A constant volume combustion chamber is employed to investigate the initial flame kernel development and flame propagation of gasoline-air mixtures with various ignition systems, ignition energy and spark plug electrodes. To do this research, four ignition systems are designed and manufactured, and the ignition energy is controlled by varying the dwell time. Several kinds of spark plugs are also made to analyze the effects of electrodes on flame kernel development. The velocity of flame propagation is measured by the laser deflection method. The output laser beam from He-Ne laser is divided into three parallel beams by a beam splitter. The splitted beams pass through the combustion chamber. They are deflected when contacted with flame front, and the voltage signals from photodiodes change due to deflection. The results show that higher ignition energy raises the flame propagation speed especially under the fuel lean operation. The wider electrode gap, smaller electrode diameter and sharper electrode tip make the speed of the initial flame propagation faster. The speed of the initial flame propagation is affected by electrode material as well. Electrode material with lower melting temperature help the initial flame propagation.