from what ive learned the stock ss box comes without retarding the timing...im getting my vortech tuned with a utec and my tuner recommends retarding the timing about 1 degree per pound of boost...with stock internals and my mods listed below how important is it to retard the timing?...the reason im wondering is because i know im losing about 20 whp by retarding the timing

 

Sounds like he's just playing it safe, if the car is not experiencing knock there isn't a reason to retard the timing

 

correct me if i'm wrong but its my understanding that with every pound of boost that you add the motor is going to want to detonate more easily so to keep detonation from happening you retard timing and you can adjust the fuel slightly. his 1 degree per psi sounds like a good place to start tuning from based off of what i've read and what i've been told but in the end you may not end up needing that much timing taken out.

 

The stock Vortech fuel and timing map ....DOES ....retard timing . And it actually pulls quit a bit in the upper rpms . 1 degree for every 1 psi is a good place to start on a stock motor