im getting new cams and need to make a decission, is there anyone who has experiance with the trick flow cams. the reason im considering this is they are almost $200 cheaper. sooo...
trick flow cams?
- Thread starter fast97gt
- Start date
oxfordgt
Member
well with that being said what does everyone prefer, comp, crane, etc. ill be doing a pi engine with a tuner and cams. ive heard that the pi motor, good cams, tune and a bigger tb and plenum will get like 300hp to the wheels. now that in a 97gt that has 187hp npi motor then going to that, it should be real fun to drive right? but what cam do yall prefer?
sneaky98gt
10 Year Member
Don't take this as truth, just as what I think I've heard.
Nick at Modular Head Shop has/is developing a set of cams specifically for the NPI head. Said he could make more power than other cams b/c other cams didn't take advantage of the extra intake lift allowed in the NPI head, or something like that. If I remember correctly, he was making something like 250+ with nothing more than those cams and an X-pipe. And this was like a Stage 2 cam, so I'd assume there wasn't much loss of low end torque and would therefore be streetable.
If it's true, and they will soon be available to the public, I'd wait for them. That's way more than any other aftermarket cams make. I'm sure Nick will chime in with more info soon as he sees this thread.
-Will
edit: Just re-read and realized you are going PI...Disregard what I said.
Nick at Modular Head Shop has/is developing a set of cams specifically for the NPI head. Said he could make more power than other cams b/c other cams didn't take advantage of the extra intake lift allowed in the NPI head, or something like that. If I remember correctly, he was making something like 250+ with nothing more than those cams and an X-pipe. And this was like a Stage 2 cam, so I'd assume there wasn't much loss of low end torque and would therefore be streetable.
If it's true, and they will soon be available to the public, I'd wait for them. That's way more than any other aftermarket cams make. I'm sure Nick will chime in with more info soon as he sees this thread.
-Will
edit: Just re-read and realized you are going PI...Disregard what I said.
well i would wate but... my npi has over 200,000 HARD miles, its wore out and if im gona do an engine swap ill drop in a pi with a good set of cams + all my bolt ons and a tune, and hopefully ill see 300+hp "hopefully." so any other suggestions. I have a budget of $2500 and ive found a pi motor with a little over 28,000 miles for $800, going to get it this weekend and gona order cams this week, along with the tb and upper plenum, bbk looks like they have a nice peice but kinda pricey. for my tuner i think ill stick sct unless someone has other suggestions?
also would the xe278 from comp cams be to aggressive for right now? i have another set of pi heads that i plan to have a stage2 p&p by mhs in the future. but now im just gonna use them in a stock pi motor with bolt ons and a tune along with exhaust and 4.10s that are now in my 97gt.
trinity_gt
10 Year Member
XE278AHs are very aggressive and require piston notching and valve springs. I don't know what sort of emissions testing you have in NC but all that overlap is going to dirty the exhaust at idle...
Take this with a grain of salt if you like but MM&FF tested a bunch of 2V cams and found that while the 278 made the best peak HP in their test (394), these cams actually hurt power output below 4600. According to the story, a set of mild 262AHs was making 25ft-lbs more torque than the 278s at 4500RPM. "Only out at 6,500 rpm did the wilder XE278AH cams demonstrate their superiority, offering an extra 77 hp over the stock cam and 21 hp over the milder XE262AH cams."
If you plan to spin your motor that high routinely (better upgrade the bottom end too then...), the 278 may be for you but there's something to be said for "area under the curve." The car will be much more satisfying and likely quicker around town with milder cams than with the hairy 278s.
As with turbos, bigger is not always better when it comes to cams. You need to select the cam to match how the engine will be used. If it's a high-RPM racer, aggressive is good. If it's a daily-driver, you may regret going that big on cams that don't really come alive until after redline. It'll sound bad-ass with a lumpy idle and all but it'll be down on power where you likely spend most of your time...
Take this with a grain of salt if you like but MM&FF tested a bunch of 2V cams and found that while the 278 made the best peak HP in their test (394), these cams actually hurt power output below 4600. According to the story, a set of mild 262AHs was making 25ft-lbs more torque than the 278s at 4500RPM. "Only out at 6,500 rpm did the wilder XE278AH cams demonstrate their superiority, offering an extra 77 hp over the stock cam and 21 hp over the milder XE262AH cams."
If you plan to spin your motor that high routinely (better upgrade the bottom end too then...), the 278 may be for you but there's something to be said for "area under the curve." The car will be much more satisfying and likely quicker around town with milder cams than with the hairy 278s.
As with turbos, bigger is not always better when it comes to cams. You need to select the cam to match how the engine will be used. If it's a high-RPM racer, aggressive is good. If it's a daily-driver, you may regret going that big on cams that don't really come alive until after redline. It'll sound bad-ass with a lumpy idle and all but it'll be down on power where you likely spend most of your time...
oxfordgt
Member
joshjwc9
Active Member
Or you can have any one of those camshaft manufacturers custom cut one for you, and your application, making it a better choice usually for a marginal increase in price...ModularHeadShop does too.
well i checked out cms, didnt know that they were the original designers for vt. now the question would be is which stage to go 1 or 2. the car will the strip ocasionally, and is a dd, i like the noticible idle of the stage1 but lovin the aggressive ide of the stage2, please some help me out here.
nickmckinney
Member
- Sep 25, 2009
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I am biased of course but the only cam that isn't one of mine that I like for a PI head motor is the CMS Stage 1, it has really good specs IMHO with what I know now. I see problems with every single other off the shelf N/A cam out there with respect to a stock PI head. Jeff Stafford's NMRA convertible is about to hit high 11's with the CMS Stage 1 cams, MHS Stage 2 heads, and a stock NPI bottom end and thats through an automatic transmission.
IMHO - 225 intake duration at 110 intake centerline is about as far as you can push the stock PI head/valve on the 4.6 and this combo is only about 0.025" of piston to valve clearance. 225 installed at 108 centerline is about 0.005", too close for me but many people run it, some bent valves and some didn't.
BTW - the $200 saved on cheaper cams is quickly forgotten by the time you include the costs of everything else needed to do a cam swap and a good proper tune.
IMHO - 225 intake duration at 110 intake centerline is about as far as you can push the stock PI head/valve on the 4.6 and this combo is only about 0.025" of piston to valve clearance. 225 installed at 108 centerline is about 0.005", too close for me but many people run it, some bent valves and some didn't.
BTW - the $200 saved on cheaper cams is quickly forgotten by the time you include the costs of everything else needed to do a cam swap and a good proper tune.
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