skyavonee

Hi all, first time poster here. I'm active in another online forum but figured this crowd would be interested in my results as well. Last week I had a cam package installed for my 2004 Z06. Here are the details:

- 219/223 .607/.610 114+1 cam (Comp's LSL lobe)
- Patriot Gold dual valve spring kit
- Comp's rocker arm trunion bearing upgrade kit
- C5R timing chain
- pinned crank
- inspected/shimmed stock oil pump

My previous mods include:
- Callaway CAI
- ported TB
- LG Street headers w/cats

And this is all on a LS6, so it's got the 243 heads and a stock cam of 204/218 .551/.547 117.5-2.5

This chart shows the torque curve comparison, pre- and post-cam. Peak torque went up by 13 ft-lbs, but I gained 19 ft-lbs at 3100 rpm, and 90% of peak torque is already reached by 2500 rpm. Notice I gained torque over the entire rpm range, which is exactly what I was going for. Although this chart only goes down to around 2400 rpm, based on feel I'm confident saying that gains continue all the way down to idle, so this is a perfect cam for a daily driver (which mine is).




This chart shows a detailed view of the torque and power gains. The average torque gain from 2400 - 6600 rpm is 15 ft-lbs, and the average power gain from 4600 - 6600 rpm (which represents the range for redline shifting) is 16 hp. And you can see there are significant torque gains below 3500 rpm.




And this is the final result with the cam. It makes 418 peak horsepower, which is an increase of 20 hp over the previous setup.




At idle, this setup has just a little more lope and shake than a stock LS6. I consider it a semi-sleeper cam, because it likely won't be detected by people other than those who are familiar with the LS engines. It also has greater valvetrain noise than stock, which is to be expected with the dual valve springs and .600"+ lift cam. Lastly, it should have no problems passing CA smog, which is pretty important to me.

Thanks to RPM Motors in Santa Clarita for the installation and tuning.

skyavonee

My stock LS6 fuel injectors are around 80% duty cycle with this setup, so I'll be upgrading them when I eventually do some head work.

PREDATOR-Z

Healthy street setup, congrats. Port your stock heads (look at AI or TEA), keep your lightweight valves, switch to PAC 1518 or PSI singles and you will wow at the results.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

Good numbers, but why only +1 advance?

Okay I see now,... so you could keep your power band as close as possible to the factory LS6 cam.

redtan

iTrader: (5)

Seems kinda weak gains, even for a baby cam.

Was this the same dyno as the baseline? Was it tuned?

SupahRich

iTrader: (14)

Nice looking powerband! I'm sure the car feels much faster then the actual gains you picked up with the cam, which seems to be what you were going for. As Predator said, port the heads sometime in the future and I bet it'll put an even larger permagrin on your face!

skyavonee

Thanks all for the comments.

With a high lift cam like this, I prefer the security of dualies over the lighter valvetrain of the beehives. I'm still debating what to do with the heads. Both of those porters are already on my radar, but I might just get aftermarket 205 or 210 castings, and sell my 243's to offset the cost.

Same dyno, same tuner, both SAE corrected. What gains would you have expected in moving from 204/218 .551/.547 to 219/223 .607/.610?

karpetcm

iTrader: (2)

End result is that your happy, you gained power everywhere and the car runs as it should. 418 rwhp and 395 rwtq is awesome and wish i could get that one day.

loudblack97z71

iTrader: (2)

NICE TORQUE! This cam is almost identical to the one going in my LS1, I'm glad to see the torque gains across the board. Thats exactly what I'm going for. I bet the gains at the track will outshine the gains on the dyno.

redtan

iTrader: (5)

Idk, more than 20hp up top/19tq down low...

Doesn't matter what the dyno says I guess, as long as you're happy. I know I would'nt have been when dropping $1500+ for 20hp and 19tq.

Nicul15

its not just 20hp/20tq

if you look at the Average HP increase from 3200-red, that is the money maker. also its over LS6 cam not a LS1 cam.

bwkmaro

wow thats prob a really fun car now (not like it wasnt before). i think for just a cam that is great. a nice broad torque curve is the best kind of car. when you go real big and it just makes power up top its not as fun to drive in the street. nice cam choice

Felix C

I agree with Redtan.

It made more torque due to the change in overlap but it is primarily at the lower end at 2000/2500 to 3000 and then begins to decline in terms of large gains. Then gains are small until about 6200rpm to 6500rpm. Not really much of a power band increase. I am fairly sure folks have done similar with a more moderate lift and less duration.

Unless OP has other plans as he wrote further one and this is a work in progress. Well my opinion.

badazz81z28

iTrader: (6)

I was thinking the #s were high....418hp to the wheels with a small cam and stock heads?

I read on here the stock Z06 rings out about 350-365rwhp stock.

Was this engine or chassis dyno?

skyavonee

Doubtful. If there's a cam out there with less lift and less duration that produces these gains on a 02-04 LS6 with stock heads and intake manifold, I'd love to hear about it.

Not many people go this small on a LS6 (or even an LS1 for that matter). I went small because I wanted good street manners, a broad torque curve, crisp throttle response, and the ability to pass the CA smog sniffer test.

skyavonee

Yeah, that's right.

chassis

skyavonee

Thanks again everyone for the comments. My motivation for posting was simply to spread information to others who are contemplating a cam. But, obviously I knew I'd be getting lots of opinions as well...

Gunslinger09

Nice!

It does everything you want and I bet it will run like a scalded dog.

skyavonee

It's also worth noting that stock 243's reach peak flow in the vicinity of .550" lift and gradually fall off from there. So, I'm expecting some head work to really wake this engine up.

Felix C

It has been done. However, dynos can be generous or short reading depending on the operator.