davep_96

Realistically, how big of a stall can you run on the street bwfore you have major traction issues? Also, what cams for the ls1 are large enough to surge at a stop and require a vac canister?

brian_rs/ss

first off let me ask what set up/hp range are you lookin at? i'm pretty sure you don't need to worry your self with a massive cam...not unless you have massive dollars to feed it.

98ZEMT

iTrader: (5)

Is this just a theoretical question? If you got the biggest stall and biggest cam you could buy and put it on the streets, I see you being very unhappy. But to each his own.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

This is very dependant on the tires you're running and gear ratio. On a stock type non-competition Z-rated tire, you'll have traction issues with anything beyond a stock stall; especially with 3.23 or higher gear ratios. So there are too many variables to give you a solid answer with such a vague question. You'd need to disclose your plans on tire/wheel size, tire type, and gearing.


Just about any cam will cause an LS1 to have varying degrees of idle surge without some level of custom tuning. For a fuel injected LS1, custom tuning is the only way to tailor A/F mixture, timing advance, and various other parameters that need to be adjusted after a cam swap for best idle quality. However, with a decent tuner, you can run a pretty big cam on the street with few driveability issues.

Again though, this question is also too vague to really give a specific answer. Is there a specific cam that you have in mind?

davep_96

Well to clear up, I am planning on either swapping an ls1 into my current car or buying a ls1 car, and so I wanted to get some info first. My plan would be to run probably 3:73's and some good street legal tires maybe Nittos.

For my stall question, with 3:73's, I was just wondering approximately how big a stall can I go before traction becomes non existant.

For my cam question, I want a cam with a really rough, nasty sounding idle and maybe even some drivability issues. I know a lot of people dont like living with a car that surges at a stop light and stuff like that but this wouldnt be a DD car it would probably get driven 2 or 3 days a week tops. I guess I just am not familiar enough with LS1s and their aftermarket and so I was wondering what cams you can buy that are similar to what I described.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

With 3.73s and just about any stall speed above stock you're going to need at least a drag radial to take decent advantage of your launch. Any less of a tire and you'll have to ease into the throttle off the line (or get rolling a bit first) to get any sort of decent traction.

You can run as big of a cam as you want, there are several manufacturers that will custom grind to your specs. Your only limitations will be piston-to-valve clearance, which obviously can be increased from stock with piston modification, and the need for proper aftermarket valvetrain components. I have no idea how far you plan to go with the build, but obviously to take advantage of a really big, nasty cam you'll want better flowing heads (either reworked stock castings or aftermarket heads), better intake & TB (FAST 90/90 comes to mind), and ideally more compression. Also, a big cam will want a big stall; stock LS1 engines do well with a 3-4,000 stall and a 6-6,200 redline. For a massive cam, you'll probably be shifting closer to 7000rpm, in which case I'd say that a 4-4500 stall would be the minimum for best performance. Clearly, you won't be seeing anything remotely resembling traction even on a drag radial with 3.73s and a 4500 stall on a very agressive setup such as this; you'll need a true drag tire for a decent launch.

Personally I'd never build a setup like this for a street car simply because it'll be hard to take advantage of the power on the street. IMO, a great street build would consist of some Stage II 243 casting (LS6) heads, a mid-range cam (something with between 224° and 230° duration, .560 to .590 lift, and 112-114lsa), a stock LS6 intake, LT headers with true duals, 3500 stall and 3.23 or 3.42 gears. This will be easy to tune for great street manners and make awesome power in a useable rpm range while still being able to get some traction on the street.

I know you said you want a big nasty cam with a pop-corn sounding idle, but you'll need to be prepared to set up the whole engine and drivetrain for a high rpm powerband.

davep_96

Well the car would be street/strip, but mostly driven on the street. I guess by big nasty cam I mean a fairly large cam that would be in the upper end of streetable cams, and like I said maybe not as drivable as some of the smaller ones, but not a full out race cam.

Around here anymore its hard to find a good street race, and I would be more interested by 1/4 mile times at the strip than street races. Dont get me wrong the car will be raced on the street now and then, but like I said even now with my current car I'll line up at a light with people and the majority will rev up and then bitch out of the race. So if I have some traction issues on the street Im not too worried about it as long as I have some impressive 1/4 ETs.

Why do LSx cams seem to have less duration than SBC cams? A 224-230 duration for a SBC translates to a decently mild cam. My current cam in my 355 has 240/246 duration, and while the idle is decently rough(not as rough as a lot of big cammed muscle cars around here though) Its still a pretty mild cam by SBC standards. Very streetable and has almost no drivability issues at all. And my engine is at most making 450 crank HP. SO why do LS1s usually have less duration than mine and most of the time make way more HP? I see a lot on here making 450 at the wheels...

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Better cylinder head design is a key reason.

It doesn't take much to get an LS1 engine up to 450-500hp levels, even at stock cubes with no power adder.