Retarded is not an insult (a novel on timing)

[roccit_53 at scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca (C Boyko)]

And it may not mean slow either. 
So some background, this is my messed up "15-car/crossflow" 8V build on
Megasquirt and Spark. It's been running slower than before the head swap
all season (last year's best was a 16.145second quarter mile, this year
typically 17.1-16.8, with one run all season at 16.6s). Stupid me, I'd
heard some noise at high rpms/high load that I assumed was lifter noise,
since I'd had legit lifter problems and the oil pump may be a solid lifter
version (= perhaps inadequate). Well, if you don't know what knock sounds
like (and obviously I didn't), it sounds just like lifter noise. Forget
about that "marbles bouncing around" or "popcorn popping" nonsense, it
sounds like lifters. Maybe not as loud. Contributing to my confusion is the
fact that this engine's not super high compression (maybe 9:1?), and
according to the datalogs, air:fuel in the offending areas was at 13: or
12:1, which is certainly not lean. Ideal for a fast burn actually.
So anyway, just before it was suggested that I retard the timing some, I
retarded the timing some...:) It was just a few degrees, in a very select
area of the spark map. First trip down the track was a 16.6, and I had two
back to back runs at 16.105 and 16.129, the best ever for the car!!!! For
those that don't do quarter mile runs, to drop nearly a full second is
HUGE!!!! Like, engine swap huge. The down side is that I ran it with some
high end knock, but that's done with. This poor engine has sure suffered
some ignition insults this year, but it's a trooper. Next of course is to
test and tune properly and see how much more time I can drop! And to get
some sticky tires, traction seems to be more of an issue now :)

Anyway, I lost by breaking out, but I was the happiest loser at the track,
even if my car IS retarded!! And I'm liking the options you have with MS,
no way could I have done that with the Bosch stuff.
Cathy