Instead of time.f1 <- system(x2 <- f1(input=x, parms=p)) you probably meant time.f1 <- system.time(x2 <- f1(input=x, parms=p)) Also see the rbenchmark and microbenchmark packages. Dirk -- Dirk Eddelbuettel | edd at debian.org | http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com