Hey guys i have been out of the car culture for quite a few year's now and just now getting back into a Fbody.I picked up a 2000 A4 Trans am which is All new to me as i have never had a automatic so i am a little lost and seeking a little direction and recommendations.I have been reading and Studying but thought i would post this to get some dialog going and Try to Put together a good build that works well together.

The car is a daily driver and has a few mods so far to being with,Full exhaust,3.73 gears,ls6 intake,PP TB and MAf and air lid, stock 853 heads

I would love to do a head and cam right off the bat but money will only allow me to do do the cam and stall right off until next spring .


So far i have been looking at the 228r,Torquer v3, 232/233 from TSP as i am familiar with there products but i am open to any suggestion's.My only Needs is something that i dont have to rev to 7k to make power,Be fun on the streets and be competitive.

As i live in a rural area so we are no where as fast as you guys .If you have a mid 11 car you flying around here lol.I went 12.00 flat cam only Torquer v2 in my old m6 car with 10 bolt so hoping with a good cam and stall i can get mid to high 11s and be drivable with a good LOPE ,as i am a sound ***** i love a nasty idle.Just looking for some opinions and ideas from my Fellow members

 

TICK, SNS torqueMAX Stage 2, with a 3400-3600 stall TC.

http://www.tickperformance.com/tick-...1-ls6-engines/

 

I'm a little biased but I recommend the streetsweeper ht with a 3600 stall. This is the combo I currently have and love it. It has great street manners and makes plenty of use able power without spinning it to 7k, which is what you said you don't want to do. It also has a nice chippy idle which is a plus.

 

i vote 228r cam and Yank 4k stall. then when you can afford heads get some good 243s or AFRs if funds allow

 

If you have any questions or are thinking about possibly using one of our cams please feel free to give me a call at the shop or shoot me an email to the address in my signature.

We have several great camshafts that would work very well. I like to base which camshaft is best for a customer on more than just their HP and E.T. goals as well. Your driving habits and first hand experience with driving cammed vehicles plays a large role in the camshafts I recommend for street cars.

Worst thing that can happen IMO is you end up with a huge camshaft because it makes big dyno numbers and then you're unhappy with the way it drives or performs because you didn't have the best supporting modifications for the cam. Or you weren't properly forewarned in regards to how it will drive on the street.

Hope this helps!

 

I have some experience with driving Cammed ls cars.My last car was a bolt on and 232/234 595 598 112lsa cammed m6.It drove great and ran decent times for a full weight car.Launching easy best i could get was a 12.02 @116.75mph without breaking the rear or Spinning through 2nd

My driving habits are pretty routine,I live in a rural area so they are not a lot of stop and go driving.A lot of back road driving though

I am a sound ***** so to speak as i love for a cam to sound nasty at idle,But finds idle pretty quickly .My biggest concern though above all is surging I don't think i could handle a lot of that.With a m6 car and gears you can do away with most of that But with the auto it worries me but i do plan to throw some 3.73 gears in in also


I sent you a email a few days ago martin and was looking into your SNS Stage 2 LS2 camshaft 231/235 .617/.621 111+2 you recommended

 

Here is what I would do.

Trick Flow 220's from Tick
Cam in the 227-229 range on the intake dur.
FTI 3800 stall

 

This is what i did .
1. start with the heads get the best heads you can . I went with afr 205 milled down to 59cc to bump the cr up.
2. I went with the f13 cam on a 114 lsa since i have an auto. i like the cam motion lobs better
3. Let that motor breath now that you are putting all that air in there you have to get it out. i went with 1 7/8 kooks header "biggest ones out at the time " high flow cats through borla adj. cat back. you can go true duals and i do think that is better but i wanted a sys. i could put on my self thats why i didnt go true duals.
4. Get a good stall from a good company. I went with circle d but i have had Yank before. both are good but i went with a circle d with a 3600 stall in this car for my own reasons. I talked with Chris about what kind of str i wanted in this stall and have never looked back.
5. some good sticky tires in the back. I run Drag radial on mine as street tires

With that set up right there and the right bolt on's i made right at 448 hp and 445 lbs. made power everywhere and gobs of torque down low. i could and would out run many cars that made more hp then me but i had more power under the curve and way more torque to get me moving out of the hole or even from a roll.

