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BTR Stage 1 Cam

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Old Apr 28, 2026 | 05:14 AM
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Default BTR Stage 1 Cam

This is for my own curiosity. I've noticed that all of a sudden quite a few 5.7 LS1 owners here in Australia are running the below BTR cam with 241 ported heads and LS6 manifolds.

217/23x .615/.636 113

Why I find that interesting is that years ago I was interested in running a sort of similar spec (more mild with much less -overlap) cam from EPS as shown below.

214/232 .605/.598 117

In the end availability to Australia stopped me considering it, but also many on USA 5.7 owners warned off running a cam like this. Reason was because it had a big split with so much exhaust duration. Not suitable for a street 5.7 with CNC 241 heads, LS6 manifold and short headers. It was a bad combination and would hurt low to mid range I was told. Stick to a small split or single pattern cams unless running Nitrous.

However, it had seemed that in the old days using something like the LPE cam below was a good thing. Very popular back then.

215/247 .629/.656 121

What's the current consensus towards cams like these for a basic 5.7 nowadays? Is a big split/ lots of exhaust duration a big no no? How about more lift on the exhaust like the BTR?


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Old May 1, 2026 | 08:44 PM
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I have run the Lingenfelter version, which is the original. It's the GT11 which is 215/231 118. Absolutely rocked, loved it, but the lobes are very aggressive so you to be on point with setup. The BTR stage 1, Hawks Cheatr and others are all similar versions of it. The basics of the grind work, it idles like stock and makes power everywhere to about 62-6400rpm.
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Old May 3, 2026 | 10:38 AM
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Since I never cammed my LS1, due to an engine swap, I'm not totally informed about LS1 cam specs. That said, it seems like there's a huge split on the I/E duration specs. Is this common? I don't recall splits that large from years back, but maybe this is newer tech?
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Old May 3, 2026 | 02:43 PM
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Summit Ghost Cam is another good choice.
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Old May 3, 2026 | 03:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Pulse Red
This is for my own curiosity. I've noticed that all of a sudden quite a few 5.7 LS1 owners here in Australia are running the below BTR cam with 241 ported heads and LS6 manifolds.

217/23x .615/.636 113

Why I find that interesting is that years ago I was interested in running a sort of similar spec (more mild with much less -overlap) cam from EPS as shown below.

214/232 .605/.598 117

In the end availability to Australia stopped me considering it, but also many on USA 5.7 owners warned off running a cam like this. Reason was because it had a big split with so much exhaust duration. Not suitable for a street 5.7 with CNC 241 heads, LS6 manifold and short headers. It was a bad combination and would hurt low to mid range I was told. Stick to a small split or single pattern cams unless running Nitrous.

However, it had seemed that in the old days using something like the LPE cam below was a good thing. Very popular back then.

215/247 .629/.656 121

What's the current consensus towards cams like these for a basic 5.7 nowadays? Is a big split/ lots of exhaust duration a big no no? How about more lift on the exhaust like the BTR?
what is most important to you? Top end power or low end? All of the cams discussed here are top end. Power 3500+

I like the btr hot rod more than stage 1. A little lower lift on exhaust. 217, 24x, 618, 608 114

But like I said in the other thread, you want a street car right? Btr stage 2 truck v3 has like -3.5 overlap just like these top end cams and maybe even less overlap.

Watch this video and tell me what you want. The stage 2 I mentioned is better than the truck norris down low and almost as good up top. See this chart that Brian himself provided me. I'll likely go stage 3 truck because it equals TN down low and closes the gap up top on the stage 1 ls1/ls2, but at +1 overlap, that's more than you want. Stage 2 truck would be perfect for you i think. You would lose a little up top from your tsp 216/220 cam but gain a lot down low. With a stage 1 ls1/ls2 or hot rod cam, you would likely lose some power down low compared to tsp cam but gain up top, which is likely not what you are going for.

Man if you could deal with a little more overlap, stage 3 truck would rock and take better advantage of your cnc heads then stage 2, but your heads would help all cams, just to different degrees.


Brian's chart: TN vs stage 2 truck vs stage 3 truck


Truck norris vs btr stage 1 ls1/ls2 v2 from video


Last edited by Abs; May 4, 2026 at 12:06 AM.
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Old May 3, 2026 | 05:16 PM
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I've got the older BTR stage 2, 227/234 car cam and it's fine for the street. I'd be afraid of going too small in a car vs a truck that needs torque down low due to higher curb weight.

