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I was reading in some old forum pages. That people had advanced the timing to get some more power. Can anyone tell me if they have done this. And if so how much should I go? I run supreme gas 91 octane right know anyways. What is the stock timing set at?

LOl, seriously the SOHC isn't really worth Messing with. Just run 87 and keep the timing stock. Just keep the gas milage and save up for a BP to swap in

Bugs is right save up for a N/A BP or the BPT there only so much u can do with a sohc read the list below hope that help out on what u can do with the sohc 1.6

Hey bugs did you do the BP swap yourself? I'm thinking about it but haven't decided weather to do it or not. Sounds like a lot of work. There's only 200cc differnce between the two engines. I can get a Gude head package and racingmazda turbo kit that I'm sure will produce just as much power as a BP engine. Why's everyone hate these engines.

Are you talking about cam timing or ignition timing? Cam timing would require a adjustable cam pulley. On my (8V) SOHC I've retarded the cam timing a couple of degrees trading bottom end torque for HP at a a few hundred rpm higher that stock. This, some exhaust mods converting to a 4wire O2 and a one of a kind CAI and netted almost 103HP at the wheels. For about another $250-300 I could probably get the engine up around 116-118hp at the wheels or about the power of a B6-T

Ignition timing should only be use as a tuning aid to fine tune the ignition event in relation to the final mechanical tuning of the engine. The rule of thumb 4-5 degrees is only a guess some one has made based of their engine and their mods. one car I worked on had a BP-DE and require retarding the timing 2 degrees for max HP and another engine required it to be advanceds 8 degrees

I dynoed a BP escort years back while we were making some software for the customer and we were having a hard time making more power changing the timing maps. The reason we found out to be that the owner had already advanced base timing by quite a bit... and happened to nearly hit the nail on the head with where he left it. The timing maps in these cars aren't too far out from the factory, they just need more advance. Mazda sets timing a little too conservative in factory form (on BP and B6s anyway..).

You should be able to pick up a noticeable amount of 'safe' power just by adjusting the distributor for more advance. If you have a good enough feel, you can make some small changes until the engine feels and sounds right. When I took my B6 too far, I could feel/hear it become ever so slightly inconsistent while going from low rpm to high in 2nd gear. Just leave it where it sounds & feels consistent through the revs (low to high).
I ran 87 octane with more advance on the B6 before the BP swap. The BP was also running more advance. I guarantee I could have dynoed the difference in horsepower that it made on either.

I never did check actual value of the B6 with a timing light, but depending on conditions in your area, that value may vary slightly anyway. Best thing to do is play around. Make small changes, and take it for a drive each time... It's essentially free horsepower on your car that takes a few minutes to do, I wouldn't discourage that.

Just noticed the BP comment... The BP swap after surprised me in that it did not feel as torquey as the 1.6 did. It did make more peak power, but it was just a different feel to the car.

The BP has a nicer cross-flow head, with some big ports with plenty of potential... I had plans for big turbo and big hp, and for that, it is the way to go.

That said, the ports didn't look too bad on the sohc if I'm remembering right, and I don't think there is any reason why it couldn't run a high 14 with a reliable amount of boost if tuned properly....