Is knock and timing a focus during tuning?

[affinity1]

I used to own a Pontiac GTP (supercharged 3800 series II v6) and the goal of the tuners for those engines would be to have as much timing as possible while still reading 0 knock retard.

How important is knock and timing in subarus and is it one of the major focuses while tuning?

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[C89ZX7R]

Most tuners will have headphones on thats connected to the motor via a cable to listen for knock.....

[TurboSetch]

LOL. Headphones...

These cars are very good at listening for knock and they can respond to it MUCH faster then any human can of course. I personally don't tune with headphones per say but I do carefully log and increase timing slowly. The ECU will pick up knock and log it even at levels that we just couldn't hear through all the engine noise.

To further answer your question, timing is VERY important on these cars and an improper tune will lead to piston damage(ring land cracks) very quickly and often without you knowing right away. WRX's also have weak rods that don't appreciate a good knock event.

[NSFW]

Originally Posted by affinity1

I used to own a Pontiac GTP (supercharged 3800 series II v6) and the goal of the tuners for those engines would be to have as much timing as possible while still reading 0 knock retard.

How important is knock and timing in subarus and is it one of the major focuses while tuning?

Similar story here. Run as much boost as is reasonable for the turbo, at a reasonable AFR, and turn up the timing until it begins to occasionally knock, then back it down (the definitions of "reasonable" are left as an excercise for the tuner). You won't reach MBT on pump gas when under boost with these motors.