Forced Induction Stock cam vs turbo cam?

ConnerE53

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Aug 6, 2019
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Minnesota
Planning on doing a on3 turbo kit with gt40 heads, springs, and explorer intake (stock bottom end) this winter. Ive seen some people run stock cams, just wondering how much gains you would see with a turbo cam over stock cam. Planning on 400ish to the wheels. Anyone compared the two on the same setup? Is it worth a few extra bucks?


1995 GTS
 
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Ive done some extensive cam swapping and dyno testing as well as cross referencing similar setups and it doesnt really make much of a difference

A true turbo can can lean on the exhaust a touch and help spool time but its rly not anything to write home about.

I always recommend tossing in what ever cam sounds the best to you.

read my pre tune info write up I cover it in there as well as many other components as my real world results and experiences

 
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Personally I don't have broad experience with various turbo cams, but as a single anecdote I've been running my turbo '95 since 2009 with the stock cam and it works beautifully. I'm also not a max-horsepower person (I'm cheap) and until I'm ready to invest in an aftermarket engine block there's little point in upgrading cam / heads / etc. because the stock components can easily make 400+hp at the wheels at 10-11psi of boost and that's about all the stock block can safely take anyways. Unless that turbo cam and other upgrades are going into an aftermarket block, there is truly little point. Sure those parts could help make the same power with a little more efficiency, but as another 50hp and block-splitting territory is two clicks of the boost-controller away, I've never found a reason.
 
You dont want to get to aggressive with the cam on a turbo build, specifically the overlap. Most stock and turbo cams have wide LSA to limit overlap so you dont bleed boost off during the overlap event. This has the wonderful effect of increasing the use-able torque range of the engine as well as making it idle and drive nice.