First, sorry to get a little off topic - the Pletty was mentioned above and got me distracted.
I respectfully disagree that timing is a specific setting. If you read the Hacker Q80 manual, the 25deg is a 'recommended' setting (
https://www.aero-model.com/download....-Anleitung.pdf ). Recommended setting for A60 motors is 20-25deg.
It is true that too low of a timing is bad. Basically too low timing advance means the motor isn't pulling hard enough on the magnets to get up to the next winding (like pushing down on a bike pedal before it passes the top). So yes, there is a minimum, but timing is absolutely a tuning mechanism. The RC car guys use it a lot - they balance pinion gearing with timing advance to get good torque and top speed.
I might believe that timing adjustment is limited on a 28 pole motor, still have to work through that scenario. I do agree that there is a limit to the range of adjustment, but there is a range.
From Castle's website:
What you’ll find when you experiment with timing advance settings, is that going up or down from the normal setting will cause two reactions. With each step down from normal, your motor temp will go down and the top speed will go down about the same as dropping a tooth on the pinion. Going up, it’s just the opposite – it’s like adding a pinion tooth, but the motor temp will go up ...
Higher advance makes the motor run hotter, and the higher the Kv of the motor, the hotter it will get! Too high of an advance setting will give the same results as too much advance on a brushed motor – you will actually LOSE power and speed while the motor cooks itself!
Hacker ESC settings:
Auto: 7-30 deg
Soft: 7deg (2-pole motors)
Hard: 22-30deg (multi-pole motors)