A method for controlling the ignition of an internal combustion engine (10) for a motor vehicle. More specifically, the method controls the timing of ignition for each of cylinder of the internal combustion engine (10). Control of the timing is based on two parameters, i.e., the speed at which the internal combustion engine (10) is operating and the gear in which the transmission (22) is operating. The speed is measured in terms of revolutions per minute. The gear helps to gauge what type of load may be present on the internal combustion engine (10). By identifying each of these parameters, it may easily be determined at what value the timing may be. If the specific speed of the vehicle is not located within the look-up table, where the data is stored, the method will interpolate the timing value based on values close to the value of the speed of the internal combustion engine (10) based on the neighboring values thereof.