, the highest the stock scale reads if I ran 93? Car has 9.2 compression and runs a 180 degree thermostat if that makes any difference.

It gets stupid mileage no matter how its driven, and a weekend nice weather car, so IDGAF about the cost.

just do it and see what happens... i'd probably try 15 or so and see what it does..

also, i couldn't ever see myself putting anything but the cheapest swill in a Yugo if i was forced to be seen driving one in public..

I don't see why not... I ran my 5.0 with 16^ initial on 89 without a ping. So it comes back to testing a bit.

Every engine is a bit different and most MFG set it on the conservative side to protect from warranty claims so you'll need to just do it and log the results.

Advance until you hear barely audible knock, and then retard 2-3 deg static. Unless that's past were you get the best results you are looking for.

novaderrik wrote: also, i couldn't ever see myself putting anything but the cheapest swill in a Yugo if i was forced to be seen driving one in public..

Do people even remember what a Yugo is? If you debadged it, nobody would even guess what it could be

Oh my god! You killed the canoe! you bastards!

this one re-registered their account to launch more water craft. (....which were sunk again.)

Does it even have a knock sensor?

A couple of things to think about.

First off fuels these days are much more knock resistant than of years past. A big part of this is due to it being E10. So adding some timing (a couple degrees) should not be a issue.

The second thing to remember is that more spark advance is not always best. I have over the years come to learn from Dyno testing that what you think is generating the most HP by the seat of your pants is usually improved upon by taking 1-3 degrees of timing out of it. Increased timing will make the motor feel more snappy and probably make it more fun to drive but again you may not be actually gaining any real HP.

So bumping it 2 degrees, will more than likely not even require better fuel, got it. Note that going farther would involve pulling the trans out and putting a degree tape on the flywheel, it times through a window in the bell housing, full scale (edge of the window) is 12 degrees. Im not looking for maximum performance here, just a free gain as it needs the light put on it anyways(new not chinesium cap/rotor).

In reply to Jaxmadine:

The most technologically advanced part of the car is the radio. It has a weberesque carb and a Bosch transistorized ignition system that only knows "fire when pickup in the distributor pulses", advance is fully mechanical/vacuum.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: So bumping it 2 degrees, will more than likely not even require better fuel, got it. Note that going farther would involve pulling the trans out and putting a degree tape on the flywheel, it times through a window in the bell housing, full scale (edge of the window) is 12 degrees. Im not looking for maximum performance here, just a free gain as it needs the light put on it anyways(new not chinesium cap/rotor).

Or get a dial-back timing light.

It seems like OEM timing is more oriented toward reducing NOx than warding off detonation. If your car does not have an EGR valve then for sure the timing is going to be super conservative. You might be able to bump it up ten degrees and not run into knock, depending on lots of factors.

Car has EGR, but it has been disconnected, the valve is serving as a block off plate till I bother to make a block off plate.

Id just go 2 degrees at a time to play it safe. Or add a knock sensor:-P Why do I like yugos so much?

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Car has EGR, but it has been disconnected, the valve is serving as a block off plate till I bother to make a block off plate.

Reconnect it. Fuel economy should go up.

Fixing the EGR took my old Nissan from 35mpg to 40mpg. It's not just an emissions device, it's a fuel-economy device.

I have found, in most cases, that you can bump 4 degrees without a problem.

Bump it two degrees at a time until you get a clatter then back it off two degrees.

Knurled wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Car has EGR, but it has been disconnected, the valve is serving as a block off plate till I bother to make a block off plate.

Reconnect it. Fuel economy should go up. Fixing the EGR took my old Nissan from 35mpg to 40mpg. It's not just an emissions device, it's a fuel-economy device.

It gets well into the 30s, which is above EPA, in a day of mixed highway, city thrashing and bumper to bumper traffic, with a bad thermostat. If you want to come over with a roll of vacuum line, thumb through the FSM, and try to get a 25 year old mix of Ford and communist emissions equipment functioning properly again, be my guest. Note that the air pump is gone, evap is the hose leading up to the former home of the charcoal can hanging in the air, and the cat donated itself to make a downpipe and pay for a muffler. Remember that this is a car built with 60s tech with an engine built from 50s race car tech.

Runs great besides a off idle stumble, which may very well be the EGR valve in question.

In reply to Kenny_McCormic: Yes you can but it may not Idle as good.You can play with the cam timing, you may find more power there.
My 1.1l EFI Turbo got 50mpg with out overdrive. My 1.5l carb Yugo got 25mpg.

Just to be clear these time off #4, right? I misplaced my timing cheat sheet I got from Yugoparts.

You can probably run 12, and a little more might even be beneficial. Old design cylinder heads like that often like lot's of timing. If you can get a timing light with a dial feature on it, I would set it around 36 degrees, then time it at 5000 RPM, and try that. No idea what your static timing would be, but the total may be in the ballpark.

Number 4 should be the same as number 1 unless there is a weird firing order.

fiat engines require timing off of 4

Zomby Woof wrote: You can probably run 12, and a little more might even be beneficial. Old design cylinder heads like that often like lot's of timing. If you can get a timing light with a dial feature on it, I would set it around 36 degrees, then time it at 5000 RPM, and try that. No idea what your static timing would be, but the total may be in the ballpark.

will a Yugo even rev to 5000?

In reply to novaderrik:

Not sure if serious, AFAIK stock valvetrain is good to 8000(twin springs are standard), stock cam peaks out at 6000. The engine is a Aurelio Lampredi design, it shows. 80mm bore 55.5mm stroke, it screams, powerband is more like an old dirtbike than a car. When it gets a shift light, it will probably be set at 6200 or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S04oGz7wo3Y That's with old gas and the timing probably out of whack, first drive of the year getting a feel for it again, so I'm not leaning on it hard, shifting at maybe 5k tops.

The reason for setting it at 5k is just to make sure all the timing is in, the static, plus whatever other advance you have via weights, or computer. If it's all in by 3500, that's fine too.