Recent trends among automotive manufacturers towards downsized, boosted engines make it imperative to understand specific fuel chemistry interactions encountered in this new operating regime. At these elevated pressure conditions a phenomenon called pre-spark heat release has recently been discovered, and is characterized by kinetically controlled heat release before spark, with resultant changes in end-gas thermodynamic state and composition. These reactions typically occur in the end-gas during normal operation, but are obscured by the deflagration heat release and therefore cannot be easily studied. A 2-zone spark-ignition engine model was utilized to determine whether chemical kinetic mechanisms are able to predict this phenomenon, and whether they accurately capture end-gas thermodynamic history. Experimental engine data at a range of boosted operating conditions demonstrating pre-spark heat release were compared with simulations using mechanisms representing the latest developments in gasoline kinetic modeling. The results demonstrated significant discrepancies between mechanisms, and between experimental and simulated results in terms of low-temperature heat release magnitude, end-gas thermodynamic state, and autoignition propensity. The results highlight shortcomings in low-temperature reaction pathways, and indicate the necessity of simultaneously matching first-stage ignition delay and heat release magnitude, in addition to second-stage ignition delay, in order to accurately predict end-gas thermodynamics and autoignition. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Combustion Institute.