key master

I currently have an A4, 3.73 gears, and a super yank 3500 tc. I have stock unported '98 heads with upgraded dual springs. I have your standard intake and exhaust mods including lid, mac headers w/o cats, & LS6 intake. I also have LS1 Edit tuning with either 92 or 93 octane in the car at all times.

I no longer drive the car every day as I have a daily beater. The car has 70K miles on it and the "fresh" motor only about 40K miles. The cam that is in there now is a 218/224 .567/.567 113. On the dyno it hit 351rwhp peak through a locked converter. Dyno graph attached as jpg. I also ran a best of 11.9 at 115 at a local track in good weather. I could post a scan of my timeslip if it would help.

My question............ without getting a really lumpy cam, is this the best that I can do? I've had an 224/230 114 cam in the past (before my motor blew up) and it was too lumpy for my tastes. Some guys are getting over 400rwhp with their cam-only cars, but from what I've seen they are M6 cars.

With all the new cams coming out I thought I would ask if anyone has any ideas for a different cam...

Thanks!!

98SS Blackattack

Your ET is sweet for you mods.Ilove your HP curve from 5.5 to 7k you are at max hp. I would keep it and get some heads. You can get alot of cams that will dyno higher but that wont count for nothing at the track. Dyno #'s are useless really. You might pick up 10hp with a bigger cam but i bet the curve wont help much compared to what you got now. If you decide to swap it out call allen at FMS. He knows racing.

Mitch

Sounds like you have the Cartek M cam in your car. I have the very same cam in my C5 A4. My car pulled 387 RWHP thru a locked TCS4200 converter and 3.73 gears with stock cats, but I also have Cartek's Stage 2 LS1 heads. This cam is very mild I am upgrading to the Futral F11 228/230 581/591 114.
I spoke to Allen and he said I should see 20-25 more HP with his F11 cam.

JoSeY

that cam is kinda on the smallish side...you could easily go 224/224 w/no problems....I had that same 218/224 cam and swapped it out w/in a month for an MTI X1 and never looked back. But it's kinda about what you wanna do...w/ur verter and gears...an X1 would wake that car up like noones business!!

key master

Sounds like if I were to get a bigger cam (but not radical) say a 224/224 or something, I might see 10 - 15 more? But then I'll have to rev it to 6.8K - 7K and maybe get a 4400 stall converter. Seems like I'm already pushing it since Yank on his website, for my current cam, recommends a 3800-4200 stall. Hmmm. That 228/230 cam I bet sounds awesome, but like I said, I've had a 224/230 in the past and I thought it was too aggressive-sounding for me. I can only repeat myself so many times at the drive-through mcdonalds over the exhaust ;-) I think maybe I'll stick with the cam that I have.

Well........ maybe ported heads are the way to go. If I'm running 92-93 octane, what compression ratio would you guys recommend?? What's the stock compression ratio on unmilled 2002+ LS6 heads?

-Jim

key master

Thanks I ran ET Streets with skinnies up front in really good weather at a sticky track to get that time... but I'll take an 11.94 second run It was an honor to get kicked out of the track for the first time!! I ran 3 back-to-back 11 second runs too that morning so I was a happy man

Maybe with S2 ported heads, I could run full weight with JUST ET Streets (no skinnies) and still be in the 11's... that would be cool. That would be a little more stealthy.

-Jim

boomcase

Your mph is really good for your mods, But your 60Ft time needs help. I think a good option for you to do would be a stonger torque converter, That Sy converter you run has a very low stator 1.6 , I really beleive your car would pick up atleast 2 tenths in the 1/4 from a 3800 or 4000stall with a stator in the range of 2.5 or so. The TCI 3800 stall is a great converter and would compliment your mods seeing as you run ET streets.

Just for some info , My car is pretty close to what you run , minus the 373s and a smaller cam and my car runs low 12 teens at 110mph with a 1.70 60ft with a 2800stall.

key master

That's a good point, I do have a soft converter. From what you are running, sounds like there might be 2 more tenths in my car with a better one. If I understand torque converters correctly, sounds like I would gain 2 tenths in the 1/4 but no mph? Maybe even lose a mph due to top-end effeciency of a higher STR'd converter? Such a mod that would help at the track and not on the street would be lower priority to me than heads, for example, which would help on both

-Jim

98SS Blackattack

Just remember the sy3500 is alot better for the street because of its lower str. It hooks better on the street.Just depends on what your overall goal is. I for one like your combo. But if you want to go faster something else will suffer

boomcase

Dam I know with a Yank PT line you should not loss alot if any MPH, and I also remember a member on this forum named Bain that has a bolt on car with stock heads and 323s with a TCI 3800 converter running 11.50s at 115mph with the only weight reduction being weld wheels, if i remember right His short time was around 1.55

You could also do a ASP pulley and a FTRA that are proven mods to get some decent gains, that a torque converter would help you out.

