Opinions on Cams

Mattstang04

15 Year Member
Sep 15, 2006
1,152
144
104
St. Louis, MO
I want to know what stangnet thinks. I would like to get a good NA cam that A) does not require changing the stock valve springs
B) would not adversely affect forced induction down the road
C) reacts well to daily driving duty
I respect this sites opinions so thanks in advance?:flag:
 
Guys there are some really important things to consider with this cam.

The specs on these cams are as follows 238 intake, 234 exhaust 111 LSA and .550"/.500. They are a really good set of naturally aspirated cams. They favor the intake side very heavily as evidence in the their staggered duration and lift specs. They make up on the exhaust side by reducing LSA, thereby increasing valve overlap to promote scavenging. This cam is really well set up for stock exhaust manifolds and either a stock head or a ported head that heavily favors the intake (when exhaust flow is below 75% of intake).

You can definitely use this cam and make power, especially NA, but based on what you have said, there are probably better options available in the long run. Please don't misunderstand, this is a very good cam for a large group of enthusiasts out there. It is just that this cam is tailored to a very specific application - that being mildly modified, street oriented, naturally aspirated performance.

You say that forced induction down the road is your goal. While the favoring of the intake side as this cam does won't hurt in the slightest, pushing that much more air into the chamber without enhancing the ability to get it out will mean a lot of pumping losses once you go forced aspiration. Also an LSA of 111 and the ICL of this cam on a blower is not really ideal. You end up blowing too much of the uncombusted charge out of the exhaust during overlap. Will you make more power than stock...yes, just not as much as you could. If you are ok with that or you will change cams when you go FI then go for it, if not you should definitely do a little research into getting a set that is going to be setup for your needs.

You really need to look at aftermarket springs, no matter what set of cams you get. The stock springs are specifically designed to handle the loads associated with the stock cam profile. They can handle more lift, specifically to avoid coil binding during valve float. But they have been cycling in the exact manner since the car was first started. Now you are going to give them and entirely different operating profile via ramp rate and net lift. This is a major shock to the spring, and they are much more likely to fail prematurely. On top of that, aftermarket springs with higher pressure ratings will prevent float and allow higher power beyond power peak (ie less fall off)

Hope this helps, not trying to knock these cams, just making a suggestion.
 
Guys there are some really important things to consider with this cam.

The specs on these cams are as follows 238 intake, 234 exhaust 111 LSA and .550"/.500. They are a really good set of naturally aspirated cams. They favor the intake side very heavily as evidence in the their staggered duration and lift specs. They make up on the exhaust side by reducing LSA, thereby increasing valve overlap to promote scavenging. This cam is really well set up for stock exhaust manifolds and either a stock head or a ported head that heavily favors the intake (when exhaust flow is below 75% of intake).

You can definitely use this cam and make power, especially NA, but based on what you have said, there are probably better options available in the long run. Please don't misunderstand, this is a very good cam for a large group of enthusiasts out there. It is just that this cam is tailored to a very specific application - that being mildly modified, street oriented, naturally aspirated performance.

You say that forced induction down the road is your goal. While the favoring of the intake side as this cam does won't hurt in the slightest, pushing that much more air into the chamber without enhancing the ability to get it out will mean a lot of pumping losses once you go forced aspiration. Also an LSA of 111 and the ICL of this cam on a blower is not really ideal. You end up blowing too much of the uncombusted charge out of the exhaust during overlap. Will you make more power than stock...yes, just not as much as you could. If you are ok with that or you will change cams when you go FI then go for it, if not you should definitely do a little research into getting a set that is going to be setup for your needs.

You really need to look at aftermarket springs, no matter what set of cams you get. The stock springs are specifically designed to handle the loads associated with the stock cam profile. They can handle more lift, specifically to avoid coil binding during valve float. But they have been cycling in the exact manner since the car was first started. Now you are going to give them and entirely different operating profile via ramp rate and net lift. This is a major shock to the spring, and they are much more likely to fail prematurely. On top of that, aftermarket springs with higher pressure ratings will prevent float and allow higher power beyond power peak (ie less fall off)

Hope this helps, not trying to knock these cams, just making a suggestion.

Nice writeup :nice: I know absolutely nothing about cams and this helped out :)