The paper offers a comparison between signals produced by a lambda sensor and ionization sensor to estimate air-fuel mixture composition in the fuel injection control process in an SI engine. The method of measurement is described and characteristics of the ionization signal in the conducted experimental tests are given. The paper also presents a numerical model of the internal combustion engine that was designed and then used in the simulations to examine the usefulness of ionization signal for estimating air fuel mixture composition. The conducted tests demonstrated the advantage of the controller using the ionization measurement in the combustion chamber over the controller using signals produced by a classic lambda sensor.