advance vs retard timing...

[Master Shake]

wow, good info everyone.
except for a few.

i've always heard alot about it, but never really understood the point in it. like i know advancing it will help out cause instead on the pistions waiting till they hits TDC, it sparks right before it, so when it does hit TDC, it will be able to ignite the fuel and get the most compression out.

i just put a adjustable cam gear onto my civic. and i was looking at it and was thinking about why it was used and how it really helped with performance. but i do have mine set at 0.

[ksniperfox]

i just put a adjustable cam gear onto my civic. and i was looking at it and was thinking about why it was used and how it really helped with performance. but i do have mine set at 0.

arent you supposed to do that BEFORE you buy random shit? sounds like you are wasting money. unless youre doing a fairly serious motor build, or turbo application, you did waste your money.

[Master Shake]

arent you supposed to do that BEFORE you buy random shit? sounds like you are wasting money. unless youre doing a fairly serious motor build, or turbo application, you did waste your money.

i'm not just buying up random shit and putting it on my car for no reason. car is going thru a slow build for a boosted setup. i've already got some of the bottom end parts that i will running, just haven't installed anything EXCEPT for the cam gear, since it was the easiest part.

i was just asking what the difference between advancing and retarding timing is and what is the purpose they are used for, and how an adjustable cam gear helps add power.
seems someone jumped to conclusions and started bashing before they had all the info on what was going on.