We study selected examples of previously published cyclic heat-release measurements from a single-cylinder gasoline engine as stepwise valve timing adjustments were made to shift from spark ignited (SI) combustion to homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI). Wavelet analysis of the time series, combined with conventional statistics and multifractal analysis, revealed previously undocumented features in the combustion variability as the shift occurred. In the spark-ignition combustion mode, the heat-release variations were very small in amplitude and exhibited more persistent low-frequency oscillations with intermittent high-frequency bursts. In the HCCI combustion mode, the amplitude of the heat-release variations again was small and involved mainly low-frequency oscillations. At intermediate states between SI and HCCI, a wide range of very large-amplitude oscillations occurred, including both persistent low-frequency periodicities and intermittent high-frequency bursts. It appears from these results that real-time wavelet decomposition of engine cylinder pressure measurements may be useful for on-board tracking of SI-HCCI combustion regime shifts. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.