I keep hearing about this. Is it worth swapping cams, or would I have to get heads also to see a worthwhile gain? I understand swapping the cam in a LS1 is pretty easy. Is that true? Thanks for any info!

 

The hotcam has proven itself to be a decent cam over the years. You will see horsepower gains with the hotcam plus it sounds mean. As with any cam, you'll benefit more with some headers. One of the plus's of the hotcam is that it is not a monster cam and it won't put a huge strain on your valvetrain. Plus, you can get away with using LS6 springs with the hotcam, and they are pretty cheap.

As for the cam swap, it is definitely doable. It took a friend and I about 10 hours to put my T1 in but the majority of that time was fumbling our way through the process since neither of us had opened an LS1 before. A big chunk of the time was spent changing valve springs. There are many good install guides available online now. The smart thing to do is read up, make sure you have all the parts and tools necessary, and then get a friend to help you out as it is a tiring process.

 

I made 381/373 with all of the bolt-on's and untuned.

 

i hear mix things bout the hotcam. i hear that its drivability sucks and that you can get a better cam but then i see people putting tons of power with this cam.

 

My brother in law is very happy with his Hotcam, plus, it sounds bad a**

 

I love mine, makes great power, its totally streetable with a tune, and the sound gets looks like you have no idea. It's funny how you can actually feel the thing kick in as it hits its power band. I love mine, and yes, I would go with it again if I was to get a different car.

 

How does the price of the Hotcam compare with other brands (Comp / Thunder-Racing, for example), as well as the performance gains for the price compared to other cam manufacturers?

ALSO, is the Hotcam maybe more suited to a relatively "stock" motor (stock heads) vs. a built (heads, stroker kit, high compression) engine??

The Hotcam still requires upgraded springs too, right?

 

The Hotcam Kit comes with LS6 springs which are suffecient for the application. There are "better" cam designs out there, but the Hotcam's pricing is attractive. It all depends what you want from the car and the cam. The cam really "comes on" at 3000 rpms.

 

Just a step on the performance chain. The LS1 has a good flowing cylinder head that can really take advantage of a more aggressive cam profile. If later on, you decide to pull the heads... port, valve job etc.. the cam will help in making a good deal more power.

Cam is a good first step... just make sure you use the correct springs.

-Mindgame

 

Dave, if you bought this cam is there a place in Germany to tune it? I live here in the UK at Lakenheath and there isn't a tuner on this whole damn island. Any info on any service shops over there would be appreciated!

-Travis

 

The place where I got a dyno run said they can do a tune. They get alot of practice anyway since they are located at the Nurburgring. Seemed like they know what they are doing. They have a website, but its in Deutsch. www.boemanns.de. I think thats it. I can't belive there isn't anywhere in England to get a tune! But when I was there my Austin Morris Ambassador made too much power anyway so I didn't need a dyno tune.