Internal combustion engine.

[daryle]

OK this is probably stupid so apologies if so.
Always seemed to me that igniting a fuel air mixture when the piston is an almost vertical position is not good for producing power, can use powering a bicycle for instance, you use maximum force to push the pedal when it is well and truly on it's way down.
So could an engine be developed that would fire at say 20% after top dead centre?.
I understand that an enormous amount of compression would be lost but could this be rectified by the use of supercharging/turbo?
Surely this has been tried before, or maybe i am missing out on something completely basic.
Anyway if it is a stupid idea i may have given someone a laugh.
Cheers guys.