I recently put in a Hotcam w/ Predator tuning. Not just the basic tune either. Before the cam I dyno'd about 346hp and 360tq w/ A/f of about 11-12, that was w/ LT's, ORY, stock WS6 catback, Lid and filter. Them I added the Hotcam, tuning, Corsa Catback, iridium plugs and only got 377hp and 374tq w/ A/f of about 13-13.5, WTF? sounds low to me. Did I screw something up? I'm just dissapointed in the results. Both dyno's were DynoJets and it was about 80deg the first time and 50deg the second time? Dunno, I just think that a cam, catback and tuning should have given me more than 30hp and 14tq.

 

You probably could benefit from some tuning via LS1EDIT. What other mods do you have?

LS6 intake?
Pulley?
Ported TB?
What kind of headers/ORP?

377 doesn't strike me as insanely low for a few mods and a Hotcam. Probably see 380-390 with some Edit tuning, not bad, IMO.

 

30hp from a hot cam and your not happy? Those are pretty good #'s. Not too many hot cams on stock heads running over 380hp.

 

Very true...I have seen a handfull over 380, a couple over 390 and 2 over 400. (hotcam/cam only)

If you open up the exhaust some more and use LS1 edit, some more power can be attained.

 

OK, the predator tuning isn't complete yet. I still need to get back w/ them on the rest of my #'s. Right now they sent me a basic cam tune, not just the baseline tune in the Pred. The car is an 02 WS6, so it has the LS6 intake already. I'll get a ported TB soon and currently it has JetHot LT's and Hooker ORY. All the rest of my money has gone into the suspension and sound system.

BTW that's only 30hp from a cam and a catback. How can I possibly open up the exhaust anymore besides cutouts or duals? Neither of which I want?

 

Try a cutout, catbacks usually provide little to no gains, they are mainly about sound. You may have gained 3-5rwhp from the catback at most. So, 25-27 from the cam is a fair gain, IMO. You will probably gain 5-20 hp from add'l tuning, depending on how far it is off. I would bypass the Predator route, and get it dyno tuned with LS1 Edit, IMO.

Shawn

 

Cutout will definetly free up some power

 

I wish edit was an option. Unfortunately 1. I already have the predator 2. No one w/in a reasonable distance from here does edit tuning. 3. There is only 1 dyno in this forsaken city and it just opened, so the operators suck. 4. I'm not experienced enough to mess w/ edit myself.

So I guess that leaves me in a bind. I thought the catback would show better gains. Oh well, at least it sounds good. I've had great dealings w/ the Diablo folks so far. I'm just gonna see how far I can push this. My goal is to get 400hp on stock heads. The plan is to get QTP headers w/ the high velocity merge collectors, a Shaner S2 TB and maybe even some other of the "tricks" to get there.

 

IMO, I don't call your gain from the cam or your peak numbers something to cry about. Those are great numbers...period. Good tuning may help but it may not. Looks like you've got some pretty good results from the Hotcam.

 

Try an Underdrive pulley and get a cutout. With the cutout open you may see as much as 10 hp. You could always get an electric cutout which would eliminate having to unbolt it everytime.

 

1. You are stuck with the Predator.
2. There are a couple of Georgia shops that do LS1Edit tuning, go to the Southern forum, and ask around, also see where they dyno.
3 and 4. See # 2 above

Why did you choose the Hotcam, if I may ask? It is a cheaply priced cam, but a poor (compared to other, smaller cams) performer. Before you add $1300 QTP headers, and a $200 TB, why not look into swapping the Hotcam out for a TR224/224 or something along those lines. The 224/224 would idle better, perform better both at the dyno and at the track, and would be much cheaper than swapping your (good) headers for better headers.

Just my .02, good luck, Shawn

 

Well, I choose the hotcam for 3 reasons. 1. It was cheap and 2. I wanted a lopey idle. 3. I wanted a mild cam that wouldn't neccessitate frequent(every 20-30k) spring swaps. Maybe it wasn't the best choice afterall. Another reason I want to change my headers is cause they are less than a year old and they are rusting despite being JetHot coated, WTF? So now I'd rather just have stainless headers anyway and if I'm gonna buy them again I want to get the best there is and have no regrets. I will take a look around the southeast forums and ask, but to the best of my knowledge there isn't anywhere w/in 2 hrs that does edit tuning and I'm just not willing to make repeated 2 hr one way trips to get relatively small gains over what I think can be done w/ the predator and email. I may consider a diff cam later but I have this one now so let's see how far I can go before maxing it out. Besides, sometime in the future I will be going w/ a head/cam package so the rest of the bolt on's will benefit me even more then. I'm just kinda dissapointed in my numbers, but you guys made me feel better.

 

I don't think your numbers are bad for a Hotcam, about what I've seen before. Good luck with it, Shawn

 

I think your #'s are fine for a Hotcam.Remember this Cam is not really that good compared to other offerings out there.
Also a cutout will gain nothing over the Corsa on your setup.I've done it and gained 1hp and 2 lbs/tq.

 

I think ur #'s are fine for the mods u have. Dyno #'s can be misleading though. See what the car runs at the track. That will make u much happier IMO.

 

Why were you expecting more than 380 hp with a hotcam?

Some people don't even get that!

Also, what transmission are you running?

 

i think your numbers are fine, maybe a little more but not to bad. The hot cam is a street performer, i have heard of guys up north running good times with bad hp numbers on the hotcam. You have to remember it is not a peak cam, but a cam based more on low end. I agree with mike take it to the track. One thing, don't have to worry about springs too much. What year is the car, i am pretty sure they perform better with the 241 cast heads.

On another thought i love my qtp's, damn things were a sinch to put it, me and my friend kinda luaghed as we put them in, didn't have to move the coils or plugs, didn't even have to touch the motor. The y-pipe was another story.

 

The car is an 02 WS6 M6 trans and track times will come as soon as I get a roll bar. Can't run a 'vert here at all w/out it.

 

I think your numers are great for your setup. Remember Gm's hotcam may not yield the best max hp, but the power comes on strong pretty early on in the RPM range (good tq). Area under the curve is most important. Take it to the track, I'm sure you won't be dissapointed.

DYNOES ARE FOR TUNING, DON'T GET TOO CAUGHT UP WITH MAX HP.

Tommy

 

The peak numbers sound pretty good to me.

Can you post the dyno graphs of before and after cam? I think the hotcam is more of an area under the curve cam than a peak number cam.