Method of controlling the ignition of a gasoline engine

A method of controlling the ignition of a gasoline engine comprising an ignition coil which generates a spark on a spark plug, whereby the instant when coil charging starts is determined for each engine cycle as a function of the angular position of the crankshaft and the rotation speed of the engine, by calculating the ratio between the crankshaft angle of rotation still to pass through before the crankshaft reaches the angular position at which the ignition spark is to be produced, and the time required to charge the coil, and, when this ratio becomes substantially equal to the measured rotation speed of the engine, the charging of the coil begins, characterized in that said method comprises the following steps:

• A. determining a moment M defined as angle of rotation of the engine at which the calculation to determine the instant for the start of charging must be initiated, this moment being the angular position at which the crankshaft is situated when it still has to pass through an angle equal to an angle D corresponding to the period required to charge the coil at the maximum speed that the engine could achieve through an immediate maximum acceleration,
• B. initiating the calculation to determine the instant for the start of charging at the moment M defined in the step A.