I see this question a lot in this forum and wanted some clarification. To be honest at times I see conflicting answers as well. I have been told to not worry about what cam i choose, and I have been told that it will make or break me.

People say to shoot for a 114lsa, and 215-220 intake duration with ~10-12 more on the exhaust side?

I see many people claiming a cam makes a huge difference for end HP goals, so if I am shooting for 700rwhp what do i want from a cam.

The NA engine i have in the car has a 233/237 111lsa(to the best of my knowledge it has been years). I know this cam isn't a good choice.

But I also have another cam that Ill read from the cam card so you can let me know exactly if I should toss it or not.

Lift at valve: .502in/.502ex
Rocker Ratio: 1.5in/1.5ex
valve adjustment: .000/.000
duration at .050* tappet lift: 218in/228ex
advertised duration" 276in/286ex

Lobe separation: 114


The card also has info of a pic of the cam TDC with exhaust open/close numbers, if you want.

But how does that cam look for my goal? I fail at reading cam cards but its a 218/228 114lsa with .502 lift on a 1.5rr? Although I run a 1.6rr right now.

This cam will be in a 383 with 8.8 CR.

 

Is it going to be turbo or supercharged? It seems turbo cars like a closer cam like a 230/230, 224/224 etc. Mine is a custom comp 230/236 .544/.555 with a 114LSA

Supurcharged can get away with a bit more agressive profile

Jay

 

sorry. it is a single t76

 

Pick a cam that will have the dricing manners you want and the rpm range... worry less about whether it follows "traditional turbo cam profiles".

 

People will tell you all kinds of things as far as the best cam. But I have not seen any dyno runs with cams only being changed to find out what is really better. I went with the comp cams 280xfi 230/236 .576/.571 lift 113 ls. I guess I will find out.

 

It seems to me that in a turbo setup a lot of the cam selection depends on the efficiency of the turbo system. Better systems can run more cam. By that I mean, the closer your exhaust pressure is to boost pressure, the more cam I feel you can run.

If you can afford the cost of a new cam (relatively small cost) then I would look to reputable cam grinders for recommendations and see what feedback you get based on specific details of your setup.

If you are just trying to run what you have - usually the milder will work better. Heck, a stock cam will work pretty good.

 

Well at least i am confused for a reason, as i got both sides of the coin again.
But what everyone says makes sense, and i had planned on a custom cam anyways when i port my Trickflows. However i would love to see some real world data from the power differences of just a cam swap. if i had more time/money i might just do it to see.

RQ, as far as what i am looking for from my cam I havent the best answer. It will be my weekend toy, and rarely if ever see traffic being as its texas with no a/c in the car so i guess whatever cam helps me get to my hp goal.

 

Either cam will get you to your goal, with the smaller one having better driveability.

 

Too much overlap can net some crazy egt's my friends turbo scion cracked the header because of too much overlap. You could light cigs off the mani without even getting into boost that much.