Knock Detection
Due to the large variation in fuel quality, a large number of engines now contain mechanisms to detect knocking and adjust timing or boost pressure accordingly in order to offer improved performance on high octane fuels while reducing the risk of engine damage caused by knock while running on low octane fuels.
An early example of this is in turbo charged Saab H engines, where a system called Automatic Performance Control was used to reduce boost pressure if it caused the engine to knock.
Various monitoring devices are commonly utilized by tuners as a method of seeing and listening to the engine in order to ascertain if a tuned vehicle is safe under load or used to re-tune a vehicle safely.
Read more about this topic: Engine Knocking
Famous quotes containing the word knock:
“The knocking out of a pipe can be made almost as important as the smoking of it, especially if there are nervous people in the room. A good, smart knock of a pipe against a tin wastebasket and you will have a neurasthenic out of his chair and into the window sash in no time.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)