I was on the SLR website and saw performance cams for the VG33 engine. Anybody have any experience with these or the ones offered on 4x4parts.com? positives? negatives? Worth the money/effort?


Thanks

I don't know of anyone that has installed them, but I'll have a set of re-grind cams in my X (along with head/intake work and an exhaust) in a month or so. No direct comparison though since there will be improvements beyond the cams alone involved.
I don't really advise cams alone without other improvements to give them the most opportunity to make power.

OFFROADX, I really appreciate your replies as it seems that you and SCHLUD are the only ones that really take the time to respond on this forum, as of late. Anyway, I agree with what you said regarding "other improvements. I just purchased a Volant intake system and Gibson exhaust, but waiting for them to ship. From my research, it seems that these are the most bang for your buck mods to improve torque (without going rogue mechanic-radical). So, you're going to have your OEM cam lobes "re-ground"? Is your X a 2000? Are you doing it yourself or a mechanic? I am very curious about the results that you attain. Would you please post your impressions upon completion?

Thanks

I sent a spare set of cams off to www.schneidercams.com for the .420/262 grind. The cams came out of a spare set of heads I picked up for $10 on Ebay, and I am starting to do a moderate port/polish job on them myself. The cams will go back in them and I'm having the heads swapped in as an extension of a timing belt replacement. I have the stock intake for now, but I'm getting a cat-back exhaust.

Brent

A guy from our club had a set of the cams installed in his X and he loved everything about them..

They are deffiently on the list of things to do in my X. ;)

OffroadX, your timing belt didn't break, did it?

Nope, just due...

This may be a dumb question, but what will upgraded cams do? Engine mods are a new area for me.

Cams let the engine breathe deeper, keeps the valves open longer and further so it gets more air/fuel in per rev.

ok... makes sense. Right now, my 2000 X is my daily driver as well as my toy. I've already started upgrading it, but am tackling the easier items that I can do on my own first. If I were to add this type of change to the list, where would you put it? My next project will be bumpers/sliders, with steering/suspension at the same time to accomodate the added weight, but if cams can take me a bit further, I'd seriously consider it.

Cams alone won't get you much. At a minimum you should get a better exhaust and intake to go with them. To really get the most, work over the heads and intake manifold (port/polish) and add headers. And after all that, get the ECU re-calibrated to take all that into account.
All in all, if you're building for off-road use, put the money into off-road mods, you won't really need the power. All told I've probably got upwards of $1200 into this project (including a timing belt replacement) but half of that is the exhaust and cams. My original exhaust is about shot so I went ahead and splurged on a nice one, figure $200 premium vs. a cheap-o OEM-ish one, and since I'm due for a timing belt and having a friend do the work, it's not too much of a stretch to add swapping out the heads to the job.

Exhaust - Done... Custom built Flowmaster system.
Intake - Done... Airaid cold air intake
Timing Belt - Done 1 year ago (it was time).

So, I might be part of the way there already.