As GWS pointed out, you're conflating two different things
1) ignition advance WAY to soon (past ZWOPT, generally) - not making more power, just going to break shit
2) ignition advance too close to ZWOPT - for some operating regions, depending on lambda, you may be leaving hp on the table
I was being flippant about my rod comment, didn't mean to confuse things with 1), which rods won't help with
My voltage regulator crapped out on me out of nowhere today, hah. Replaced and back to tuning now
Roughly which operating regions are we talking about, if known, for the 1.8T?
In another thread you said the manufacturer has tuned ignition for maximum efficiency in the lower load regions. What's your opinion on retarding sligtly in those regions on E85, considering the faster burn rate of ethanol? Looking at the table, the stock tune is almost 15° below KFZWOP at some spots in the 10-20 % load region where it's unlikely knock limited in any way.