I was wondering what is a good Cam for a LS1 Camaro with a M6 Trans and 4.10 Gear's??I want a Cam that can still get great gas mileage because this will me a 99.9% street car.I would want to get the heads redone or get better Heads at some point.I have heard of the F13 AND F14 cams but am to not familiar with them.

 

I think you should go smaller than that if you're just using it as a street car and want good mpg.

The F11 or even Thunder Racing's TR224 cam would be a better bet I'd think. Call Allan up at FMS and get them to recommend something to you.

 

224/224 .581/.581 114+4. The Thunder Racing TR224 has less lift with a shorter lobe. If you want stock type driveability, try a Lingenfelter GT2-3 207/220 .571/.578 118.5 or even an LS7 cam which is like 211/230 (Not sure of lift).

Ultimately, though, it is dependant on the combo you have.

-Geoff

 

or you could go for a 2002-2004 Zo6 cam: 204/218, .525/.525, 117.5 LSA (I think?) its very close to that. Nice smooth idle with that wide lobe separation...and it will still pass smog

 

i have the TR224-112 with 4.10s on a 6spd. looooove the combo. give me smiles everytime i start her up still

 

You have your cam spec'd out around your heads/mods not the other way around.

I would go with a custom cam by Bret Bauer, Ed Curtis (both on hardcorels1), or Patrick G, Predator Z (on LS1tech).

Give them your current mods/goals and they will hook you up.

I am not a fan of "off the shelf" cams, as they are usually a compromise at best. As most of these guys will say: Buy the best heads you can afford, THEN have a cam spec'd out that will work with those heads. Best way to do it IMO.

 

Well I just got rid of my 69 Camaro with a 402 Big Block and that Cam was a 595/595 lift Cam.It was very hard to get to idle and needed the 4.10 gear's.With the TR224-112 and 581/581 lift is that going to compromise fuel economy badly.Also for the LS1 engine that Cam would still be bigger because the motor is smaller unless Im wrong.I know it will have less bottom end power which I don't mind.I don't want to make the mistake of putting a Cam in there that takes away the driveabilty I want.I know the old carburated no overdrive first Generation Camaro's had terrible driveability and thats why I sold mine.

 

i drove it through the gustav evac from new orleans to oxford, al in 22 hrs (14 of which was going under 10mph, which ment in/out in/out in/out in/out in/out in/out... you get the point) and my leg didnt hurt much, other than doing that in any car would hurt. and ran fine. the 4.10s do more than make up for it from a stop.

i got 29mpg hwy on the way back from al bc it was 6th gear cruising the entire time... 70mph still 1500-1600, not bad. 90 is 1900rpm. i avg about 16 city, and thats with almost no interstate mixed in(i do put put around)

 

Trying to put it nicely, actually you are wrong. The lift numbers don't have anything to do with how a cam idles or fuel consumption. The idle is determined by the valve events and timing and not just the LSA either. Drivability and mileage will also depend heavily on the tune, much like the old school cars depended on the carb setup.

Your 4.10 gears will hurt your mileage more than most any cam will. You should look for something in the mid to high 220's with very high 500's lift. The LS1 motor seems to like split or reverse durations as well, much different from the old school motors.

The TR and Futral cams are definitely not "off the shelf" cams. There has been a lot of research and fine tuning put into all of them in all kinds of different cars. That's why I said to call Allan at Futral and see what they recommend. If you don't like them, try Thunder, but I'd recommend Futral 10/10 times before TR.

 

I thought a TR224 cam with 3.73 Gear's wouldn't work as well as a 4.10 would .Also the car still gets good gas mileage with the M6.At least thats what I hear.I never heard of the Futral Cams.

 

You have to call up Thunder and ask them about what gears work better with the cam. I think Mike still works the desk there. What works for one person may not work for the other.

You mentioned the F13 and F14 in your original post: the "F" stands for Futral Motorsports. Google him to find his site because I'm not sure if I can link it here since he isn't a sponsor.

 

I didn't know that the F13,F14 Cams were that big.I know I came across a thread saying that these Cams worked best with a 4.30 or a 4.56 Gear.No way would I put a Gear like that in a pure street car.I believe the Camshaft is the most critical part of the engine.I know having the best Heads is equally important when installing a Cam.I heard a sound clip on a recent previous thread on here of the F14 Cam which sounded really mean, but Im more into 2500 RPM's to 6500 RPM's.One of the worst things to do is go to big on a Cam especially for a non drag car.

 

You shouldn't be trying to match the cam to the gears I don't think. That's the wrong way to go about it. If you already have 4.10 gears then just get whatever cam you want.

When someone says they "work best" with whatever gears, it tells me right away they don't know what they're talking about. For a DD, what works best is what feels best to the driver. On the track, what works best is a gear that matches your trans, tune, tires and engine package to max out performance in 1/4 mile.

 

That makes sense.Thats why I didn't want to go to big on the Cam.Even the TR 224 Cam is relatively big compared to the LS1's engine size.I also want a Cam that works well with nitrous but i have heard any Cam basically will work quite well.

 

224 duration is a medium sized cam for the LSx motors at best, but it's relatively small. I'd really advise you to get updated with these newer motors because they are completely different than the old school motors you seem to be used to working with.

Nitrous cams I know very little about, but if you aren't spraying over a 200 shot and aren't racing, then you shouldn't even worry about a "nitrous" cam.