davep_96

What makes a car streetable? I have been shopping for cams and people ask me if i care about drivability, so what would make a car not drivable on the street? Where do you draw the line between drivable on the street and a strip only car?

Diesel_29

"Streetable" is a very broad word. Everybody has their own definitions of what is "streetable."

Generally speaking though...you don't want a car that you have to worry about overheating at every stop, stalling, surging...although some guys don't mind the surging. There's guys that DD 900+ RWHP cars...other guys wouldn't think about starting it anywhere near the street. As far as cams go, it's hard to explain...your best bet would be to take a ride or drive some cars with different cams or ask guys that have certain cams about how it drives on the street...make your decision from that.

Hope that helped some...

ads_99ta

like diesel said everybody's defination of streetable is different. it all depends on what you're willing to tolerate. stock cube LS1s with big cams will usually run like **** going through town stoplight to stoplight. i'm using a 246/250 cam 114 LSA on a 402 engine. and the car will usually die 3-4 times and run like **** until the engine warms up and even once it warms up occasionally it still stalls out at a stoplight. i'm willing to put up with that, others are not. I would talk to whomever you're buying a cam from and give them the info on your car and tell them what you're willing to tolerate as far as drivability and your power goals, from there they should be able to help you out with a cam selection.

1320 HUSTLER

iTrader: (3)

Like the others say it depends on what you wish to deal with.. I run a 402 with a prety decent sized cam threw a th400 with a 4400 stall and a spool in the rear.. I have to take it easy around corners but other then that if it's not raining and not 120 dagrees out ill take the mickeys out every day if i have to!

mike1500

iTrader: (3)

streetable a term that goes per state... California for example... have a cam fail smog have smog ***** after you in force and get tickets for preformance aftermarket ****

Bird

iTrader: (25)

'Streetable' is also a matter of good tuning - even a stocker with a bad tune won't be good on the street. I'm running an LS1 with an f-14 cam, worked heads, LT's, LS6 intake, PTB, 3600 stall - have been tweaking the closed loop tune for a while now and the car is extremely streetable - no dying or surging, starts fine when cold and no issues when hot - take's alot of datalogging under varying conditions to get it right.

Because of the configuration (cam, stall, etc) it still get's a little lower gas mileage than a stocker in city driving, but not that bad - hwy is still in the 20's.

Bird

tylerdj

iTrader: (31)

It's all subjective and is just someone's opinion.

davep_96

thanks guys. So what is "surging" and what would make the car overheat like that?

Shooter_Jay

I imagine surging is only a problem for automatic cars. In a manual, you'd be in neutral or clutch in, so the car would remain still. At slow rolling speeds you might get some surging still though I imagine.

Another thing with a high stall high rpm and hp auto, it seems to me you don't have any low power to use because by design you are slipping your transmission up to the high rpm hp. Not like a manual that you can roll on the power at 1000rpm where you have far less hp and torque.

Rushin

iTrader: (18)

Surging happens after a decent timing advance tune in an automatic car. It feels like the car doesn't want to down-shift and then finally does. I have a mild tune and it does that quite often at red lights. I hope that's right.

dochall22

iTrader: (6)

Take into consideration what your over all goal is, if u want a DD - then back off the cam a lil, if u want a weekend warrior, go big or go home.

99blancoSS

iTrader: (115)

Can you put across a crowded parking lot at 1200 rpms in 1st gear without fear of killing someone or burning the clutch off, or in bumper to bumper traffic. That is what streetable means. You will fiind guys with big cams say its all in the tune. I ran a big cam and a smaller cam and a size in between. The bigger you go, the less fun it is to drive in traffic or a crowded parking lot