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Nowadays the combination of strict regulations for pollutant and CO2 emissions, together with the irruption of electric vehicles in the automotive market, is arising many concerns for internal combustion engine community. For this purpose, many research efforts are being devoted to the development of a new generation of high-performance spark-ignition (SI) engines for passenger car applications. Particularly, the PC ignition concept, also known as Turbulent Jet Ignition (TJI), is the focus of several investigations for its benefits in terms of engine thermal efficiency. The passive or un-scavenged version of this ignition strategy does not require an auxiliary fuel supply inside the PC; therefore, it becomes a promising solution for passenger car applications as packaging and installation are simple and straightforward.

In order to face the new challenges, spark ignition engines are evolving by following some strategies and technologies. Among them, alternative combustion processes based on the dilution of the homogeneous mixture, either with fresh air or with Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR), are being explored. In a higher or lower extent, these changes modify in-cylinder thermodynamic conditions during the engine operation (pressure, temperature and gas composition) thus conditioning the spark ignition system requirements that will have to evolve to become more reliable and powerful. In this framework, an experimental study on the effect of the key in-cylinder conditions on the ignition system performance has been carried out in a single-cylinder spark-ignition (SI) research engine. The study includes EGR, lambda and energizing time sweeps to assess the behavior of the engine in different operating conditions.