On the hood, there's a sticker that states the manufacturer's recommended settings for the engine timing which is 10 degrees BTDC for the Corolla 1.6 4afe engine ...

My car's distributor was never been touched or repaired before, it still has distributor's factory settings from the day it was assembled..

Why is the distributor set at a max timing of 12 degrees rather than the recommended 10 degrees ??

My co-worker has the same car as mine, same all stock engine also, I took a look at the distributor in his car, it is position at the max setting the same as mine, which is 12 degrees BTDC ...

Can someone give a light on this ???