cammed gas mileage?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,231
Likes: 0
From: Brownsville Tx
cammed gas mileage?
Thinkin about puttin a cam in my car and just wonderin how that mod affects the gas mileage. Also, if something goes wrong down the line, would I be able to remove it and install the stock cam for warranty, or is there some way the dealer can tell? Also, more or less what does a cam and parts cost, without labor. Nothing wild, just lookin for a mild cam for a lil extra kick in the ****. I know thats alot of questions but thanks guys for any info.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 14,553
Likes: 1,548
From: Supporting the Corvette Community at Abel Chevrolet in Rio Vista, CA 707-374-6317 Ext.123
St. Jude Donor '08
The mileage decrease will depend on the size of the cam. The bigger the cam the worse the mileage. I did cam, heads, LT's, injectors, intake and no cats and my mileage dropped about 20% from stock. On the warranty issue: I would not recommend to be changing back and forth because of the amount of work it takes to swap a cam. You just need to find a cool dealer (like me) that will warranty modded cars. You will be looking about $800-$1k for a cam swap at a shop and way less if you do it yourself. Good luck!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,115
Likes: 0
From: Dallas TX
I put a 224/228 .580 which picked up 35rwhp (with Kooks headers), and the gas mileage did not change at all. 19.5 city, 28 hwy.
Cam is about $300-350 depending on where and $200 for springs (Comp 918 as long as you do a mild cam under .600 lift). You will need a tune, so plan on that too...$400. 3-5 hours labor @ $80 or so, and you're at $1500 or so for the swap. The post above mentioned an injector change, which probably accounts for the 20% drop, but I have a friend with the LPE 402 with a fairly wild cam, and he gets 18/27.
But as the post above shows, people may have varying experiences. On the warranty, definitely not something you can swap all the time, but there are some dealers that are good about it. You will be able to tell immediately from the idle, so not much hiding it.
Cam is about $300-350 depending on where and $200 for springs (Comp 918 as long as you do a mild cam under .600 lift). You will need a tune, so plan on that too...$400. 3-5 hours labor @ $80 or so, and you're at $1500 or so for the swap. The post above mentioned an injector change, which probably accounts for the 20% drop, but I have a friend with the LPE 402 with a fairly wild cam, and he gets 18/27.
But as the post above shows, people may have varying experiences. On the warranty, definitely not something you can swap all the time, but there are some dealers that are good about it. You will be able to tell immediately from the idle, so not much hiding it.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 14,553
Likes: 1,548
From: Supporting the Corvette Community at Abel Chevrolet in Rio Vista, CA 707-374-6317 Ext.123
St. Jude Donor '08
Originally Posted by Big Ron 77
I put a 224/228 .580 which picked up 35rwhp (with Kooks headers), and the gas mileage did not change at all. 19.5 city, 28 hwy.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,115
Likes: 0
From: Dallas TX
Originally Posted by RichieRichZ06
Is that according to the DIC or actually measuring it yourself? My DIC still says that I average 20-25, but if you do the miles driven divided by the amount of fuel it is WAY OFF. The only way to tell is to do the math yourself.
However, people that want more hp may also change driving habits when they bump up, so in a case like this...YMMV for sure.
I average b/w 17 and 19.5 city (again depending on the weeks when I'm testing traction), and 27 and change on the hwy on a 250 mile interstate cruise at 80ish. I was moderately abusive this week, and got 17.6 when I filled up today, although DIC said 19.2.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,935
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From: Anderson, SC
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08
I average between 20 and 21 mpg for a combination of city and highway driving. DIC says 26mpg when running at 80 mph (2000 rpm) in 6th gear. This is till way better then my Pickup
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,651
Likes: 125
From: laguna niguel ca
224/228/581/588/114 28mpg highway. addition of 215 ETP heads, increased to 29.5 mpg highway. Never noticed a decrease in milage.
This car is a Z51 6 speed, making 461 rwhp/435rwtq. It's like having it both ways, good milage and performance. I think if you engineer your parts to work together, you come out OK.
This car is a Z51 6 speed, making 461 rwhp/435rwtq. It's like having it both ways, good milage and performance. I think if you engineer your parts to work together, you come out OK.
