Rough Combustion

[Roundybout]

Being a computer geek in the mid 80's and getting my license in '84 as a young gearhead has been interesting parallel. The progress of computers and automobiles has been a great learning curve.

It's amazing the computations and behind the scenes going in arriving at what my right foot is requesting in modern vehicles. Which is torque.

I sometimes see -1 to 0 degrees ignition firing at TDC under high boost lower RPM conditions. So in order to get the most use of the cycle the burn is completing at or around that magical 14 degrees ATDC? I consider any ignition happening before TDC is a power loser. Is any burn completed after 14 degrees a power loser too? I know a lot still is.

What if we had a fuel that we could burn completely between 0 and 14 ATDC? Light it off at TDC and poof it's done by the most favorable crank degree?

Detonation I agree happens mainly around TDC. Temps are highest. I think a lot can be happening at that time. During a pre-ignition even, let's say it starts 1 degree before you want to fire the plug. That's obviously not as bad as the event happening 30 degrees before you want to fire the plug. It's still technically pre-ignition. I think that's easier to control. Don't get things hot enough where they will spontaneously ignite. Control the heat.

Detonation is more complex to me. Depending on where in the cycle has a big influence on spontaneous disassembly.

And on the subject. How does my R/C engine reliably ignite the mixture using nothing but a glow plug at 30,000 RPM. 50/50 nitro methanol. Do all fuels produce the best power at the same crank degree?