I have found a set of specs that I am interested in, but have some questions for the experienced members here.

The specs are 231/237 .591/.601 112LSA
Question 1, how far are these deviations from stock specs?
Question 2, will this cam work with stock internals. I would like to be able to just do a cam swap and not have to change springs, pushrods, retainers, etc.

Thanks for any help!

 

With that lift you are going to have to change the springs. That is a pretty good sized cam for a stock motor.

 

Ditto that. This is a pretty aggressive grind, better suited for use with aftermarket heads. The stock heads flow pretty well, but .600" lift probably exceeds their flow limits. Also, with that much lift you will definitely need stronger springs and hardened pushrods. IMHO the titanium retainers are overkill unless you plan to race the car a lot, and will be spinning past the stock redline on a regular basis.

 

Pretty good sized cam for the stock motor, but it will fit with no problem. It has a nice split in it, so I think it'll have some good driveability, though the 112 will definitely give it a little grunt down low.

Stock cam specs are in the low 200's... You'd pick up probably 50-75 rwhp with this cam.

Chuck @ HPE
281-448-1300

 

Very far, this cam is too large for what you want, you will not like the driveability. (I am gauging this by the 2 questions asked)
Not even close, you will need springs, retainers, push rods. To be honest, even the smallest of aftermarket cams will require springs. Also, swapping the springs is such a small part of the cam swap itself, so it really makes no sense not to change them.

Picking a cam is a pain in the butt, good luck. The cam you are looking at looks good but I'm not sure you will want to deal with its driveability. If you can, then get it. I suggest you try to find a car with a similiar cam and test drive it.

 

Unless you're planning on heads in the near future this cam is probably overkill.

Several tests on the LS1 and LS2 show that fairly mild cams (like the Livernois Stage I at 218/220 .570 lift 114 LSA or the Comp Cams XR265HR at 212/218 .560 lift 115 LSA) will make almost as much power as a much bigger cam with the stock heads and be a lot easier to live with.

Without other flow increases (heads and perhaps intake) its hard to use that much cam.

BTW, the stock cam is 204/211 or 207/217 with .525 lift and a 116 LSA depending on who you listen to. Supposedly the stock heads are good to .570 lift, but I would be reluctant to go over .550 without at least springs. And going to .600 or more you probably want a whole valve train.

If you want a lot of duration (and lope) but don't want to get into the valve train too much there's the GMPP "hot cam", 219/228 .525 lift 112 LSA or similar models.

 

thanks for all the info. I'm really just getting into the learning stage on this subject. I was pretty sure that those specs would yield a fairly large jump from stock. I wasn't sure what stock would handle. That GMPP 'hot cam' sounds pretty nice. does anyone know what it's making power wise?

 

i advice you to change springs, pushrods, retainers, etc.

 

While the Hot Cam may not be a bad choice for you, before you decide on a cam, or even the broad parameters of a suitable cam for yourself, you need to consider your goals, your budget, and your driving preferences. Following are some questions that might help narrow down your alternatives:

1. Is your car an M6, A4, or A6?
2. What are your current/planned other mods --- headers, gears, torque converter, aftermarket heads?
3. Do you need to be able to pass an emissions test with a tailpipe sniffer?
4. How often do you plan to race the car (or AutoX)?
5. How important is gas mileage to you?
6. How important is driveability to you (rough idle, surging, poor throttle response, etc)?
7. Do you like stealth (smooth idle, hard for others to guess your mods) or do you like the "racer" image (nasty sounding idle, noisy valvetrain, loud exhaust)?
8. What is your total budget for mods?

 

I haven't seen any tests on it, but at a guess, the "hot cam" might be worth 40 - 50 HP. It seems that a little increase in cam can make quite a bit of power in these engines. But as HITMAN99 said, look at what you want from it and think about the total package. Comp Cams makes lots of cams, and have some helpful information on their web site showing the power range for a particular cam and if it needs computer mods. They have some sound clips too that might help.

If you're talking about just swapping the cam and maybe springs, without doing heads, intake, headers etc. you probably won't see a big difference in power between a fairly mild, easy to live with cam and a really aggressive grind. But the longer duration lower separation angle cam will sound a lot meaner!

Oh, and keep in mind that if you have an automatic transmission you'll need a torque converter with a higher stall RPM to work with much of a cam, as you'll need to increase the idle speed and will need more RPM to get into the torque.

 

Way too much cam for a stock LS2. The 112 LSA puts you into lump land at idle alone. Add the duration and you've got yourself a real paint shaker at idle. You would need all and I mean all the goodies to make it work. Headers, FAST 90 intake, heads, etc, and now you've got something. Still with everthing; with that LSA and duration is going to
shake rattle and roll. If that's not an issue, go for it!! If it's a daily driver, idle in traffic A/C on etc, etc, you might want to rethink your cam selection. My .02 cents

andreas g.

