Unless you own a Yugo, you probably already realize that your car’s engine is a meticulously designed and engineered hunk of metal. Even so, you may not know that if one part of the engine fails, it ...

Many modern passenger cars have either a timing belt or a timing chain. Generally speaking, timing belts have the advantage of being quieter and cheaper to produce and replace, while timing chains ...

Ignition timing is easily the single most important tuning adjustment on an internal combustion engine and yet the concept of ignition curves continues to be elusive for many enthusiasts. Yet all it ...

You just put your new crate engine together and your adrenaline is pumping. Pump the throttle, turn the key, and… the thing runs like a total dog. It idles fine, but as soon as you step on the ...

Ignition timing is typically split into three types. The first is initial timing—that is, the amount of spark lead that is set using a timing light (aimed at the harmonic balancer) with the engine at ...

Ignition timing is like seasoning: some is good, but too much ruins the results. Bumping up the ignition timing on pushrod 5.0s is a time-honored trick to wake up the under-hood lump. The EFI system ...

Do timing chains last longer than timing belts? Historically timing chains were considered to be longer-lasting and more reliable than timing belts, although this is not necessarily the case on more ...

Track and field is set to dominate the last week of the Olympics, and so is the art and science of timing. Who are the people, and what are the machines behind official timing? We find out. During the ...

We must first understand what each of these two systems does for a car. They both serve the same purpose, which is to coordinate the movement of the crankshaft as well as the camshaft(s) so that the ...