BTR stage 2 V2 cam
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 123
Likes: 11
From: North of Boston
Bump for others with the BTR 2 v2 or Red Hot, results.
Looking into downsizing my larger cam with added compression and better heads.
Have seen people really liking the results, but they have been various numbers. Not really consistent.
Looking into downsizing my larger cam with added compression and better heads.
Have seen people really liking the results, but they have been various numbers. Not really consistent.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,999
Likes: 1,685
From: Southeast TX
If you're considering either one of those two cams for an LS7, you need to rethink things.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,187
Likes: 265
From: Virginia
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 140
Likes: 11
From: Chicago
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,187
Likes: 265
From: Virginia
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,999
Likes: 1,685
From: Southeast TX
Comp has some really aggressive lobe styles (LSK and LSL) with high lift and aggressive ramp rates and some really mild (LXL) with milder ramp rates. I think some of their newer lobe styles are on the milder side.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 140
Likes: 11
From: Chicago
Probably right. I think cam motion has the smoothest lobes. Texas speed is pretty aggressive and eating up lifters from what I’ve seen.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,187
Likes: 265
From: Virginia
Somewhere down the road I’m going to swap mine out for a Cam Motion cam and possibly go a little bigger. I’ll probably wait until it’s time to freshen up the valve springs.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,999
Likes: 1,685
From: Southeast TX
The cam has 0 (zero) overlap. No huge split with huge exhaust duration that does little more than increase overlap and add to drivability issues. You can set the cruise control at any rpm from idle on up in 6th gear and it will run smoothly with no buck, surge, or shake. It will even smoothly idle up a mild grade in 6th gear.
With CNC ported and mildly milled heads, thinner head gaskets, ported and rod modded intake manifold, plus all of the bolt ons, it showed 500/454 at the wheels. It's been running strong for 5+ years now. If it disappeared tomorrow, I'd build another one just like it. Wouldn't change a thing.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2021
Posts: 140
Likes: 11
From: Chicago
5 degrees of overlap is livable for a street car. You can have a negative overlap car buck and shake if your tuner sucks.
Personally, I don’t see the point of big cams for 90% street driving. The more duration you add on the intake the more compression it bleeds off thus making the low end feel like a turd. The only way to combat that is a tighter LSA… which adds overlap. 10-12 degree splits have their place.
I’d say the stock ls3 heads are too big for a stock cubed ls3. Something like a 240cc would have been ideal. More velocity. More low end torque and sharper throttle. The valves are also kinda big for the stock bore which hurts airflow. Ideally all cammed cars would benefit from a 11.5-11.7 compression ratio. Lose no low end torque and have the top end screaming.
Personally, I don’t see the point of big cams for 90% street driving. The more duration you add on the intake the more compression it bleeds off thus making the low end feel like a turd. The only way to combat that is a tighter LSA… which adds overlap. 10-12 degree splits have their place.
I’d say the stock ls3 heads are too big for a stock cubed ls3. Something like a 240cc would have been ideal. More velocity. More low end torque and sharper throttle. The valves are also kinda big for the stock bore which hurts airflow. Ideally all cammed cars would benefit from a 11.5-11.7 compression ratio. Lose no low end torque and have the top end screaming.
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 123
Likes: 11
From: North of Boston
They grind GPI's, Tick Performance, among others.
I wouldn't go near a newer tsp or comp grind. No thanks. Just seen horror stories.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,999
Likes: 1,685
From: Southeast TX
5 degrees of overlap is livable for a street car. You can have a negative overlap car buck and shake if your tuner sucks.
Personally, I don’t see the point of big cams for 90% street driving. The more duration you add on the intake the more compression it bleeds off thus making the low end feel like a turd. The only way to combat that is a tighter LSA… which adds overlap. 10-12 degree splits have their place.