Last edited by wannafbody; May 3, 2026 at 09:24 PM.
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Old May 3, 2026 | 06:41 PM
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Originally Posted by wannafbody
I've got the older BTR stage 2, 227/234 car cam and it's fine for the street. I'd be afraid of going too small in a car vs a truck that needs torque down low to to higher curb weight.
It's not like you gain a ton of low end torque anyway with a truck cam. You can maybe gain 20tq tops at the bottom with the smallest truck cam. Below the Truck Norris is 20nm / 15tq greater than the stock cam. And the red hot cam is 15+ tq lower than stock until 3600. The truck norris still gains 42kw or 56hp at the top and you extend the peak hp from 5600rpms to 6000. And the red hot gains 74kw or 99hp compared to stock and this looks like you gain 1000+ rpms on your redline, so it would be the best track car. The gains at the top here are also enhanced since this engine is a 6.0L with rectangle port heads.

Personally for a street car, I think the Truck Norris is better. And the btr stage 3 truck v3 has less overlap than the truck norris, same tq down low, and 10-15 more hp up top. It needs stronger than ls6 springs though because the lobes are slightly too aggressive for them, but @Pulse Red already has TSP duals. PAC 1218s or anything like that with 125lb seat pressure or greater and 300+ spring pressure would work.

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Old May 3, 2026 | 09:26 PM
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Out of those cams, I'd pick the Red Hot cam.
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Old May 4, 2026 | 12:08 AM
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Originally Posted by wannafbody
Out of those cams, I'd pick the Red Hot cam.
fair enough. It all comes down to how you drive your car and where you want your power and hp peak.
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Old May 4, 2026 | 12:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Abs
what is most important to you? Top end power or low end? All of the cams discussed here are top end. Power 3500+

I like the btr hot rod more than stage 1. A little lower lift on exhaust. 217, 24x, 618, 608 114

But like I said in the other thread, you want a street car right? Btr stage 2 truck v3 has like -3.5 overlap just like these top end cams and maybe even less overlap.

Watch this video and tell me what you want. The stage 2 I mentioned is better than the truck norris down low and almost as good up top. See this chart that Brian himself provided me. I'll likely go stage 3 truck because it equals TN down low and closes the gap up top on the stage 1 ls1/ls2, but at +1 overlap, that's more than you want. Stage 2 truck would be perfect for you i think. You would lose a little up top from your tsp 216/220 cam but gain a lot down low. With a stage 1 ls1/ls2 or hot rod cam, you would likely lose some power down low compared to tsp cam but gain up top, which is likely not what you are going for.

Man if you could deal with a little more overlap, stage 3 truck would rock and take better advantage of your cnc heads then stage 2, but your heads would help all cams, just to different degrees.

https://youtu.be/h390G6HYR8k?si=SLX7Laq7VWNoAlCs

Brian's chart: TN vs stage 2 truck vs stage 3 truck


Truck norris vs btr stage 1 ls1/ls2 v2 from video
Good post.

I'm not actually interested in any of theses cams for myself. But I'm very curious about the split of these style cams. As I said, I was told that was a bad thing by the US guys when I was looking 5 years ago. It sort of pushed me away from the EPS cam which had the right amount of overlap, lift and intake duration for me.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a cam with high intake duration and low lift. Something in that 214 - 218 on the intake is my limit. On the other hand, I wouldn't touch something like the Truck Norris myself. I'm not especially into the Truck Cam thing, but my car is heavy, so I need the low down performance on the street with a manual. Something like the popular 212/218 is a little too small for example. I like the middle ground of my cam. Could it be better? Who knows.

Yep, i have seen that video. His base cam is a very popular LS1 auto cam here in Australia. I have experienced it myself. I've since seen other Aussie shops now using the BTR Stage 1. It seems to be catching on. The specs on that BTR got me thinking about that earlier advice on big splits.

However, I'm not convinced that these are all true top end cams. I would suggest it depends on your combo and transmission. In theory, the EPS and LPE are suited to manual cars with stock or short headers and ported factory heads and a decent catback. Which I recall was the selling point of the LPE style cams back in the day. The EPS is an evolution of this.

The BTR is a bit different again, but still has that big split I am curious about. Of course, if you have an Auto transmission (especially with a stall) big heads, big headers and exhaust etc, that's different.

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