Timing vs. Boost

[d0n_3d]

this has probably been discussed before but i don't fully understand the concept of timing...i know it is how fast the spark fires under a load but how much horsepower does say a 28-30 degree timing full race chip make over an alky chip of say 23-22 degrees of timing (given you are running the right race gas and same boost level)

as for my combo, i have a bone stock motor with just valve spring replacement and a te-44 turbo with 50's...i do have a PTE race chip (i think it's 28 or 30 degrees timing) but i am not sure what safe boost level i should run...with the alky chip and alky i run about 25 lbs...

with such a high timing chip you sure don't have the luxury of being able to let off if you knock really high like you do with a lower timing chip am i correct? so if i knock say kaboom to my headgaskets? i guess to answer to my own question would be to start the boost pretty low like 22 lbs and work my way up?

 

[BADINBLACK6]

I asked this same question when I got my alky kit and everyone pretty much told me more boost is better. If you can only run 22 lbs boost with the race chip @ 28* timing and you can run 25 lbs boost with 23* timing stick with the lower timing and higher boost. All cars act differently, so unless you do real world testing (and maybe someone has and they will chime in) your just going to have to see what your car likes. Just be careful. I know with my JC street chip (20*) I can run 25lbs without knock on 93 octane, but I haven't been able to get that much boost with my Thrasher 108 (28*) and I noticed some transitional knock with the race chip even at lower boost.HTH