 

Here is exactly what I would do.

Instead of the 3.73's, I'd recommend Motive 3.90's. Years ago Motive used to have all of their 10 bolt ring and pinions made in Italy. Extremely high quality and a great product that had the reputation of being extremely quiet with the proper wipe pattern.

I'm not sure when it happened, but a few years ago they moved their production of 10 bolt ring and pinions to Malaysia, China, India, and other Eastern countries. All aside from the 3.90. The 10 bolt 7.5" 3.90 ring and pinion is still made in Italy and if you were to order a Motive 4.11 and a Motive 3.90 and compare the two, it's immediately apparent which gear set is of the higher quality. They are even different colors!

The 3.90 with a lock up converter and OD trans will still cruise at a very respectable RPM. It will also be a quieter gear set if set up properly along with supplying better performance than a 3.73 ring and pinion.

We are dealers for FTI torque converters and I highly recommend them for their quality and efficiency. It's not unusual for us to order a 3800-4200rpm converter and have it drive like other companies 3200-3400 stall converters. Great example is the last 4000rpm FTI 9.5" 4L60E converter we installed. Idle RPM was 850-900rpm IIRC. Idling in P, if you dropped the gear selector into D and let off the brake pedal it will slowly start to creep forward it was that tight and efficient. When you put that gas pedal to the floor though and went WOT it immediately flashed and jumped up to 4000rpm.

I'd recommend one of their 9.5" 3800rpm "hard hit" billet lock up converters paired with our 231/235 .617/.621 111+2 SNS Stage 2 camshaft.

IMO this would be everything you're looking for and there is no reason in the world that with a 1.5-1.7 60' and sub 2500 DA that this combo wouldn't run 11.50-11.70's consistently.

 

3.73 ratio with a ~4000 stall is a tried and true combo that performs behind just about any engine. An unlocked high stall torque converter will soak up most of the behavior problems even the best tuned big cammed cars have, much better than a manual trans anyway.

 

That's some good info on the 3.90s.

And I agree. A 3800-4200 stall, 3.90s, and a low 230s duration cam will be a lot of fun. Add some TFS 220s, a FAST 92/102 and get the exhaust setup right and it'll be fast.

 

If it was my car, I would stay with the stock 3.23 gears. Unless you have new drag radials/slicks, 1st gear will be useless.

Russ Kemp

 

I appreciate the good information Guys.I will be running a similar exhaust to what my old trans am had. 1 3/4 LT headers ,2.5Xpipe no cats and over the axle Tail pipe's

So from the information here i think i have got the combo together i will be going with

Full Exhaust
ls6 intake
lid
SNS Stage 2 camshaft.
3.90 Gears
3800 Fti convertor
And some ET streets. had them on my old Car and was Very pleased with them
I was thinking of possibly cleaning up the old stock heads (853) while i was in there and perhaps letting a local shop mill them if it would be any Decent gain.

Also i was reading a few people were Recommending a Trans cooler and also if i recall Correct a Deeper Transmission pan?Would this be a wise investment or unneeded.IF i need anything else for the Convertor install Just let me know so i can start Getting the parts ordered .I Truly appreciate the help

 

Trans cooler is a necessity. Figure out where you want to mount it, and install the biggest bar and plate cooler you can fit. I run the truck pan with a drain plug.

 

If you have the cash, send your 853 heads to AI or TEA and let them port them. You'll gain a solid 40rwhp and maybe more. Cost is around $1k for that.

 

i am still kicking around the idea of perhaps sending them off to have them worked or not.I will have the heads off as i will be installing new lifters while i am into it so it would be a good time to either do some work on them or install a new set just depends on funds at that time.I know i would like to bump the compression a little over stock



I did not think it would have been that much to have the stockers worked on ,At that price would it be more beneficial to just invest in a aftermarket head for just a couple hundred more

 

If your are actually going to buy heads and not have the 853's ported, go with the TFS 220's.