What is the best cam only to install that will get good HP/TQ value, good idle but you know a cam is in there and good throughout the RPM range, meaning not loosing that low RPM feel. Not only the cam but the specs on the cam would help. Thanks in advance.

 

Great question......

 

The reality is you need to decide what type of driving you're going to do the majority of the time. Street dirving, drag racing, road racing, what? Once you've decided then you make a choice. Oh! did mention what type of hardware is going to acompany this cam. Headers, Yes/no header size, exhaust size, air intake, manifold, stock of aftermarket, heads yes/no and if yes what type. Intake CC size etc. Also is the car an auto or manual. Once all of this is done, then you've got about 10 cams that will work. It's not an easy choice, I know I've been there. If you still can't make a choice, then you must rely on your installer/tunner to recomend one, hoping he understands your needs and not he desire to make a bunch of HP on his dyno to publish it on this forum, and you're left with a car that has poor drivability, but lots of power. You'll get all kinds of recomendations on this forum. Keep in mind what your definition of drivability is and there's. My history is I've got a 2005 Z51 C6 6sp. Did everything possible to a stock block, ended up with a motor making461rwhp/435rwtq. N/A.It's a daily driver. great idle quality, and gas milage. That motor now lives in my son's 2002 C5. I now have a stroked
L92 427, With CNC'ed L92 heads. making 525rwhp/500rwtq. Still a daily driver. It's a street car will never see a track. don't care so that's how I set it up. No regrets. Do some real research, then make a choice you'll be better off in the long run.

 

no need to go into most of that. he has already specified his requirements.

the following 3 cams are from the very mild to the somewhat medium:

the last one would be your best bet

216 220, .56x .57x 114-117 lsa

220 224, .56x -.58x/ .57x-.59x 115-117 lsa

224-228, .56x .57x 115-117 lsa

stay away from 12 or lower lsa and anything over 600 lift

 

im going with a 224/230, 114+2 grind so that if i ever decide to add FI, this cam will complement it nicely.

 

Here are a few other reliable offerings, and a few tips on specs.

One of the most popular cams around is the old standby, 224/224. Let's use that as a baseline. If you have an automatic tranny and no aftermarket high-stall torque converter, you might wish to go a little smaller on the duration, say to 220 or even 216. If you have an M6, like to race regularly, and want to maximize your power, you can go a little higher on the duration.

For a mild-mannered daily driver type street warrior, the 224/224 cam is a very good choice. It will pass emissions, work OK with stock heads, offer good driveability (with a tune), and does not require headers or gears to perform well. You might have to raise the idle RPMs slightly to retain a stock-like idle. A slightly milder choice would be the old MTI "B1" grind, at 220/220.

Now let's start tweaking some of the specs.

Duration: the 224/224 is a "straight pattern" grind, where the intake and exhaust duration are the same. If you increase the exhaust duration, say to a 224/228 or 224/230, this is a "split pattern" grind. This cam will work better with stock exhaust and heads, as the extra exhaust duration will help scavenge the cylinders. However, you will also have a bit more valve overlap (both valves open at the same time), so your idle quality will not be quite as good, you will lose a little power on the bottom end, pick up some power on the top end. If you increase the intake duration, say to a 228/224, or if you decrease the exhaust duration, say to a 224/220, this is called a "reverse split" grind. This type of grind works best with headers. It builds combustion pressure, almost like increasing the compression ratio. These types of cams offer great driveability and mid-range power, at the expense of top-end power.

LSA: if you want a choppier "lopey" idle, and a bit more mid-range power, get a 112 LSA (very popular choice). This also increases overlap a tad. If you want a stock-like "stealthy" idle, go with a 114 LSA (this is also a very popular choice). The 112 LSA will not have quite as good off-idle throttle response. The 114 LSA will have a slightly better top end.

Lift: most aftermarket cams use Comp Cams lobes. Their XE lobe will offer lift in the .56x range. Their XE-R lobe will raise the lift up to .58x range. The LSK lobe can raise the lift up to .600" or higher. The extra lift is a result of faster ramp rates (how quickly the valve opens). Faster ramp rates and higher lifts are good for increasing power while still retaining good idle quality, driveability, and emissions. The drawback to the higher lift and ramp rate is decreased valvespring life, and possible increased valvetrain noise.

Advance: almost all aftermarket cams are ground with 2 degrees of advance built in. So, you might see the specs as follows: 224/224 .580"/.580" 114 LSA +2. If you advance the cam even more, the cam will open and close the valves earlier, and thus benefit low-end power. Retarding the cam will cause the valves to open and close later, which will benefit high-RPM power. You can also control the advance by installing an adjustable timing chain.

Hope this helps.

 

good write up hitman, i my self am going with the LPE GT-11 cam 215/231 631''- 644''@118(cai,headers,ported intake, stg2 heads)

hopefully i get good gains with this cam as a couple other people have.
i currently make 360/360 hoping for 420/400.

mods will include:
vararam
ported ls2 intake
LG headers
no cats
bullets
160
lpe cam
tsp stg 2 heads
pulley
tune

i currently run an avg of 12.50's @113, and would like to see a min trap of 118. i will keep you all posted on how this pkg turns out-this will be mainly for street use.

 

I have been interested in this cam because of its unusual specs --- very much outside the profile that I described previously. Small intake duration, very large split pattern, very wide LSA --- combined with a very high lift for the duration. Getting .631" lift on a lobe with only 215 degrees of duration means it has an outrageously fast ramp rate --- much faster than was available a few years ago. IMHO, it may also mean that the valvetrain noise will be considerable, and valvespring life rather short. I also question whether this grind will work well with stock heads, which don't show much flow increase at all over .600". The extremely fast ramp rate may make up for this though. The other concernI would have with this cam combined with stock heads would be turbulence at lower RPMs.

Please post your results for all to see.

 

I'm betting you are closer to 440 rwhp and 120 trap speed! Keep us posted.