Nitrous or Cam only?
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 623
Likes: 7
From: Bakersfield CA
Nitrous or Cam only?
I recently got another vehicle and the Vette is now a weekend only driver. I want to do some more modding besides the most basic of boltons. Do you think Nitrous or a big cam is a better option? I was thinking about the Magic Stick from TSP and a 4.10 swap or a NX wet kit? Does this Cam require a spring change? I think the Nitrous will be a better performing set up but there is part of me that wants to keep the car N/A.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,038
Likes: 0
From: Springfield MO
St. Jude Donor '03-'05-'06-'07
If you have a M6, I'd look at 4.10s. You'll reap the rewards of this mod
through the entire rpm/gear range of the vehicle. Then I'd look at LT
headers and air intake (if you haven't already). Then you'll be set'n pretty
for your cam or NX.
through the entire rpm/gear range of the vehicle. Then I'd look at LT
headers and air intake (if you haven't already). Then you'll be set'n pretty
for your cam or NX.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,306
Likes: 5
If you do a cam, it will benefit you most if you add other things as well like gears, full exhaust, ect. Now your looking at several grand in mods. Just throw on a nitrous kit for less than a grand and be done with it. A nitrous car will wax a cam only car. You can always do the cam later on. Nitrous will give you the most bang for you buck by far.
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,459
Likes: 48
From: Schaumburg IL
CI 7-8-9-11 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06-'10, '13
I have never been a big fan of Nitrous, but I am not going to start a Nitrous vs cam war here..so I'll keep it short. Someone on the forum once made a very good analogy for this..
think of your engine as your heart..would you rather up grade the working parts inside your heart to be stonger or more efficient....or inject your heart with a steriod to strain the "stock parts" of your heart? Sure, in the short run it's great and runs like a bat outta hell, but in the long run I would not be comnfortable with the long-term reliability.
JMO
think of your engine as your heart..would you rather up grade the working parts inside your heart to be stonger or more efficient....or inject your heart with a steriod to strain the "stock parts" of your heart? Sure, in the short run it's great and runs like a bat outta hell, but in the long run I would not be comnfortable with the long-term reliability.
JMO
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 623
Likes: 7
From: Bakersfield CA
I already have a blackwing and full kooks exhaust, along with a diablo programmer, Z06 clutch as well as a few other little things, Which of these is a more reliable way? I have had a N2O car before and always wished I had the power all the time. Do you guys respect one car more or less, say at the track? My last N20 car often drew the name "cheater" 
Do you guys feel the same or is the timeslip the only thing that matters? Sounds like the 4.10's are a good idea regardless.
Do you guys feel the same or is the timeslip the only thing that matters? Sounds like the 4.10's are a good idea regardless.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,299
Likes: 0
From: Stanwood Michigan
Originally Posted by FrankTank
I have never been a big fan of Nitrous, but I am not going to start a Nitrous vs cam war here..so I'll keep it short. Someone on the forum once made a very good analogy for this..
think of your engine as your heart..would you rather up grade the working parts inside your heart to be stonger or more efficient....or inject your heart with a steriod to strain the "stock parts" of your heart? Sure, in the short run it's great and runs like a bat outta hell, but in the long run I would not be comnfortable with the long-term reliability.
JMO
think of your engine as your heart..would you rather up grade the working parts inside your heart to be stonger or more efficient....or inject your heart with a steriod to strain the "stock parts" of your heart? Sure, in the short run it's great and runs like a bat outta hell, but in the long run I would not be comnfortable with the long-term reliability.
JMO
NA is the only way to go. If you want more later then give it a shot.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,743
Likes: 3
From: Davie Florida
Originally Posted by FrankTank
I have never been a big fan of Nitrous, but I am not going to start a Nitrous vs cam war here..so I'll keep it short. Someone on the forum once made a very good analogy for this..
think of your engine as your heart..would you rather up grade the working parts inside your heart to be stonger or more efficient....or inject your heart with a steriod to strain the "stock parts" of your heart? Sure, in the short run it's great and runs like a bat outta hell, but in the long run I would not be comnfortable with the long-term reliability.
JMO
think of your engine as your heart..would you rather up grade the working parts inside your heart to be stonger or more efficient....or inject your heart with a steriod to strain the "stock parts" of your heart? Sure, in the short run it's great and runs like a bat outta hell, but in the long run I would not be comnfortable with the long-term reliability.
JMO
The big advantage of a cam or H/C is the extra power is ALWAYS available at any amount of throttle you give your car. NOS is only for WOT.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,306
Likes: 5
It just depends what you want. I started the same way, should I do nitrous? Or should I do cam only? I picked nitrous and owned everyone who stayed N/A. You'll never get anywhere N/A unless you get a bigger motor. Theres a local LS1 F-body around here who spent nearly 8 grand on N/A parts. He is around 450rwhp. A C5 with the same would be at about 470rwhp. But again, it all depends on what matters most to you. There were plenty of people where I live that were against nitrous, and were all about being all motor. Funny thing is, when we line up, its' pretty obvious who did the smarter mods. Forced induction/nitrous owns N/A, end of story.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 10,249
Likes: 96
From: not far enough from Chicago
There is just something about nos that seems phony. I guess the analogy, in my opinion, is that it's like an athlete on steroids. Not for real, just something for a fake short term fix.
