What exactley is detonation and how does it take place in a engines performance?

 

to be all technical and crap:

Detonation is the after effect of a amplification of pressure waves during the combustion process when the piston is close to tdc. detonation will occur will the heat & pressure in the combustion chamber cause the air/fuel mixture to autoignite which produces multiple flames instead of a single flame. when the multiple flames collides it creates a high pressure in the cynlinder hence a knock or "pinging" noise.

thats a generic explnation, do a search here if you want a further more explanation.

 

to add, it can potentially catastrophically destroy your engine within seconds, depending on severity. it has a distinct sound when it happens too. kind of a very sharp metal tick i guess

 

so the phrase "pinging valves" is professionally called Detonation?

 

the more "street" name for it is called spark knock