Achilleus07

I have a 1996 LT4...

Im looking at getting a new cam...
The usual LT4 Hot cam everyone talks about
Or one I just found from Lingenfelter.

The Lingenfelter costs more and the specs are
219/219 duration @ .050 .560"/.560" with the 1.6 rocker.

The GM Hot cam is
218/228 duration @ .050 .550"/.550" with 1.6 rocker.

What do you guys think? Which one should I get?

Zix

The GM Hotcam is .525/.525 with 1.6 rockers if I remember correctly. Of the two I'd go with the HotCam, it's a proven performer...but there are a lot of people running the LPE219 as well, I just don't know of any running one in an LT4 off the top of my head

Achilleus07

Yeah I just found the specs saying its .525/.525.

Im just looking for the most hp gain. Right now all i have is open air box, corsa exhaust, and headers. If anyone knows what the gains will be from each let me know.

93 ragtop

I would go with the hotcam. Course I am bias in my opinion. see my signature. The hotcam was designed to run with a stock or near stock LT4.
If I was going to consider anything else then I would contact Comp. cams, Crane, Lutuni, etc and see what they have now. It has been 10years so techinolgy has made advancements since the hotcam was designed. And they are all making LT-1-4 specific cams now. Who knows, maybe they do have something better but the hotcam will be hard to beat for its designed applaciation.

TM-Z06

I'm running the LPE-219 cam. It's very docile.....meaning there isn't much of the "cam" lope to it..... but you'll feel it. The mid-range and top-end are nice. I went with this cam over the hot-cam, because it has less duration (good for emissions), and more lift (good for LT4 heads), and I know it'll pass Calif smog. I actually like it, because it's a sleeper

My "cam-only" LT4 is making 340rwhp......and I expect 350-360rwhp when I add the EM long tubes and RT cats.....and 380+ when I have the heads/intake ported.

Bruce

Do the hot cam is a better choice. 1) it cheaper 2) it more aggressive than the 219 cam. Yrs a go I used to run the 219 cam on my 93 6 speed vette, it run pretty good. I also have seen a hot cam installed on a 93 vette auto. It idle good and run very strong also. One thing to remember, when install the hot cam you want to bump the idle up to around 900rpm setting. Factory were 650rpm idle.

96BLKTN

Check out the Comp 305/6.

95PoloVert

...or the XE grinds.

d48mclain

People have had problems with the XE grinds. Some don't and some do but they tend to drop power up high very suddenly and that’s not what you want. Peak power means something but average hp within intended rpm range means much more. I was under the impression Comp was even going to drop the line.

Really depends upon what you’re looking for and what your end goal is. By today’s standards both are considered baby cams and you can find much betters cams that make more power and still have very good drivability. If drivability is a prime issue consider having one ground on a 114 lobe separation as it will idle and drive much smoother than one on a 112 and make almost as much power. (very close!!)

As a first cam I owned the LPE 211/219 and loved it. Couldn't tell you even had a cam, but exceptional throttle response and tremendous drivability. Think it made about 360 rwhp with mediocre ported LT1 heads. (Those have gotten a whole lot better..... A WHOLE LOT BETTER!)

If it was me, I'd go for just a tad more cam than either and probably something more in the high 220 to very low 230 range in duration. If that's what you do you'll probably need to raise the rev limit to 6500-6600 rpm to take advantage of the power band. You would have to dyno to know for sure though.

Have fun….. tons of choices.

hippy

If those are your 2 choices go with the cheapest one. You won't notice a difference between the 2.

*89x2*

I had the 219 cam in my LPE 383 - best thing about the cam was, in the summertime I could run the car and mosquito bugs would vanish

hippy

Why's that? I have one right now in a 350 and on the highway the car roundtripped to Chicago with city driving in MKE and CHI 23mpg. That wasn't the BS dash crap either.

*89x2*

w/ the 383, the car had bigger injectors and a more aggressive mem-cal prom.

95PoloVert

Yeah...high lift and 46-50 degrees of hydraulic intensity needs good springs to control it. Given that, these cams make exceptional power throughout their operating range.

hippy

Running off an O2 shouldn't matter on an aggressive program or injectors. It is a total docile cam as far as making 400+chp and having great street manners plus getting damn fair highway mileage.
If you didn't get good part throttle fuel mileage it is either:
A) your tuners fault, or
B) yours.

I had Alvin, and with a little (CORRECT) feedback from me we got it nailed down.

Red Tornado

i concur.

tjwong

It all boils down to what your goals are. Either way if you want to use the 1.6 rocker arms, you will need to upgrade to better springs to handle the additional lift. The stock 1.5 LT4 rockers and the springs are adequate for the hot cam, but if you swap to the 1.6 rocker arms then that mod will get you past the lift limit of the LT4 springs. The LT4 heads offer better breating than the LT1 heads, they can take advantage of a slightly larger cam than the LT4 Hot cam, especially if you have a high flow exhaust system to match, something in the line of long tube headers and a high flow cat back. If not, the there is no sense going to anything larger than the Hot cam or the LPE 219. Both cams will offer similar performance, I doubt there would be much gain over one or the other. Either one would be a good choice, both are proven designs.

*89x2*

Considering the chip came from the tuner LPE told me to go to, I would say the fault is not mine

jimbomill

DId you consider the LPE 211? For my 1992 LT1 rebuild, I put an email out to LPE. They recommended the 211 over the 219. I had 1.5RR onthe exhaust and 1.6 for Intake, if I remember correctly.

hippy

Then I suggest you get a new tuner. It seems the one you have isn't very good.