I’d say the stock ls3 heads are too big for a stock cubed ls3. Something like a 240cc would have been ideal. More velocity. More low end torque and sharper throttle. The valves are also kinda big for the stock bore which hurts airflow. Ideally all cammed cars would benefit from a 11.5-11.7 compression ratio. Lose no low end torque and have the top end screaming.
Personally, I don’t see the point of big cams for 90% street driving. The more duration you add on the intake the more compression it bleeds off thus making the low end feel like a turd. The only way to combat that is a tighter LSA… which adds overlap. 10-12 degree splits have their place.
I’d say the stock ls3 heads are too big for a stock cubed ls3. Something like a 240cc would have been ideal. More velocity. More low end torque and sharper throttle. The valves are also kinda big for the stock bore which hurts airflow. Ideally all cammed cars would benefit from a 11.5-11.7 compression ratio. Lose no low end torque and have the top end screaming.
GM uses the same square port heads on trucks that are used on the LS3. If the square port heads were an inherent torque killer by themselves, I don't think they'd be a good choice for trucks. I think the camshaft you choose has more to do with where power is made than your head choice. I do agree that with bigger camshafts, the square port heads aren't going to be low end friendly. Just need to steer clear of the bigger camshafts with lots of overlap for a street Vette.
My LS3 heads are CNC ported which, by conventional wisdom, should kill low end power even more. I did bump up the static CR to 11.4 ish which helps some I'm sure. With Michelin PS4's, it gets no traction anywhere past idle in first gear and gets loose at the top of 2nd. With drag radials, it gets loose sometimes at the top of first depending on pavement type. Here's the dyno. I don't think it's missing anything down low.
2021_01_30_055637_96c3beba91524c0757d9b2 ab66f45e60e704ad77.jpg (1259×973) (ibsrv.net)
Tech Contributor
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 12,094
Likes: 197
From: Colorado Springs, CO
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11
5 degrees of overlap is livable for a street car. You can have a negative overlap car buck and shake if your tuner sucks.
Personally, I don’t see the point of big cams for 90% street driving. The more duration you add on the intake the more compression it bleeds off thus making the low end feel like a turd. The only way to combat that is a tighter LSA… which adds overlap. 10-12 degree splits have their place.
I’d say the stock ls3 heads are too big for a stock cubed ls3. Something like a 240cc would have been ideal. More velocity. More low end torque and sharper throttle. The valves are also kinda big for the stock bore which hurts airflow. Ideally all cammed cars would benefit from a 11.5-11.7 compression ratio. Lose no low end torque and have the top end screaming.
Personally, I don’t see the point of big cams for 90% street driving. The more duration you add on the intake the more compression it bleeds off thus making the low end feel like a turd. The only way to combat that is a tighter LSA… which adds overlap. 10-12 degree splits have their place.
I’d say the stock ls3 heads are too big for a stock cubed ls3. Something like a 240cc would have been ideal. More velocity. More low end torque and sharper throttle. The valves are also kinda big for the stock bore which hurts airflow. Ideally all cammed cars would benefit from a 11.5-11.7 compression ratio. Lose no low end torque and have the top end screaming.
To date the highest results for power on a dyno were all made using cams with a 227 to 230 intake duration. None of the huge split cams make more power so if the power is the same, why bother with more overlap other than tuner ego? My cam, a 4 degree split and a 227/235 made 520rwhp on a trick flow head combo. Id say the split theory falls on its face right there. Extended exhaust duration hurts low end Tq.
Smaller intake runners have better throttle response so porting a 260cc runner isn't helping there.
Adding to compression for any cam improves volumetric efficiency so if the heads are coming off, use thinner gaskets first, then mill. 11.7 works great with my cam. The reason cams lose low end Tq are because of the later intake valve close which lessens the compression because the piston is already heading up before the valve closes so it isn't compressing anything until it closes. When you mess with advance, it does close the intake valve sooner but it also narrows the power band and messes up exhaust valve events.
A full point in compression is 14rwhp and 20rwtq on an LS3
