Looking at the LT4 Hot cam and the XE224/230, the cams are very similar. Each one has its positives and negatives. What would you suggest for an occasional driver, sometimes at the track. I want it to be fast, but I dont want a car that will fail emissions. I don't plan on getting heads any time soon, but I will be installing Hooker Headers along with all my other mods. So which of these cams would you suggest? I might also consider the XE230/236, but I'm afraid it might be a little too extreme...Let me know what ya think. Thanks!

 

My vote goes for 224/230, but you might have to have some tricks up your sleeves to pass emissions...

Have an emissions tune, stick a huge air pump in your exhaust, etc....

 

i run the xe224/230 with ported heads, and i trapped 115mph
javierz28 has the xe224/230 with stock heads he ran 12.0 at 112

the xe224/230 is very tame. my vote goes toward it

if you are worried about passing emissions, go the the 114lsa instead of the 112. that should make it easier to pass.

jesse

 

Having both in my two cars, this is just my topic.

The hotcam car I have is a little doggish down low, but definitely better than stock. I contribute this to the horrible gearing though. It just screams up high, feels like it wants to rev forever.

My 224/230 car is like DAYUM when I do drive it, and it's not even running right. The torque comes on really low, and just stays there the entire powerband. It's not as peaky as the hotcam, but will make more power overall, as well as torque. Stay tuned for a 1.7 rocker swap on the 224/230 setup.

Dyno chart for 224/230 112* LSa can be found in my sig under the black car page.

 

This is a good post because I was going to ask the same question soon. My friend has a 95 Z, MAC headers, ORIP, 1.6RR's w/springs, CAI, thermostat. He has 3.42's now but when he puts in the SLP takeout posi I think he wants to go with 4.10's.

His opti is going out and decided he wants to do the cam swap at the same time. We had been talking about these two cams recently. Anymore input would be appreciated.
Jason

 

The XE224/230 cam is hands-down far better than the Hot Cam. It has less advertised duration (more low-end), but more area under the curve (more power everywhere) due to the quick ramp rates.

That's the whole point of XE lobes.

The Hot Cam has very slow ramp rates because it is meant to make the valvetrain quiet and last 200,000 miles.

The only disadvantage to XE lobes is that you must run high spring pressure to control the valve train under the quick ramps. I recommend 135 - 140 lb seat pressure.

Mike

 

Is it really that hard to get the 503 to pass emissions? People pass with the hot cam all the time and the 503 has less advertised duration.

 

A 114* should pass easily. It's the 112* that people have the problem with.

 

Don't know anything 'bout the other cam but I have the LT4 "hotCam" on my 93. Not much difference in torque at the lower RPM's but when you drop the hammer the things absolutly
flies The LT4 cam is more for those looking for an increase in HP in the mid-high range (3500-6000)

Either way, thery're both a lot better than stock. Can't go wrong with whatever choice you make although, I must add that the Hot cam will pass emissions without problems. Not sure about the other though. Hope this helps.

 

When I built my 355 I went w/ the LT4 convo. and hot cam kit. I absolutely love the rocker arms included with the kit, and liked the idea of using as many GM parts as I can...but here I am about 6000 miles later, and I'm wishing I had gone bigger...like the GM847 or CC306 cams. GA has OBD emissions now, which is almost like a double-edged sword. You can (theoretically) get as radical with a cam as possible and run no cats b/c they no longer run the tailpipe emissions test, but you've got to have some darn good programming b/c it checks for MIL light, DTCs, and readyness. I don't know how many states have gone to this, but my hot cam was even difficult to get passed, b/c with a stock computer (I run a stock comp. for emissions) it would show a misfire at idle b/c of the cam. Anyways, I'm very pleased with the street manners of the hot cam...it doesn't drive much different than the stocker, but wails up high.

 

I do want to pass emissions without any problems. I used to be leaning towards the CC306, but it would just be too radical for the street. Since the XE 224/230 is a 112 lsa, I will probly be going with the LT4 Hot cam kit. I can get the whole thing for like $500 or around there from gmpartsdirect.com....If anyone has anything more to say about the XE 224/230 and its emissions, any input is highly appreciated. Thanks a lot so far....

 

I suppose there are a couple more options now that I have looked at them more closely. The CC305 is a 114, but I dont know if it is any good...? Another one is the:

" Comp Cams "Extreme" LT1 Camshaft, 224 / 236, .502 / .520 114 LSA, Very aggressive camshaft for street/strip blower applications. Heads, Exhaust, Stall or M6, Computer tuning required"

Now I see that says its for blower motors, but will it work on mine? It is very aggressive, which is what I want, but then again, I want to pass emission, which this one should because its a 114.

Just a couple minutes ago, I was leaning towards the Hot Cam, but I think I want to go a bit bigger. So whatever you guys can tell me about the CC305 and the 224/236 is appreciated. Thanks again!

 

Mike,

That is a very intersting post, and starts to answer a big question that I've had regarding valvetrain noise.

I'm looking at the CC502, which I'm sure you know is the XE218/224 but the severe ramp of the lobes has me worried about engine noise. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to vehicle noise and I would hate to pop the hood and hear the rockers rattling like crazy.

Have you heard an XE grind and also the Hotcam? How do they compare as far as underhood noise goes?

If I'm worried about noise, should I go with the CC305 instead since it uses more traditional ramp rates? From the dyno curves I've seen, they are putting down almost identical numbers.

By the way Adam, the CC502(XE 218/224) might be a better choice than the XE224/230 because with the CC502 you should be able to still run the 112 LSA or even shorter and still pass emmisions.

Thanks,
Dan

 

The hot cam is on a 112 also, so I don't see why if the hot cam passes easily why the 503 wouldn't also. They are both on a 112, and the 503 has less advertised duration and therefore slightly less overlap. The 503 should pass no problem. I have the 502 now and it sounds real nice. There is no concern about engine noise, the only difference is the rockers are a tad noisy, I have Self Aligning btw.
Oh, and if you think you'll want more with the hot cam, you'll definitely want more with the 502. It's a nice cam, but it's tame. I wish I went with the 503.

 

Well, I guess I'm back to the 503. No one has a bad thing to say about it. The hot cam is nice, but I know I would regret not going bigger after about a week....So it's down to the XE503, XE 224/236 and CC305 now....most likely going to go with the XE 503