Combustion instability and cyclic variations lead to the requirement of closed loop control for use of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine technology for automotive applications. The closed loop control of HCCI combustion requires robust combustion timing parameters with a systematic and detailed study of its variations vis-a-vis engine operating conditions. An experimental study is conducted to provide insight into cyclic variations of HCCI combustion phasing for two fuels (gasoline and methanol) using statistical techniques. In this study, cycle-to-cycle variations of heat release parameters such as Maximum Rate of Heat Release (ROHR(max)), 10% Mass Burn Fraction (MBF), 50% MBF, 90% MBF and Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) of HCCI combustion engine fueled with methanol and gasoline were investigated using a modified two-cylinder, four-stroke engine. The experiments were conducted with different engine operating conditions at constant intake air temperature (140 degrees C) and different air-fuel ratios at constant engine speed (1500 rpm). To evaluate the cycle-to-cycle variations of combustion parameters at different test conditions, coefficient of variation (COV) and standard deviation of parameters were used. The results showed that CA(50) (crank angle position of 50% MBF) is a robust parameter for the closed loop control of HCCI combustion. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.