I am trying as hard as possible to learn about these cars (and cars in general) performance. I see people getting ported heads and posting flow numbers and everyone understands them, except me. The same with cams. How do you guys look at cam info and say 'Hey thats a damn good cam' ?

Please enlighten me.

Thanks

 

www.chevyhiperformance.com
This website has some good articles under the "Tech Articles" section. Explains all about flow numbers, cam specs and what they mean etc.... Don't be discouraged by the number of articles (there are LOTS of them), take the time and read some. That should help.

 

Flow numbers are a lot like the mileage numbers posted on new cars. Good for comparison.


You'll see flow given at .100 lift, .200, .300, etc...

If you are comparing two heads, look at the flow numbers at each lift interval.

The head with the better flow numbers at lower lift will make better power, even if their peak numbers are lower.

One trick, for quick comparison is to add up the flow numbers all along the chart, then compare the two totals.

You also want to look at exhaust flow as a percentage of intake flow.

Try to stay above 75% but be careful about going higher than 85%, unless you are using forced induction.

This is a very broad overview of course, but it'll give you a place to get started.