Thread: Cam advice
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Old 10-08-2004, 03:10 PM
DVS LT1 DVS LT1 is offline
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Call around, but I wouldn't limit myself to just Crane Cams (call up Comp Cams too, and I know TPIS has some interesting grinds for LT1's).

One thing I've witnessed with the new motors is how amazingly smooth they handle bigger cams. I've seen a C5 Vette with a .590 lift cam idle and rev as smooth as a Caddy. I've gotta say, a 3.73 auto with a 3000 stall converter and a mid-high power cam would be pretty damn mean.

Problem with cams is that while you increase the power of your motor you also tend to really increase inefficiency. In a lot of these high duration cams the cycle is so long that a good portion of the air/fuel charge goes right down the exhaust valve instead of being burned - its a big reason why our cars often flunk emissions after a bigger cam swap. You're making more HP through gross inefficiency.

I've got the .525 Hot Cam in my Z and its an absolute pig - the bitch shakes, jerks, and you can just hear her chugging all that gas out the back. But I love it! Yet there are GM guys who think the Hot Cam is tiny and go after the GM 847 cam with a .575 lift that yes makes a lot more power, but is even worse in terms of streetability. Its funny because when I talk to my head porters these guys think the Hot Cam is a big cam, and try to convince me to go down to like a nice .490 lift cam. Sounds weird, but these guys have C4 Vettes making over 450 RWHP N/A using stock cranks and cams even smaller than this.

BTW, a good company will work with you to design a custom grind built specifically to compliment the size of your valves, runner lengths, mods made to the car, etc...
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