When a cam loses driveability, what are we losing?
When a cam loses driveability, what are we losing? Just curious if there are any little things I don't know about with cam swaps. What kind of behavior changes in your car when going to a larger cam?
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From: Miami
OK, with an A4, you're gonna have to go with a higher stall.
Big cams produce their power higher up in the rev range. Below 2000 RPM's they're basically useless, so you need to complement them with stall. For M6 guys, we need to throw in deeper gears (I'm running 4.10's).
Tuning has come a long way in letting us run big cams on the street.
Bad drivability = bucking, hunting for idle, engine stall, etc....
Big cams produce their power higher up in the rev range. Below 2000 RPM's they're basically useless, so you need to complement them with stall. For M6 guys, we need to throw in deeper gears (I'm running 4.10's).
Tuning has come a long way in letting us run big cams on the street.
Bad drivability = bucking, hunting for idle, engine stall, etc....
Originally Posted by SouthFL.02.SS
OK, with an A4, you're gonna have to go with a higher stall.
Big cams produce their power higher up in the rev range. Below 2000 RPM's they're basically useless, so you need to complement them with stall. For M6 guys, we need to throw in deeper gears (I'm running 4.10's).
Tuning has come a long way in letting us run big cams on the street.
Bad drivability = bucking, hunting for idle, engine stall, etc....
Big cams produce their power higher up in the rev range. Below 2000 RPM's they're basically useless, so you need to complement them with stall. For M6 guys, we need to throw in deeper gears (I'm running 4.10's).
Tuning has come a long way in letting us run big cams on the street.
Bad drivability = bucking, hunting for idle, engine stall, etc....
Originally Posted by ShadowLightCSU
So with a good tune, a relatively big cam can be quite nicely mannered, without stalling with AC on, pulling in to parking spaces, etc?
. the car will not behave like it was bone stock but it can be very managible. 
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
Originally Posted by jrp
correct . the car will not behave like it was bone stock but it can be very managible.
. the car will not behave like it was bone stock but it can be very managible.
I guess it all depends on how picky you are. Hell, I've spent over a year messing with the tuning on my little B1 and I'm still not 100% happy. I am the exception though, I'm VERY picky.For the most part, you can have most LS1 cams tuned to run great on the street. If you are the super picky type with your idle and such, then you might want to stick with a smaller cam.
Originally Posted by SouthFL.02.SS
Bad drivability = bucking, hunting for idle, engine stall, etc....
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From: nor cal (ripon)
Originally Posted by equandt
The hesitation sucks too. Nail the gas and for a split second the car feels like its going to fall on it's face...then all hell breaks loose and you light the tires.
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From: Atlanta, GA
with a decent stall, you'll have a higher idle, and a little more touchy freezing cold starts, but the car shouldn't stall/die once well tuned. you already have a stall that will keep you out of the misery band.. cam/boltons produced more power from 2500rpm and up and your stall should likewise keep you up and over that range most of the time.
Car will not buck at reasonable speeds with the TC locked up even with cam. Surging/etc is all in the tuning. that being sad it is more difficult to tune an A4 with mild/big cam.
Don't expect to throw in a 112lsa 224 cam and expect your car to just be happy. It probably wont idle for ****, stall on cold days alot,etc. Gotta get a good tune in there to keep her happy
Car will not buck at reasonable speeds with the TC locked up even with cam. Surging/etc is all in the tuning. that being sad it is more difficult to tune an A4 with mild/big cam.
Don't expect to throw in a 112lsa 224 cam and expect your car to just be happy. It probably wont idle for ****, stall on cold days alot,etc. Gotta get a good tune in there to keep her happy
Originally Posted by SouthFL.02.SS
OK, with an A4, you're gonna have to go with a higher stall.
Big cams produce their power higher up in the rev range. Below 2000 RPM's they're basically useless, so you need to complement them with stall. For M6 guys, we need to throw in deeper gears (I'm running 4.10's).
Tuning has come a long way in letting us run big cams on the street.
Bad drivability = bucking, hunting for idle, engine stall, etc....
Big cams produce their power higher up in the rev range. Below 2000 RPM's they're basically useless, so you need to complement them with stall. For M6 guys, we need to throw in deeper gears (I'm running 4.10's).
Tuning has come a long way in letting us run big cams on the street.
Bad drivability = bucking, hunting for idle, engine stall, etc....
I had the G5X2 and was quite happy with it. Idled at ~850-900, no stalling, no starting issues, no idle hunting, worked great with the AC and has great throttle responce even at 2000 rpms. All on a mail order LG tune. I only had one issue and that was ~1200 rpms idleing down the road, it would start to buck, but that because of the cam.
A good tune can make a big cam easy to drive.I run a 236/230 with .600 lift and it idles at 900rpm smoothly,never stalls and drives great.My car drove worst with a TR 220 and no tuning.
I agree all above. it boils down to this. what do you want your car to do?
if this is a daliy driver (and your over 28) I'm guessing you would like something
with the least amount of idiosyncrosies(spelling??) anyway, i have never been a
big fan of lumpy cams, but i think tuning should help make things more agreeable
if this is a daliy driver (and your over 28) I'm guessing you would like something
with the least amount of idiosyncrosies(spelling??) anyway, i have never been a
big fan of lumpy cams, but i think tuning should help make things more agreeable
Tuning is the key... along with a higher stall converter on an auto car. My buddy had a big cam with an auto (non-LS1) and stock converter. The car died a lot. Tuning and a converter = ran like a raped ape 
It was really fun after that.
My car has been a little tricky to get the car to idle right (especially what warm). Takes a little playing with it and tuning. Not too hard though.
Steve
It was really fun after that.My car has been a little tricky to get the car to idle right (especially what warm). Takes a little playing with it and tuning. Not too hard though.
Steve
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From: Dallas TX
Originally Posted by Country Boy
I had the G5X2 and was quite happy with it. Idled at ~850-900, no stalling, no starting issues, no idle hunting, worked great with the AC and has great throttle responce even at 2000 rpms. All on a mail order LG tune. I only had one issue and that was ~1200 rpms idleing down the road, it would start to buck, but that because of the cam.
If you don't need to do that, or anythign like that, you may be a canditate for a big cam.
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From: Miami
Originally Posted by TTopJohn
That's basically it - if you get too big of a cam, no matter how much tuning is done, you're not going to be able to idle up hill with your foot on the brake at under 5mph in a downtown parking garage. Instead of going, the car will buck and stall.
If you don't need to do that, or anythign like that, you may be a canditate for a big cam.
If you don't need to do that, or anythign like that, you may be a canditate for a big cam.
Oh, you'd be suprised.
But from your description, sounds like you're talkin' A4, so I can't speak for that.
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From: Jersey boy
i dont know about anyone else but i consider gas mileage to be a factor in driveablility and the bigger the cam, the more your gas mileage drops. like the rest of the issues, tuning can help but it wont be = to stock
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From: Chester, VA
Originally Posted by ShadowLightCSU
It can get worse?
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From: Atlanta, GA
huge overlap and low rpm's causes reversion of unburnt gas into the exhaust, this can then trip out the closed loop o2 system. Just takes careful tuning, and alot of it.
Then again when you put that 4400 rpm stall on an a4 driveability is less anyways
Then again when you put that 4400 rpm stall on an a4 driveability is less anyways