Time for a good old fashioned cam vs thread!

I bought a 1995 M6 daily driver car last year and since then I threw on a set of Hooker LT's and welded up some 3" X-pipe duals. It came with a 1LE elbow, SLP CAI, and TPIS airfoil, so it's got your basic bolt on's.

In my typical gotta screw with everything mindset I'm tossing around the idea of putting a lil cam in there for some extra power. I want low and midrange more than anything else. I'm thinking the XE502 would win that battle. There maybe other TQ cams out there but I'm really only looking at these two cams since I can get a deal on one or the other.

So I can pick up a Hotcam [218/228 .492/.492 112LSA] $75, not bad since a LT4 spring kit is $90 and I have pushrods lying around. All that's left is some roller rockets and maybe a stock timing chain.

Then I got to thinking, those XE lobes have some better more modern ramps and the XE502 [218/224 .495/.503 112LSA] seemed like a decent performer over the years. So I found one for $150. I can pickup springs for around $100-125. The rest is a wash.

So what do you guys think? $85-100 more for a XE502?

I'd actually prefer a little less lope than what the Hotcam puts out, but you could probably find a base Hotcam tune lying around the internet somewhere for free. Not to mention the Hotcam lobes are so lazy the valvetrain would be on vacation.

Let's hear the comments, opinions, gripes, drunk posts, etc...

Oh and there's a poll

-Dustin-

 

Remembering what my buddy Compstall posted a few years back...Makes a XE502 look like a far better option. The opti has got to come out, so perhaps it'll get a cam sooner than I planned.

-Dustin-

 

Check out the cam in my sig. It puts out good power low, mid, high. It's very drivable.

 

Both cams are very similar and will do a great job as a DD cam. I have a hotcam in my dads A4 t/a and he loves it and would drive it as a DD anytime. Its got good street maners and makes half decent power aswell has a nice lope to it. If it were me i would swap a slightly bigger stall into it but it but other then that i say go for it. If its a cheap cam swap you do it for cheap and finding used parts along the way. If your trying to find the best cam suited for DD characteristics and want the most power out of it i would be a custom grind done which will not only run better but make more power under the curve.

 

I have the 502,daily driven. All I can say is that I am not sorry with it. Awesome power down low and it really doesnt stop pulling. Very flat torque curve. I woulld recommend it to anyone. JMHO

 

Talk to Lloyd Elliot on getting a custom cam for what you are looking for.

 

I would go with the 503 224/230 and it's not even big.

 

All good feedback, thanks guys.

Joe you happen to have any dyno sheets and/or videos of your car? It would be nice to see the TQ curve on that cam, seems like it should make excellent low end TQ. I'm having trouble finding non-cell phone videos of the XE502 online.

I talk to Lloyd about cams all the time, but keeping things on a budget means spending $300 on the whole cam swap instead of $300 on just a cam.

Everyone and his brother runs a XE503, I'll probably never run that cam just for that reason.

I picked up some valvesprings for this swap, good to .550 lift, so I've got to keep lift under that.

PS I saw a CC305 for sale the other day, being ground on a 114LSA it would be a decent low lope street cam too... 220/230 .510/.510 114LSA So the most lift and duration out of the group, relaxed Magnum series lobes, and on a mild 114 LSA....maybe a winner...

With 1.6 ratio rockers:
Hotcam .525/.525 w/ 1.7 rockers .557/.557
XE502 .528/.536
CC305 .544/.544

PPS: Did some overlap calculations
Hotcam: 59 degress EDIT: 52.5 with .006 lift numbers
XE502: 49 degrees
CC305: 55 degrees

Judging by those numbers, the XE502 should be the mildest sounding...

-Dustin-

 

The 305 on a 114 is setup for a blower application so keep that in mind

 

Putting NA cams on a 114lsa is a halfassed bandaid for using too much duration and will make for a lazy underperformer.

Do you understand that the fast NA guys are going 10degrees bigger and under 110LSA??

You are on the right track with low duration for a milder cam but then looking at a cam with a spread LSA is wrong.

Honestly it sounds to me like you should consider the Lingenfelter 211/219, raise the idle a little and you can make it sound stock and it performs very well.

 

OK, except that you can't calculate overlap from the data you have. Overlap is defined as the number of degrees both valves are open, not the number of degrees the valves are held open at 0.050" or more. Ignoring the extended ramps leading to and away from 0.050" could be giving you a different answer than you're after. If the 502 has ramps that are 'faster' than the hotcam or the 305, then you're correct, if it doesn't or they're asymetrical then you've guessed wrong. From my experience, these three don't sound all that different.....

 

The hotcam was good for 13.20s at 5k feet so not a bad option. But go for bust and get the 502 for the supercharger your going to put on it.

Yes, you will buy one to put on the car you know it.

Stop B.S.ing and lets go race.

 

I'm not going for a cam only record or anything here, just a budget cam swap in my DD budget beater LT1. I really don't want a cam on a 108 or something like that. I can get any of these cams for around $100, so spending $300-350 on a custom or LPE run just isn't in the budget, I'm going to have less than that in this entire cam swap.

Exactly, that's why I used the advertised duration for each cam, I guess I should list those out for everyone too see so we understand each other. True they are similar sounding in person.

GRIND ADV DUR LSA
XE502 270/276 112LSA
CC305 276/290 112LSA or 114LSA
Hotcam 279/287 112LSA EDIT: 272/281 @ .006 lift
XE503 276/281 112LSA
GM846 284/292 112LSA

EDIT: Other camshaft advertised duration numbers are @ .006 lift

This place has many useful calculators, overlap and camshaft timing events as well.
http://www.wallaceracing.com

Go race? Beater vs Beater? PINKS?

However a blower has crossed my mind...

-Dustin-

 

I did not suggest you get a cam on a 108, I was saying 112 is already compromised enough and that you plan of using mild duration was going to keep the manners in check just fine without ruining it by going to 114.

 

Ah, ok, I understood you wrong, I thought you were saying I should get something under 110LSA. I smell what you're stepping in now.

-Dustin-