Last edited by StevieB; Mar 17, 2005 at 06:44 PM.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 623
Likes: 7
From: Bakersfield CA
The steroid thing is where I am coming from but it seems like nowadays everyone is FI or Nitrous so without the N20 I will get it handed to me? There is something about N/A Cars running 11's and even 10's that just puts a smile on my face? How about durability safe to say that a Cam only car will have more passes in it than a N20 car?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 5,572
Likes: 4
From: Los Angeles Ca
h/c is nice becuase you dont have to refil it, but there isn't anything wrong with smoking a n/a car with a n2o car. I would never consider it cheating.
If you want some serious power all the time, go with a blower.
If you want some serious power all the time, go with a blower.
Last edited by scott_fx; Mar 17, 2005 at 07:14 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 6,772
Likes: 1
From: Tampa FL
power is power.. nitrous is not cheating.
if you're going to do a cam .. go with heads as well.
and strap it up to some juice .. nothing more than a 100 shot though on stock internals .. but since you'd be doing a h/c why not upgrade the internals while you're at it.
if you're going to do a cam .. go with heads as well.
and strap it up to some juice .. nothing more than a 100 shot though on stock internals .. but since you'd be doing a h/c why not upgrade the internals while you're at it.
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,667
Likes: 0
From: TurtleCreek Twp Ohio
Cruise-In III Veteran
Originally Posted by FrankTank
Sure, in the short run it's great and runs like a bat outta hell, but in the long run I would not be comnfortable with the long-term reliability.
JMO
JMO
11.54@128 with the 150 shot on a car with over 90K that has as good as just broken in leak down and compression test results. And I spray on the road course as well though only a 75 shot.
I for one am actually pretty comfortable with the juice. However I am doing a H/C with all the associated goodies for more N/A power but you can be damn sure I'm still gonna spray that bitch
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,306
Likes: 5
Originally Posted by Aquaman
I'm on my 62nd bottle of N20 on a stock motor. Blackwing, Stingers and a Used N20 kit with all the goodies total investment under $1500.
11.54@128 with the 150 shot on a car with over 90K that has as good as just broken in leak down and compression test results. And I spray on the road course as well though only a 75 shot.
I for one am actually pretty comfortable with the juice. However I am doing a H/C with all the associated goodies for more N/A power but you can be damn sure I'm still gonna spray that bitch
11.54@128 with the 150 shot on a car with over 90K that has as good as just broken in leak down and compression test results. And I spray on the road course as well though only a 75 shot.
I for one am actually pretty comfortable with the juice. However I am doing a H/C with all the associated goodies for more N/A power but you can be damn sure I'm still gonna spray that bitch
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 19,459
Likes: 48
From: Schaumburg IL
CI 7-8-9-11 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06-'10, '13
Originally Posted by StevieB
There is just something about nos that seems phony. I guess the analogy, in my opinion, is that it's like an athlete on steroids. Not for real, just something for a fake short term fix.
amen brother. I figured this thread would end up like this anyway 
You can put Nitrous on anything and make it fast..I don't care who is faster, there will always be someone faster I am more concerned about reliability and long term health of the STOCK motor. if you add bigger heads, cam, stronger springs and internals then sure your motor can last longer with NOS. I am not knocking NOS, to each his own. So far only 1 person has posted up using NOS for long term and looks like he is upgrading his stock motor anyway to handle more.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,239
Likes: 4
From: Shelby Township Michigan
Originally Posted by FrankTank
amen brother. I figured this thread would end up like this anyway You can put Nitrous on anything and make it fast..I don't care who is faster, there will always be someone faster I am more concerned about reliability and long term health of the STOCK motor. if you add bigger heads, cam, stronger springs and internals then sure your motor can last longer with NOS. I am not knocking NOS, to each his own. So far only 1 person has posted up using NOS for long term and looks like he is upgrading his stock motor anyway to handle more.
This car was my daily driver for about 10 of the 15 years I owned it so it saw quite a few miles.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,306
Likes: 5
Originally Posted by FrankTank
amen brother. I figured this thread would end up like this anyway You can put Nitrous on anything and make it fast..I don't care who is faster, there will always be someone faster I am more concerned about reliability and long term health of the STOCK motor. if you add bigger heads, cam, stronger springs and internals then sure your motor can last longer with NOS. I am not knocking NOS, to each his own. So far only 1 person has posted up using NOS for long term and looks like he is upgrading his stock motor anyway to handle more.