Hello everyone... I'm looking at getting a cam for my A4 LS1 and need some advice. I am looking for a good performing and sounding cam that I can swap out easily with the one I already have. I dont have access to programming so I would prefer a cam that didnt require it. I have seen that people have swapped out for a newer LS6 cam, but others tell them they can do better. Like what? Bottom line, I am looking for a good performing cam that wont require a million other upgrades as I'm on a pretty tight budget. Any help and advice is greaaaatly appreciated. What sort of power increase can I expect? Thanks all...

 

If you aren't going to program, I would hold off till you have a little more cash. There are several people on the forum that have gone w/ the cam swap and reaped great benefits. I am sure that REDGAR will chime in.

However, it appears that most cams that yield good results will require reprogramming to raise the idle slightly. Otherwise, the car will not idle correctly.

Now, I am no expert. So I am sure others will join in the fun soon.

By the way do a search on CAM. . .this has been a hot topic lately. :cheers:

 

I am sure others will chime in also.I am with Hogurt save up your $$$ and go with a bigger cam.With a few exceptions you will need to do the reprogramming of your PCM to get your $$$ worth.If you save your $$$ you will not regret it,you will have a whole lot fun after it's done.Because the wait will make it that much better.You might want to save a little extra $$$ for some other mods and do it all at once to save on the labor costs(i.e. heads,etc.)Just my .02!!
Thanks,Jerry :cheers: :cool: :cheers:


[Modified by XKR100, 11:39 PM 1/14/2003]

 

My cam (218 duration, .561 lift, 114 LSA) ran fine with stock programming, just needed a small (3/16", I think) hole drilled in the throttle blade for idle stability. Most here say this cam is too small, but with good heads it makes great power. I bet it would do better than the LS6 cam with stock heads, but have no data to support that. Call Al or Mike at MMS, a forum supporter, for their advice. :steering:

 

I cannot really offer advice on what to get but from what I understand if you want a go bigger cam you will also want to upgrade the valvetrain components and tune.

I had a cam swapped by the Vette Doctors which is a custom cam and I had the all the updates and the tuning. I did get very good gains from the cam swap is it really woke the car up with 385 rwhp.

 

Hi,
I installed a '02 LS6 cam in my '99 and it didn't require tuning as tested with Auto Tap (the long term trims did not go positive). This cam will give an increase in torque above 3000 rpm and idle at 750. It doesn't require long tube headers to increase power and the fuel mileage is unchanged as far as I can tell. It sounds stock at idle to most people. I don’t have a dyno run as of yet but it passes the Butt-O-Meter test with ease.

I used Manley springs & retainers from SDPC, 7.400" (stock) length pushrods from Katech and a 6600 (Z06) rev limit. The valve train is a little noisier than stock. The intake is stock except for a ’02 lid. Milling the heads to increase the compression is always a good thing to do when you put in a bigger cam. This helps to regain the bottom end you lose with the cam change. I cut my stock ’99 heads 0.020” when I installed the cam and used stock head gaskets.

Many of the aftermarket cams increase the valve overlap a bunch which requires LT headers to make power. I tried a 218/224 114 on my 2002 with shorties and it was a dog on the bottom end. It now dynos @ 365 RWHP with a ’02 cam & heads and the torque below 3000 is exactly the same as a stock LS1. This car required tuning the fuel curves for the T1C intake.
Good luck,
Steve
:seeya

 

Ck with Chris Padgent at comp they have PCM freindly cams. Also ck LPE most are PCM freindly lots of lift small duration.