Cams vs NOS

[stng]

Ok so I am sure I am like every other mustang owner out there, trying to get as much HP as the pocket book will allow. Unfortunately I will never have enough to go forced induction and even if I did have $$$ I could never justify dropping 4-6k anyway...

As you can see by my sig I have pretty well tapped out the bolt on's with the exception of an SCT. So now I have to make a choice, it seems that for roughly the same amount of money I can either get a port injection NOS system, or I could go with some new cams and valve springs...

My car is a daily driver, I commute approx 60 miles a day, so maintaining reliable drivabilty is key. I also would like to get decent gains for the money. I am selling my KTM SX 250 so that should give me somewhere between 1500-2k to work with. What are your thoughts? I personally am leaning towards the juice, however I have never ran NOS before so I would like to get some input from people who either have gone with Stage II cams/springs or with a port NOS systems.

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for the input.

 

[COramprat]

Personally I'd go with cams. If you are doing the work yourself you can save some cash to do something else too. If not the install will pretty much tap out your funds. Not the big HP gains you would with nitrous but with the right cam and tune you could see some really nice gains.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Nitrous will give you the best bang for your buck, hands down, but the fun only lasts as long as the bottle does.

 

[imblown-ru]

you will have fun with either one, but figure the price of both, the constant enjoyment of cams, the lope, and the power, and then figure the price of the nitrous, having to fill up the bottle, the safety precautions envolved, and the possibility of running out of juice and not being able to get any more til monday. i would go with cams.

 

[stng]

Does anyone know roughly what kind of gains people are putting to the ground with stage II cams and springs? My thoughts are anything short of 20 rwhp and I am going to go with NOS.

 

[ponysarepretty]

If you get cams, you basically have to get a tune, requiring you to pay for some dyno time and a chip.

 

[98gtblue]

NOS > cams. 75-150 HP > 15 HP.

 

[Bullitt00606]

if its your daily driver go with nitrous. i say this as my car is my 365-day driver and id rather have a power adder i can "turn off" rather than have on all the time, especially when its slippery out.

but tuned stage 2 cams should get you about 25-30+ hp.

 

[COramprat]

if its your daily driver go with nitrous. i say this as my car is my 365-day driver and id rather have a power adder i can "turn off" rather than have on all the time, especially when its slippery out.

but tuned stage 2 cams should get you about 25-30+ hp.

Tuned...

 

[drew_shipley]

I'd go with cams. I'd like to have the extra power all the time, not whenever my bottle is full.

 

[hotmustang331]

You will be happy with the cams, believe me. You will get spoiled to the N20 and will think your car is SLOW when your not using it. then there is the worry of blowing the darn thing up...a guy I know had an 03 GT with a 150 shot, and I would say in around a year-year and a half he blew the engine. He now stays clear of the spray...even with his built motor . I would be ticked if I was racing a GT and whoppin it, then he sprays and blows by me....I would be like "freegin cheater" and wouldnt give a crap that he won. If he had to cheat to win then my car is faster N/A, and I would be happy. Anyone can slap on a 100shot, but where is the respect in that? If you got a cammed up monster, you will get alot more respect...even if its slower. And again, you will be HAPPY with it, cams are awsome.

 

[Justin03GT]

you said you'd have $1500-2k to work with...why not go with both? cams/n20 and a tune would run a little over $1200, so you'd still have money left over and it would be fun as hell...

 

[JayC]

Do both I'm going pretty fast on NX 150 shot, but with cams I could drop down to a 100 shot and go as fast or faster and enjoy better off-bottle performance too


Jay

 

[Bullitt0616]

ask yourself what your goal is. if its to extract as much power from your wallet as you can, go nitrous. just be prepared to invest on items which will safeguard you from nitrous backfire and all the other "goodies" associated with these systems (ex-owner of a nitrous-injected RX-7, trust me i know).

these items will eventually eat up the cash reserve you have which you could've used for other mods. plus, nitrous never lasts forever and don't forget, the effective longevity of a bottle doesn't go until the very last drop so to speak. in my old 10lb bottle, ill start surging when im down to a little less than 1/4.

and regardless of what route you go with, ull need a dyno tune anyway.

make a goal, weigh the pros and cons then plan around it.

 

[DBMSTNG]

used s/c kit.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

I would be ticked if I was racing a GT and whoppin it, then he sprays and blows by me....I would be like "freegin cheater" and wouldnt give a crap that he won. If he had to cheat to win then my car is faster N/A, and I would be happy.

So....does that mean that you consider us blower guys cheating too, since our cars aren't naturally aspirated? We after all, so have the power there all the time, just like the built all motor guys?

 

[Bullitt00606]

i guess nitrous is considered cheating to some as its a power-adder thats quite easily installed, much more so than your normal supercharger/turbocharger system.

especially when you can go from 50hp -150hp in about 2 mins worth of changing jets, i can understand why it would be called cheating.

 

[FalconGuy016]

I personally would save up another thousand or so and see what I can do with some sort of supercharger setup. But between those two, I'd really learn towards cams and springs.