It seems you if your interest is going with heads ,then why not .heads will give you any where from 20 to 50 hp, and would rock.

I guess it depends on how much faster you want to go, and how much money you want to spend , GOOD LUCK EITHER WAY, KEEP US POSTED.

Slowhawk

iTrader: (12)

You should go with some ported heads.That way the drivability will stay the same but more power to help with your ET's.

BTW-I've dyno'd over 100 F-body's and none of the Cam only's have broken 390hp.Of course there are bigger Cams out now.

4thGENRETARD

Good times! Heads and longtubes would get you in the 400rwhp range. Don't let the "that's a small cam" get to you. I get 402rwhp out of an even smaller one 216/220, .525/.532 114 lsa and much more with juice.
Good heads are the trick, I would suggest stage 2 5.3's.

samz28

you can see my powerband. It's a 224/226 .570/.571 112LSA, it extends the breathing a little more outward, but who the hell is gonna rev that high anyways? time to shift

key master

98SS Blackattack: True, one of my priorities is still some good 'ol street racing on street tires. Probably why I'll keep the sy3500. Plus since I got the FTRA mod, I see no room for a trans cooler anywhere so I would be almost afraid to get a less efficient (read: hotter) converter.

Slowhawk: "You should go with some ported heads.That way the drivability will stay the same but more power to help with your ET's." Agreed.

samz28: Nice dyno graph and good numbers! What I can't tell from your dyno since it's unlocked is power down low to midrange. I would think cams that shift power further in the powerband shift some power out of the mid-range. Since I'll be keeping my 3500 stall for now, that might not be a good idea for me. I guess I want the car to maintain a good balance of street vs. track. It's hard doing all of this compromising when I see cars getting 500rwhp from a head and cam package!


WOW: is that 402rwhp SAE corrected? I currently have mac headers - is there an advantage to getting longtubes instead? If so, what kind of power are we talking?

Also, RE: the 5.3's... I hear the advantage to them is that they have higher compression over the standard LS1 head. Is that their only advantage? I must be missing something: why not mill LS1 heads to get the same compression ratio without having to pay any core charge? Not trying to be an ***, just trying to understand I think I'm definitely going with heads after hearing everyone's responses here and thinking about the next logical step for my goals.

-Jim

Malicious

iTrader: (1)

I'm pretty sure I've seen people with a tranny cooler AND an FTRA on their car...

key master

Hmmm. I'll have to do a search...

-Jim

BoneSS

iTrader: (9)

I do, for example.

Larry

iTrader: (4)

Your engines peak torque is about 4800 rpm according to your dyno chart. You need your converter to stall about 4300 or 500 below peak torque for optimum et. You would then need to gear your car where your rpm is about 200-400 above peak hp at the lights. That 3.73 gear is probably going to be to tall when you get the right converter.

You could also advance the cam but it would take to much advance with this converter to optimize. Peak hp will fall if advanced too far. Seems to me your hp/torque is a little on the shy side for that cam even with stock heads. Is your Mac headers ported or modified. The collector that comes with the Macs is restrictive. The head ports also have a lot of weld build up that can be ported to remove.

I doubt you will gain much more with any cam with your stock heads and keeping it streetable. You do have a more et/hp left in that cam should you decide to keep it.

I ran an 11.2 and a 1.496 60' with my baby 218/218, .528, 114 lsa cam. You can do the same. I feel mine has more in it.

I do have a fairly light car however. About 3200 pounds.

With your cam I could run 10s!

boomcase

I have a ftra, I run my tranny cooler insink with the factory one and My cooler sits in the little passenger side space right under the headlight , I just tie straped it up there.

4thGENRETARD

5.3's have a better velocity and tend to perform better with the mild performance cams. 0.5 increase in CR is good for about 5rwhp.
Balance and tuning are the key to any setup. Gotta make the package work together.
Basicaly, you have to build it for the purpose it is designed for. ie: street/street-strip/or all out race.
Finally yes it is 402rwhp SAE corrected. 374 tq.