If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

Yes, it's that time of the year again. What cam would you choose for your car?

The cam would have to meet these requirements: Has to be streetable and reliable. I know everyone's deffinition of "streetable" is different, but I'm looking for a cam that can be used daily without a stall, or at the very least a small stall. One that idle's close to stock, meaning a smooth idle over a really lopey idle. Will give good power increases throughout the power band. And will help me reach my goal of getting into the 12's on street tires. Pretty much what I'm looking for is a cam that can be installed, run like it came from the factory without having to worry about something breaking, or being a weekend/race only car.

After reading several posts on this forum and LS1Tech, I'm really leaning towards the CC305 cam due to it's decent gain in power and smoother idle over the Hotcam. But after reading the Impala SS forum, several people are running 12s with the smaller Crane 227 cam in a heavier car.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

If the price of a custom cam isnt much more than a off the shelfer then that's the route I would go.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

I'd say spray it.... based on your requirements.

Puttin' the cart before the horse anyways, doesn't look like you even have headers yet.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

yeah, you should work on gettin some other mods first... like what javier said, you need other bolt ons before going a cam to get the most out of it id say...

My vote nonetheless would be the hotcam for what you are lookin for.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

I picked the Comp 502, I ran 12.4's on street tires in my car with this cam, driveability is better than stock, so much more torque....

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

I know I need headers. I'm just trying to make a plan for a future set-up.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

If you are looking for a cam with a smoother idle, look closely at the lobe separation angle. A cam with a tighter split will idle more lopey, i.e. a 110 or 112...a cam with a 114 lsa will idle smoother, but will sound more like a chop than a lope. I voted for the gm 846, and after that i would go 305. Many people have hit 12's with bolt ons with both cams (and likely most of the others) but like mentioned before, headers will greatly help.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

I'm currently running the 846 cam with ported heads. Times are in my sig. If you're looking for a near stock idle, this is not the cam you want :D

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

I don't see my cam listed on there :(

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

It's because he specified streetable with near stock idle. If the 846 doesn't fit his requirements...

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

There has to be more then 18 people on the forum.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

Once you are ready to do a cam (supporting mods need to come first)
I would agree that custom is the way to go. Have it made to match your setup and needs.
You'll be much happier that way than with a generic cam.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

i see the gm 846 has a slight lead, but good luck with that on a stock stall. i've heard they are a bit jerky on the low end with a stock stall. what about the comp cams xe 224/230? BUT, for the extra cost, write bre bauer an email for a custom cam. i believe mine was around 320 for a billet comp cams grind.

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

Don't pigeon hole yourself into an off the shelf cam. I used Joe Overton and while he's not been around much lately he spec'd out a fantastic cam for my 383. It would be considered a weeny cam by most (220/230 range), but it is very streetable with a noticable chop at 900 rpm idle, gets 20 mpg on the hwy, and has been 11.50s at 118 with shorties and the stock wp even with 16x8 wheels all around. I know it'll go 11.20s in good air at at least 120 with the Kooks stepped LTs, EWP, and the Bogarts on radials...We went 10.98 with it on the Mustang dyno, so 11.20s in the real world shouldn't be an issue...

Most on this board use Bret for custom cam selections. I was local to Joe, he has the quickest/fastest n/a LT1, so I went with him and have been completely satisfied...

If I had to pick an off the shelf I'd use the LPE 211/219 .533/.560 with 1.6s on a 112. That was the cam that the Joe O. cam replaced...went low 12s high 11s with that cam, 24 mpg on hwy, passed MDs emissions, and idles with a very, very slight chop, hardly noticable. I'm a huge fan of "weeny" cams...Vig 3600 stall with both cams, but the Vig doesn't drive like a high stall converter until you nail it. I could easily drive my car daily 100 miles round trip to work with no issues..Hell, it gets better mileage than my Suburban!

--Alan

Re: If you had a choice, which cam would you pick?
 

The CC305 or GM 846 is probably your best bet. :)