A crank angle-based engine control system has been developed for use as an engine research tool to provide precise control of the fuel injection(timing and duration) and ignition(timing and dwell) in real-time. The engine event information is provided by the engine shaft encoder, and the engine control system uses this information to generate spark and injector control signals for relevant cylinders. Eight different engine types and four different rotary encoder resolutions can be accommodated by this system. Also this system allows a user to individually control the ignition and fuel injection for each cylinder in a simple manner such as through a keyboard or in a real-time operation from a closed-loop control program.