01' Cam suggestions
I have an 01 SS, A4. The car is stock, only mods so far are a lid and cat back.
I plan on putting in long tubes and an off-road Y pipe next spring but was also considering a cam swap. I'd like something that will make decent power with the stock heads but has good driveability and idle characteristics. I will most likely add a good set of heads later on. I know it would be ideal to do both at the same time matching the 2 but I don't think it's within my budget next year. I don't know if it's possible but is there a cam which would work well with my stock heads and with different (bigger) heads later on but without sacraficing driveability ?
Thanks !
Look into the FM13 as mentioned above. It's a killer cam.
TSP's 233/233 is another great cam.
If you want a bit less, then TSP's 228R or 225 are other options.
Today's benchmark/all-around cam is pretty much the TR224.
Going to a 224 cam from the stock (197/207) cam in my 01' just seems really big. I guess maybe it's my old school sbc thinking that makes me think that a 224 or 230 cam is huge.
My car is not a daily driver and I get to the track on average 5-6 times a year. Since it's mostly street driven I want something that's going to idle nice and not compromise driveability while still giving me a decent low to mid range rpm gain. I'll probably be sticking with the stock heads for a while, when I decide to upgrade I wouldn't have a problem swapping cams again so I'm bascially looking for something that will work well with my current setup which is bascially a lid, cat back, and soon long tubes and no cats. What you're saying is something with a 224 int dur. is normal for these cars and very streetable. Am I correct in thinking I will need a custom PCM tune ? I was considering a Predator programmer, I assume I'll be able to find someone pretty easily who has a tune for this cam ?
thanks
~clueless
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In most cases, tuning is needed. In all cases, tuning is beneficial.
Predator is working nowadays with mail order tunes customized for your setup.
The best tuning method is LS1 Edit/HP Tuners on a Dyno (most ls1 performance shops offer dyno tuning). Actually the best tuning method is on the street with a wideband, but few people have their cars setup for that.
Many of the reputable shops will give you a mail order tune on your PCM if you send them your PCM- especially if you purchase their proprietery cam. The turnaround is rather quick.
Tuning has come a long way. It used to be that A4 cars would almost need a 114lsa cam, but 112 is common in an A4 nowadays.
Make sure you have at least 3.23 gears out back, and a stall is very, very important.
It seems that the most popular cams range between 224 and 230 in duration nowadays, so 224 is not large by any means.
Anyhow, good luck!
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for the past two and a half years now, most of my friends have had LS1 cars... im swapping a LS1 into my 3rdgen convertible right now actually.. lol.
from a LS1s point of view, the 224 cam is kinda tiny... its the "RV cam" of the LS1 world.. i have a close friend who just put one in... it idles like stock(almost). if you didnt know EXACTLY what you were listening for, you wouldnt notice it.
on the stock tune with a manual, he was running mid 11s... no tune or anything other then letting the car "learn"
now i know theres power to be had with that cam by simply tuning it, but you can just stick it in and drive around. obviously this isnt ideal, but its possible.
now if this car is NOT a daily driver, but a street driven toy, i would be looking at some slightly larger cams... they will lope a little, and will need to be tuned, but they will still be streetable and give even larger gains.
but before you do any cam mods, i would reccomend a stall... i have another friend with a stock 99... with a 4200 stall and 2.73 gears, he does high 11s.
these motors make so much more power on the top end, that if you use a large stall, you'll drop major time at the track.
with the lockup, it has almost no effect on street driving.. his 99 is a daily driver. and his only car.. its had the stall over 2 years. lol.
anyway, just food for thought.
im going with a TR224 in my daily driven, road trip doing, engine swap.
! Good Luck 