 

I am not bashing but there is some innaccurate info here.

Drivability doesnt come from the size split. In fact the bigger the split by increasing the exhaust duration the more overlap you will have making the cam worse down low;this is the reason reverse splits work well is that they reduce overlap making a nicer idle.

The lobe separation doesnt give it low end torque. Tightening the lobe separation does make the intake valve close sooner but not enough to make up for the 23 extra degrees of duration on the intake side or the overlap caused by the additional exhaust duration.

The cam doesnt fit if you run the proper dynamic compression of 8.7. If you put it in without milling or changine gaskets it will have a poor low throttle response compared to a smaller cam with a good DCR.

I'm surprised this came from a tuner. If I had a cam that was 238/248 on a 110, it would not have any low end and drivability would be horrendous. Overlap is what destroys the low end as does the lowered dynamic compression from the delayed intake valve closing. This cam would actually have less low end (off Idle) TQ than the stock cam. Dynamic compression with the existing static compression is around 8.15. If you bump the static compression to get to 8.7 dcr then the heads would be milled too much and/or would have too thin a gasket.

Springs would have to be changed to a dual that can do better than .600 lift leaving you with a few choices. You can run any pushrod but it would be best to run a hardened one.

If you dont care about low end then run the cam. I have a 228/232 XER 114+2 which if you run 8.7 dcr requires .040 gaskets and 64cc heads. This cam is as tight as you can go maintaining a piston valve clearance of .100 unless you notch the piston. Guys running 232 cams cant run the proper compression for the low end and calling even my cams idle near stock is dead wrong. Driveability can be made tame with a speed density tune which I have but I still dont like the below 1400 rpm characteristics.

 

The 112lsa doesnt make it shake, overlap does. If you have a 224/228 on a 110 then you still have less overlap than a 242/250 114. Duration contributes to the shake. Too many guys see the 112 or 110 lsa and say too fast that it will lope and will be too hard to tune.

If you arent getting a set of heads then I recommend a 224/228 112+2 XER cam. It will have a slight lope at idle and you can reduce it by raising the idle to 900 where it will be barely noticable. I ran a 224 on a 112 before and did just that.

 

I am not sure I understand everything every one is saying but I am getting ready to put a cam in my 06 m6 with headers, CAI, and custom tune, I am looking at almost the same cam 232/240-.598/.608 @114, I know I will have to add springs. And I will be changing gears to 3.90s, I would like your thoughts on this. The car is a weekend driver and I like the sound of a good cam, but I don't want to loose a lot of low end performance.
Thanks

 

I've seen piston to valve issues on the LS2, at around .600" and above.

Here is what I would recommend, as a maximum size, and it still would not be my choice for overall drivability and power: Comp 54-444-11 224/230, .581/.588, 114LS

The XR 265 cam someone else recommended is a better overall choice for a daily driver. 212/218, .558/.563, 115LS

I would recommend installing the appropriate pushrods and springs, either way, and if you stay with one of the smaller choices, you'll be much happier. The money and real power is in better flowing heads, and I always lean towards smaller (shorter duration) cams and better heads.

With stick, you can get away with a little more, but an auto is not served best with a big stick, even with a loose converter.

 

Pretty sure that cam is smaller than the G5x3 that people seem to love....why the hate??

Here's a video of a C6 with that cam. http://videos.camaroz28.com/video/EE...D6F8AD4061.htm The link was originally posted by bojan in the "post your videos here" thread on the first page of the tech section.

 

Thanks for all the informative posts. and HITMAN, to answer your ?'s.
1. MN6
2. I already have Halltech, LT's w/X (no cats), and Bullet's. No desire for new heads.
3. NO testing in Alabama.
4. It's not a race car, just a casual driver. mostly weekends and cruise-ins/shows. of course, your occasional run-in with a viper/supra/cobra.
5. I'd prefer to stay above 20.
6&7. I want it to be noticeable, but driveablilty should not suffer.
8. I'll probably have $1500 to play with.

 

that's precisely the video where the cam specs were taken from. I found another link --->here

 

Yep, the comp 212/218 is the one for you.

 

I'd go more with SpinMonster's recommendation. It's a very popular grind, and should work well with stock heads and your other mods. My personal preference would be the trusty 224/224 on a 114, but I really like a stealthy, stock-like idle and razor-sharp throttle response.

The 212/218 grind is VERY conservative, IMHO --- better suited for an LS1 than an LS2. I had a larger cam than that (218/224) in an LS1, and it idled great, gave me very good power.