I know this question has probly come up a lot but when it comes to cams lift-duration im lost. so i am looking for a cam for my 99 SS mods are listed in the sig... The car is my daily driver in the spring,summer and fall and i depend on it to get me to school,work ect. so I want the cam to be pretty streetable, Im sure I could live with a fair idle. But i dont want to spend the cash on one and see very small gains. I also dont realy want to pay to get my car tuned again and i know if i want the most power out of it thats what ill have to do. The guy at APE told me depending on what one I go with it should bump me up to right around 360rwhp.
Thanks , Dane

 

In your case I'd just go with the Hot Cam kit. Just stick to bolt-ons.... should be very drivable and reliable for the least amount of $.

-Mindgame

 

If you don't want to spend the money to make it idle correctly and not see small gains, then it's almost not worth even bothering with a cam. The biggest mild cam you'll have an option for is probably a Hotcam, but that cam does NOT like to idle with a stock tune for the first 20 seconds when the car is turned back on. I would suggest more bolt ons for now, and get a big cam later down the road when you don't mind to get it tuned. If you're going to be tearing the top of the engine open to get to the cam, you may as well do it right the first time. Don't forget to replace the pushrods and springs while you are in there

 

Is a Dyno tune nessary to correct the idle when a cam is installed?
How much power over what i put down do you guys think a hot cam would give me?

 

You wouldn't HAVE to have it tuned, but it would help. You can drill a hole in the throttle body butterfly, a friend of mine had a Hotcam with a A4 (3500 stall), drilled a 3/16" hole in the butterfly, and it idled just fine. A4s have a harder time with a cam than M6s do

I don't know how much power it would give, but I can give an example. I have the Hotcam (for now, swapping in a 232/236 soon) with MAC midlength's and most bolt ons (minus a SSRA and underdrive pulley) and I can beat stock '03 Cobras all day, especially now with the traction mods. And if you find a modded one, do what I do. Spray him

 

just curious how would the cmp cam 216/220 .525/.532 114 LSA cam compair to the hot cam as far and driveability and power?
Is the drivability of a cam based on the LSAthe higher the more driveable and the duration the less the more driveable???
thanks for all the help
Dane

 

That cam is a 216/220 compared to the Hotcam's 219/228. It would give a little less power than the Hotcam, but you are right, it would probably be more driveable. The Hotcam has quite a bit of overlap on it, and is a good nitrous cam. The Hotcam sounds like a much bigger cam than it really is, which is both good and bad

 

A few degrees of duration here or there is negligible. You need to look at the overlap periods of both cams. If the duration specs are identical and you widen the lobe centers from say 114 to 110, the 114 cam will have less overlap period and will generate a good deal more vacuum at identical engine speeds. The 114 cam will also pull a bit harder after peak torque because the torque curve is predominant in the upper end of the rpm range. The 110 on the other hand will generate more of it's torque in the lower half of the power curve.
For some applications, the 110 will perform better than the 114 but it all depends. When that IVC (intake valve closure) occurs has a dramatic impact on cylinder pressure at low engine speeds, so it stands to reason that a cam which generates more low rpm pressure is going to have a bit more grunt in the lower revs.

Not a recommendation one way or the other, just generalaties on camshafts. Your best bet is in calling your favorite LS1 tuner shop and getting a recommendation. You need to look at the whole valvetrain package when you do this.

Good luck.

-Mindgame

 

Well to give you an idea, I have generally the same bolt ons you got, but I have a TR224 cam (224/244 .563/.563 112 LSA) and I put down 374hp/381ft lbs untuned. The cam is VERY easy to drive with. I have no troubles. I love it!

 

If you use a cam ground on a cam motion lobe, you can get pretty high in duration and not feel an impact on driveability. I have Futral Motorsports' F11 (228/230 .581/.591 112LSA) and it idles and drives MUCH better than my roomate's SS with the hotcam. It's such a difference that he is pulling his cam out in a few weeks and replacing it with one of Futral's cams. Those lobes have a very fast ramp rate, make a ton of power, and are VERY streetable.

 

thanks for all the help and input guys. Someone on the board is selling a MTI C1 cam 222/222 .558 lift 112LSA and i think i might go with that any one have any input on this cam and its driveablity?