Oh yeah, one more question Bret and I'll leave you alone. Duration @.050 doesn't tell the story. Got that. Comp, or whoever can grind a 224@.050 64 different ways...understandable. The geometry of the lobe is almost infinite. How then do knowledgeable engine builders and designers, like yourself answer questions like, "what rpm range will this cam operate within"' or "how much power will I make with this cam"' only given the duration @.050 lift, LSA and advance? Don't you need to know who ground the cam to have an idea of the actual shape of the lobe? Is it just being in the business so long and having half of the lobe catalogs for the different companies almost memorized? Fill me in a little if you could. Thanks!

 

Yes experience is key. Especially with cam design, PLUS lots of time understanding the theories and then testing them out. That's how this stuff starts and you gain knowledge fast, you have a theory, elminate all the variables you can from something else that is known and then try it out. The dyno usually tells you the tail if it worked or not. Then take that info and use it to apply it to other situations.

The lobes are definately part of that, having the profiles maped like on a Cam Dr and then put into a computer for comparison helps as well. It's not just about the designed profile and shape but what is actually ground on the cam. Expensive programs that help you analyze the lobes and how they react with the rest of the parts, not just engine simulations help get you the ability to get much much closer the first time around. Now if I can only get the lobe design suites that run about $30K then it's just the matter of having the CNC camgrinder and cores at my desposal to replicate the parts.

For example the LE cams keep evolving to make them work better in the situations they are designed for. More situations come up with different cars, different gears, different stalls, different applications and uses. We haven't made a change that's a step back, but we are always trying to balance power, RPM range, average TQ, and drivability. When I find something from another application that I can start to apply or we learn something from one of the setups I go about designing that into the whole line of cams. Works out well that way.

There will always be guys that think some of us just pulls these specs out of our ***... then there are the ones that try it and find out if that works or not. In reality what I find out more and more everyday is that I don't know as much as the engine does about what it wants, but most times I know a hell of a lot more than the other guy.

Bret