Upgraded cam choice for my setup
Martin at Tick told me that that cam he recommended would have similar manners as the cam that I have except I will not be able to drive around at 1500rpms in 5th gear or whatever. My car is a 5spd so only time its ever that low is idle or coming from a stop but my 1st gear is short so wont be there long. I've seen folks with a similar cam and they dont complain and say they drive fine as well. Is there something I dont know?
I had a 10* overlap cam in my 418, and hated the light throttle/low RPM buck/surge. I now have 4* overlap cam with the same intake & exhaust duration. The car drives 10x better and has more mid range to top end power due to the earlier exhaust valve opening. And I'm changing to a 0* overlap cam with the same int & exh duration in a few weeks.
Russ Kemp
So more cubes means less timing you can run? I have 11.5:1 CR right now and we went up to 29 degrees and it still ran just didnt make any more power so we just put it to 27 degrees and left it there.....93 octane but I have a 366 cube.
The main drive-ability issure (buck/surge) with high overlap cams occurs at light throttle/low RPM. Actually that Tick cam will probably surge less in 5th at 1500 than in 4th, as the engine is under more load in 5th thus less reversion.
I had a 10* overlap cam in my 418, and hated the light throttle/low RPM buck/surge. I now have 4* overlap cam with the same intake & exhaust duration. The car drives 10x better and has more mid range to top end power due to the earlier exhaust valve opening. And I'm changing to a 0* overlap cam with the same int & exh duration in a few weeks.
Russ Kemp
I had a 10* overlap cam in my 418, and hated the light throttle/low RPM buck/surge. I now have 4* overlap cam with the same intake & exhaust duration. The car drives 10x better and has more mid range to top end power due to the earlier exhaust valve opening. And I'm changing to a 0* overlap cam with the same int & exh duration in a few weeks.
Russ Kemp
11 Second Club
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,541
Likes: 15
From: South Florida
Just to clear up, Martin Smallwood is no longer at Tick Performance. I highly recommend him as he spec'd my cam.
If I were in this situation I would leave well enough alone. It all comes down to what you want.
Think of a see-saw. On a simple note.. the bigger the cam, more overlap, may give you more power/top end, but at the cost of driveability/low end.
If I were in this situation I would leave well enough alone. It all comes down to what you want.
Think of a see-saw. On a simple note.. the bigger the cam, more overlap, may give you more power/top end, but at the cost of driveability/low end.
Last edited by SoFla01SSLookinstok; Feb 2, 2016 at 12:20 PM.
I've retuned cars that were dyno tuned and all had audible spark knock by the time the car was in 3rd or 4th gear @WOT. And they all had between 27*-28* spark timing. One car that was dyno tuned at a famous LS shop had 28* timing and had the knock sensors turned OFF!
Russ Kemp
If you were on the dyno, then yes you can add more timing & pick up some power. This is because a dyno run only takes a few seconds, not enough time to get the combustion chambers hot enough to cause spark knock.
I've retuned cars that were dyno tuned and all had audible spark knock by the time the car was in 3rd or 4th gear @WOT. And they all had between 27*-28* spark timing. One car that was dyno tuned at a famous LS shop had 28* timing and had the knock sensors turned OFF!
Russ Kemp
I've retuned cars that were dyno tuned and all had audible spark knock by the time the car was in 3rd or 4th gear @WOT. And they all had between 27*-28* spark timing. One car that was dyno tuned at a famous LS shop had 28* timing and had the knock sensors turned OFF!
Russ Kemp
Why the hell would you need those?
If you were on the dyno, then yes you can add more timing & pick up some power. This is because a dyno run only takes a few seconds, not enough time to get the combustion chambers hot enough to cause spark knock.
I've retuned cars that were dyno tuned and all had audible spark knock by the time the car was in 3rd or 4th gear @WOT. And they all had between 27*-28* spark timing. One car that was dyno tuned at a famous LS shop had 28* timing and had the knock sensors turned OFF!
Russ Kemp
I've retuned cars that were dyno tuned and all had audible spark knock by the time the car was in 3rd or 4th gear @WOT. And they all had between 27*-28* spark timing. One car that was dyno tuned at a famous LS shop had 28* timing and had the knock sensors turned OFF!
Russ Kemp
Launching!
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 225
Likes: 1
From: Fargo, ND
My car has 14 degrees of overlap and I have zero issues driving down the interstate at 1500rpm. Drive it everyday in the summer.
All the drivablity issues has to do with the tuner. Go to a tuner with a Mustang dyno so it can be loaded and drivability tuned, or find one that spends time actually tuning the car the right way, rather than just at wide open throttle on a dynojet for a number.
You will be MUCH happier if all you are concerned about is how the car drives IMO especially for a weekend warrior.
All the drivablity issues has to do with the tuner. Go to a tuner with a Mustang dyno so it can be loaded and drivability tuned, or find one that spends time actually tuning the car the right way, rather than just at wide open throttle on a dynojet for a number.
You will be MUCH happier if all you are concerned about is how the car drives IMO especially for a weekend warrior.
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To be clear, I spent quite a bit of time explaining to the OP that I felt his engine made respectable power already and that he would lose driving manners with the cam I recommended. I explained to him thoroughly how the larger cam would affect the driving manners of the car, and what to expect in terms of performance gains.
I felt I conveyed to the OP that there is always a give and take relationship when it comes to smaller and larger camshafts and what to expect when installing a larger cam and removing a smaller cam.
My car has 14 degrees of overlap and I have zero issues driving down the interstate at 1500rpm. Drive it everyday in the summer.
All the drivablity issues has to do with the tuner. Go to a tuner with a Mustang dyno so it can be loaded and drivability tuned, or find one that spends time actually tuning the car the right way, rather than just at wide open throttle on a dynojet for a number.
You will be MUCH happier if all you are concerned about is how the car drives IMO especially for a weekend warrior.
All the drivablity issues has to do with the tuner. Go to a tuner with a Mustang dyno so it can be loaded and drivability tuned, or find one that spends time actually tuning the car the right way, rather than just at wide open throttle on a dynojet for a number.
You will be MUCH happier if all you are concerned about is how the car drives IMO especially for a weekend warrior.