I have been piecing my heads and cam build together and buying items when I find good deals. I was looking for 243/799 heads and ended up doing an impulse buy on 243's/sns torque max 3 mild/PAC .660 spring with lightweight btr tool steel retainers. Total impulse buy, but this was always a potential option for me but was leaning more towards the level 2. The mild version specs are 234/242 .61x/.61x 111+2 LSA.

Either way, some questions I have. Since I'm not finding a ton searching:

1.) Will I have PTV issues with stock or ported/polished 243's?
2.) How will driveability be? Lots of bucking and surging?
3.) With the mild version what kind of spring life is expected?

Those are my biggest concerns since I want good driveability and no fly cutting..I'd like to send the 243's off to AI because I'm sure it would benefit this cam. If I can stretch a fast 92 or 102 I will but may have to skip depending on budget.

Other supporting mods will be: racetronix pump w/ hotwire, factory GTP injectors (42lb), LS2 chain, chain adapter and dampener for ls1, ported/polished ls6 oil pump, morel 5315's, trunnion upgrade, all new bolts and gaskets, new lifter trays, everything else is listed in my sig.

I am trying to keep this somewhat budget, while trying to reach my goal of 420-440 rwhp, but still having decent driveability. I have had a futral f11 228/230 575/595 in the past with a **** tune and the bucking and surging was bad.. so I fear that being the norm with such a large cam. If needed I may even sell this cam and go to stage 2, but from the few reviews I've seen people are overall happy.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

You gonna have this done before our track day? I might be in trouble if you do haha

Clearance issues will depend on how much the heads are milled. Any idea on how much?

 

If the heads are not milled, you should be fine. I ran the SNS3 on stock 241s and cleared. It was tight, but it cleared. Driveability is decent, but its all in your tuner. That cam can be made to drive good with the right tuner. I really liked the cam, and it sounds great too!

 

Like previously said, if the heads haven't been milled your ptv will be fine. I am running the btr stage 4 with stock 243's and a fast 92. It has a decent tune and drives really well in my eyes. What exhaust set up and gears?

 

Lol not that quick! I'm sure the bottle would fix that for you!

Currently the heads haven't been milled and are stock off of a GTO.. I'd like to port and polish to complement the cam but depends on ptv.. I emailed tick also and they were able to give me an estimate on valve spring life of roughly 30k.. they also said I should be fine on PTV and may be able to slightly mill them and still be ok.. seems like it's got to be very close though.

I'm glad it sounds like driveability should be fine with a good tune also.. now I just need a tuner I can trust.. I currently run the 1 7/8" headers and on stock 10 bolt w/ 3.23.. I'd like to run 3.73 but don't really want to dump money into a 10 bolt then break it..

69gto96z do you remember what numbers you put down with yours or track times?

 

I'm just teasing ya lol Ironically my buddy has a setup almost identical to yours and he's debating on running heads off his buddy's 06 GTO along with a Torquer 2 cam. So if you end up doing this he will probably be very interested in your results

 

To achieve the best drivability, compression needs to be raised to a minimum of 11.0:1 with that size camshaft.

 

I had the torquer v2 in mind also but wasn't sure if I wanted that or a v4 or tick cam. If I end up going with this cam I'm sure it would give him an idea.

Brobinson, do you think it would be a drastic difference in driveability? Is it even possible to mill enough to achieve 11.0:1 without sacrificing ptv on a cam this size? Thanks for the info

 

You don't think that SNS 3 may be a tad big with the 3.23's? Maybe I'm way off base here but I would think something speced more like the Torquer 2 would be better overall with that gear

 

Maybe I would be better sticking with stock 243's or running the stage 2 to get more what I am looking for? I think I have the stall to match the cam but not the gears.. I agree..

 

With that said though if I ever break my stock rear end I will move up to 3.73 most likely.. that's why I'm here though.. to decide whether it's too big of a cam or not.. the deal was there so I took it, but open to selling to downsize

 

I totally forgot you already bought that cam. Sorry my bad. In this case I'd probably stick with it now, and if gears were desired, just do it later on when time and money permits

 

No problem.. even though I got a good package deal on the heads, cam, springs doesn't mean the cam is right for my set up.. I bought it while keeping in mind a may sell it and go with something different.. so still want to explore whether it's am good match.. it sounds bad *** in videos and a lot of people seem real happy in reviews but don't want to be that guy that has a donkey dick cam hitting 400 rwhp when I could achieve that with a basic 228 lol. I am also talking with tick on the side to get their opinion.

 

I was under the impression that gears weren't as important with a auto trans with a big stall?

 

Very true, but there's a point where the gears start become more important again if doing something like a big cam.

 

Fair enough

 

What gears and heads you running with that btr 4?

 

4.11's and 243's

 

We just put a SNS Stage III in our C5 this summer. Stock 241 heads, stock LS6 intake with 3.90 gears and Yank SS4000. Made 429 to the wheels on a dynojet. Picked up 57 horsepower over what we had which ran 11.58 @ 115. Hoping to run 10s NA in good air. We have a great tuner and driveability is "ok" but you do get some surging and bucking. Sound is amazing and power is incredible so I'll get used to it.

Scott

 

Thanks for the input guys.. tar heel do you think that the driveability would get annoying if trying to go out cruising oe making trips? Or is it mostly just in low rpms and city driving? I just don't want it stalling and making it less fun to drive.. 429 with ls6 and stock 241 is awesome! I'd day even with stock 243's I should be able to hit 420 easy