I had a cammed Z28 for a long time a while ago. I love the sound of a cammed car and would love for my car to be cammed but part of me just wants to be happy with the way it is and enjoy it. I have had several modded cars through the years and I have liked the mods but then hate all the up keep or repairs. I want to be able to drive the car and not worry about problems or drivability. I know I will get crap for this but I do like the fuel mileage I am getting. I am not sure how much a cam will affect my gas mileage. I like taking the car on trips and it is really nice not having to always know where the next gas station is.
Anyone have any regrets putting a nice sounding cam in their car?

 

I should also add that my trips are sometimes 100-300+ mile trips one way. One thing i love about the car is the comfort on the longer drives and i don't want it too loud and that is why i did ZR1 manifolds and a Z06 H pipe instead of headers in anticipation of a cam. I don't race the car. Just drive around and get on it sometimes. I love the cam sound but will it take away the pleasure of a somewhat relaxing long distance cruise?
Thanks

 

I just did a small stock converter cam on my full bolt on Ls2 A4. My guy tuned in a nice lope at idle while sitting at 675 rpm. Gave great torque under the curve for the street. Havnt noticed a change in mpg but also have not been on a long trip yet either. Specs are 224r, 600 lift with a 113 lsa. I am extremely pleased.

 

If you want a long distance cruise kinda car then a cam probably isnt for you. Just throw an exhaust on it to liven up the sound and enjoy the car. I have a BTR stage 3 cammed Z06 and my fuel mileage did go down, but nothing crazy. She still drives great and has more power which was my goal.

 

There are plenty of small cams out there that will still drive like stock and give you a power boost. I know you're not doing headers, but a small cam on that LS3 with a good tune can probably get you 430-440 RWHP.

 

I got the CAI and full exhaust and it sounds good it just could use the lumpy idle of the cam to finish it off but i don't want to lose the driveability (which i hear is pretty good now) and i don't want too much cabin noise. After a couple hours of it gets old. After upgrading from just the axle back it got louder and is almost too loud for the wife. Will the cam make it louder inside? I can't remember if it was louder when i put one in the Z28 i had. The Z was built and fun for messing around and the C5 i had before was a nice cruiser. I can't add another car to my list. Out of room.

 

I was thinking the BTR stage 3.
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With just a CAI and axle back on a Mustang dyno a few years ago i put down 397hp to the wheels. No tune and had just put on the CAI. Since then i put on the ZR1 manifolds Z06 H pipe and upgraded my B&B PRT from the 2.5" to the 3" for the ZR1 Z06 to smooth it out and not reduce to 2.5".

 

Inside didnt get louder, exhaust got louder with the cam, but I also added 2" LGs and offroad X-pipe. I like loud cars so I cant really say much, but as far as drivability just takes a little more off the start to get her going. I do know that I need tires that will hook because she breaks loose pretty easily. My car is a fun/go cruise and race setup, so gas mileage to me went out the door.

 

I have a BTR stage 2 on my daily driver. We take regular long trips, just drove 8 hours on Saturday to pick up a part from a fellow member.. No problems at all. It did hurt my gas mileage though.
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I sit in daily rush hour and it doesn't bother me, though I do have to clutch more than a stock cam.

The cam made the car considerably louder at high RPM in my case.

 

I live close by. I have a small to medium cam in mine. The lobe profile is not aggressive...which the valve train likes I do have ARH with cats, NPP and a 3200 stall. If you want to take it for spin you are welcome to it.

 

Specs on your cam? I'll probably do a mild cam and long tubes on my 2013 coupe. Kinda know what I want spec wise. Doesn't hurt to hear others opinions, likes, and dislikes in relation to cam specs.

 

230/246 621/603 116+4. It's a 6 overlap. It has a slight surge around 50-58 when the ss3200 converter locks out in 6th. Ill just use paddles if im hanging around that speed. Around town it is super smooth.
I went with this in case I decided to add a maggie.

 

What specs or kind of cam were you looking at?



From what it sounds like your wanting to me is either a Texas Speed stage 1 on a 114 (2.5 degrees of overlap), Brain Tooley Stage 2 (5.5 degrees overlap), Spinmonster cam (4 degrees overlap) or 21st century muscle cars CMC-30 (5.5 degrees overlap) and change your axle back to a NPP style axle back and get a mild to wild kit and that way you can have everything you want. Those are not max effort cam just to let you know. That BTR stage 3 is a bigger size cam but has 10.5 degrees of overlap. The lower the overlap typically with give the car more stockish driveability. I know people will say it's all in the tune which to me is part correct but the higher the overlap the more your prone to surging or possibly bucking with a good or spot on tune still. I have a 4 degree overlap cam close to the spinmonster specs with 4 degrees of overlap and it drives as it did stock, just a little more clutch action. Tuner had it idling at 675 and it sounds very good. I'm no expert or pro by any means but looking and researching cams can make you have headaches for days. Just trying to help out. I can't remember if you said your an auto or 6-speed manual tranny.

 

Since I've already had my last cam that's caused behavioral issues, I'm going very low overlap. Either a 226/234 114+3 or a 226/232 115+4. Leaning towards the latter. Custom Cam Motion grind with about .615 lift on each side. Either will work fine if I lose my mind (again) and add a blower.

 

With a small cam like previous post along with long tubes, you're looking at about 50-60 more rwhp. Still mild manered. A Yank 3200 or 3600 converter for an A6 car and you will have a friendly, fun and very fast ride.

 

If you have an auto trans. most aftermarket cams are going to make the car kinda jerky when coming to a stop. If it's a manual trans car this can be overcome by just pushing the clutch in. Mine is a manual trans car. I had a BTR Stage 2 cam installed along with the recommended valvetrain upgrades, and a harmonic balancer replacement at the same time since it cost no more in labor. Idles at 750rpm, has a good lope, and gained about 12-15% in HP. I recently took it on a 525 mile round trip and while I didn't actually do a check for fuel mileage I can say that it was unnoticeable. So, I'd say a 1-3 mpg difference, if I had to guess. I can direct you to a video on the installer's website of it on the dyno that shows the idle lope as well as the pull.

 

Unless you add a converter with a higher stall. You forgot to add this

 

no regrets with a cam at all. depending on the cam you might of a lopey idle which is sometimes fun ( i enjoy it) but once you are moving it goes away. the ls3 responds amazingly to a good cam.