whats the difference in weight and longevity and quality

 

Not sure on the weights, titanium will usually provide a few hundred extra RPM. As for longevity, tool steel is much better then titanium especially on a street driven car. Titanium retainers should be inspected at every spring change. There should be no quality difference assuming they are made by a reputable vendor.

 

What he said + the spring manufacturer will note which is better for the particular spring you are running.

 

The only use I see with Titanium valve train is during extreme lift and rpm's. The lighter valve train will help with valve float. Used to be cheaper than buying lighter valves but the price of titanium went up in the mid 2000's.

 

Here was my answer about 2 years ago from PatG, PredetorZ, and Vengence Racing was basically when using a Beehive type spring (Like a Comp Cams 918) that the difference is so neglible there was not distinct benefit for paying more to have the Ti retainer over a Steel (stock).

When using a spring like a Comp Cam 987 or even a Patriot Extreme Duals the retainer is much larger, hence more weight and the difference is noticable and is recommended upgrading since most cams that need that spring also live in the 6,000+ rpm range.

Ti retainers give you the strength like steel but the weight is reduced but in terms of HARDNESS its actually more Brittle compared to Steel.

Though I will mention, I have never heard a Ti retainer, nor Steel retainer failing in most average street setups. I will hear springs failing due to either install error, mis-matched to the cam specs, not replacing after so many miles/years, or simply failure during normal operations.