Cam for A4 w/ no stall?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 38
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From: Phoenix, AZ
Cam for A4 w/ no stall? Anyone tried a cam in an A4 with no stall? Are there any cams that would improve power without laggin the crap out of the low end on an A4 w/ 3.23's and no stall? I dont want to mess with the tranny just yet. If so, which ones...and what could i expect? The car is a daily driver and will see nitrous in the near future. Thanks
TECH Resident
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 859
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From: here, ny
its been said a million times, converter will net u 5-6 tenths, while a cam small enough to work without a converter will be worth 2 or 3 at the most... get a TCI sf3000 and a tr224/114 and a good tune and u'll gain a good second with traction... the other question is do u want a cam that idles stock like, or have a small lope, or big and lumpy?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 38
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From: Phoenix, AZ
Really dont care what it idles like. I realize "stall first" is the road most traveled, but I hate messing with trannys when everything is perfect. Just had bad luck when doing tranny work you might say. Just wondering if good gains can be seen without the converter? Thanks
car should fly on top end... but its pretty much gonna be dead off the line since it wont have the tq. Its gonna lag more than likely untill you get into the cams powerband also. Thats why most get stalls to go along with the cam.
To me the cam is to much headache and a stall owuld be the simplier choice to go with. When adding the cam, you gonna tune the car to perfection to see the best gains. Idle could be crappy or it could be perfect. Cam swaps are hit or miss.. some love.. some wanna sell the cars 3months afterwards cause of the headaches.
most that get converters are smiling 24/7
By you post, im guessing you already know you should get a converter. Yes people have done just cams and no stalls... most jsut do that for the sound. Im sure the car will fly from like 45mph with a cam and n20 though. Anything below 45 and its gonna be dead and you gotta play catch up
good luck
whispers in a silent voice "get a friggin stall first LMAO" hehehehhee
To me the cam is to much headache and a stall owuld be the simplier choice to go with. When adding the cam, you gonna tune the car to perfection to see the best gains. Idle could be crappy or it could be perfect. Cam swaps are hit or miss.. some love.. some wanna sell the cars 3months afterwards cause of the headaches.
most that get converters are smiling 24/7
By you post, im guessing you already know you should get a converter. Yes people have done just cams and no stalls... most jsut do that for the sound. Im sure the car will fly from like 45mph with a cam and n20 though. Anything below 45 and its gonna be dead and you gotta play catch up
good luck
whispers in a silent voice "get a friggin stall first LMAO" hehehehhee
11 Second Club
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,524
Likes: 1
From: The South
Get a converter first!!!! BTW: If you don't feel like messing with the tranny why do you have no problem messing with the engine? If you don't want to mess with it yourself have a pro shop do it. I installed everything in my sig except for the converter and shift kit because I didn't want to screw with the tranny myself either.
I have a small cam with stock converter. Don't expect much track improvement by doing the same. All the small cam did was make it easier to 60 ft in the high 1.8s to low 1.9s. I was able to do 1.904 twice with the stock cam, but they'd normally be mid to hi 1.9s.
My best 1/8 ET improved slightly from hi 8.2s to an 8.200, but my 1/8 mph jumped to hi 88s low 89s from ~86. In the 1/4, I only gained 0.1 ET/1 mph. So the mph gains in the 1/8 didn't carry fully over into the 1/4.
Driveability improved with the small cam. Snappy part-throttle response, blah, blah, blah... The 3-2 downshift "dead spot" is NOT cured by the cam, but it did help it a bit.
If you are out to primarily improve your track numbers, steer clear from going this route. Do the converter first as mentioned above. I hope you gain some insight from my experience.
My best 1/8 ET improved slightly from hi 8.2s to an 8.200, but my 1/8 mph jumped to hi 88s low 89s from ~86. In the 1/4, I only gained 0.1 ET/1 mph. So the mph gains in the 1/8 didn't carry fully over into the 1/4.
Driveability improved with the small cam. Snappy part-throttle response, blah, blah, blah... The 3-2 downshift "dead spot" is NOT cured by the cam, but it did help it a bit.
If you are out to primarily improve your track numbers, steer clear from going this route. Do the converter first as mentioned above. I hope you gain some insight from my experience.
Last edited by nuzee; Jan 3, 2005 at 01:00 AM.
Launching!
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 233
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From: Dallas Texas
I'm running a CC 228\232 588\598 112 in my 99 A4 with no Tune and no Stall. The bottom end definatly isn't what it was before, but get the RPMs up and she will get up and scream. Right now i'm going back and forth on buying HPTuners or getting profesional tune, then I'll get a stall converter but the whole idle problem with a cam and no tune I'm going to get corrected before I spend the $ on a stall. Sorry no track or Dyno #'s yet.
Pacesetter LTs
custom 3" Y with high flow cats
slp lid
ported & polished TB
!air & !egr
flowmaster muffler
Predator
CC cam and retainers
NGK TR55 plugs
Pacesetter LTs
custom 3" Y with high flow cats
slp lid
ported & polished TB
!air & !egr
flowmaster muffler
Predator
CC cam and retainers
NGK TR55 plugs
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Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Phoenix, AZ
So will i emediately have idle problems with any cam until i have a tune? I am an old 5.0 mustang guy, and we put cams in stock cars all the time with no problems at all. As long as it wasnt a big cam, it would pick up good power without sacrificing drivability.
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Verdad Gallardo 11 Second Club
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: The South
Originally Posted by Spoolish
So will i emediately have idle problems with any cam until i have a tune?
i was thinking of installing a cam and no TC too 
my car sees the track 1-2 times a year and i am not trying to build a full out race car.
so, how big of a deal is it if you go with a cam and no TC.
i need to do some searches on the boards,
my car sees the track 1-2 times a year and i am not trying to build a full out race car.
so, how big of a deal is it if you go with a cam and no TC.
i need to do some searches on the boards,
My baby cam in my sig didn't do much until after full intake bolt-ons and MAC's w/ ORY. Once it was tuned, it made a big difference. I'd say do TC first before anything, then 3:73 or higher gears, then boltons, and then do the cam last. I did mine ALL *** backwards, but, it's all done now (least the basic normal mod stuff), so, it doesn't matter much.
Good luck and when you do a cam, even though I'm happy as hell with my TR220/220 on a 112 LSA, I'd probably would do a TR224/224 on a 114 if I had it to do over again .... love the 112, however, too much LSA for my upcoming Supercharger.
Good luck and when you do a cam, even though I'm happy as hell with my TR220/220 on a 112 LSA, I'd probably would do a TR224/224 on a 114 if I had it to do over again .... love the 112, however, too much LSA for my upcoming Supercharger.
