About cams: bigger is faster, right?
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Quad Cities, IL
About cams: bigger is faster, right? Disclaimer -(of course tuning is most important)-
I have been thinking on the topic of street cams and big cams. Goals that I would want when choosing a cam. It was then that I wondered, when your racing on the street wouldnt the smaller street cam only have an advantage during the first gear of the race. After that the big cam car is up in RPMs and proceeding to walk. I mean when your racing you are going ***** out if your at the track or on the street.(unless your sandbaggin)
Big cams own at the track, wouldnt they own on the street just the same?
I have been thinking on the topic of street cams and big cams. Goals that I would want when choosing a cam. It was then that I wondered, when your racing on the street wouldnt the smaller street cam only have an advantage during the first gear of the race. After that the big cam car is up in RPMs and proceeding to walk. I mean when your racing you are going ***** out if your at the track or on the street.(unless your sandbaggin)
Big cams own at the track, wouldnt they own on the street just the same?
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 642
Likes: 0
From: Quad Cities, IL
Trust me, I have. I'm asking what other peoples opinions are. Does it make sense to you? If the big cams have more "up top" wont they be there in 1 twist of the needle and remain in their sweet spot until the race ends.
This thread could be me having second thoughts over a 224/228 I had decided on.
This thread could be me having second thoughts over a 224/228 I had decided on.
If the "big" cam makes more power and hence torque between your shift points and you optimize your car via gears, stall etc....then YES the "big" cam will be faster. Remember there is a point where "big" becomes too big. 
Originally Posted by cantdrv65
Remember there is a point where "big" becomes too big.
I started out with a g5x3 and now i have a t-rex... a smaller cam than mine like a tr 224 will have more lowend but with my experience its still not enough to overpower my cam.
its all about preference and I prefer to have ricers **** whenever they hear my car at the stoplight
its all about preference and I prefer to have ricers **** whenever they hear my car at the stoplight
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Originally Posted by Cstraub
"Combination" owns the track and street and water. . . .
Originally Posted by Cstraub
"Combination" owns the track and street and water. . . .
Nate
Heres my .02. I have a Comp 222/224 .566/.568 112 and love it. Its putting 400hp to the wheels with bolt-ons(no heads), and I drive my car every day all day with no problems at all. Another thing I like is the fact that my power band starts at a lower rpm than the bigger cams. That way I can use the power more often, being that its an every-day driver. On the other hand, when I decide to put a new set of AFR 205's in the car, I will be changing cams as well. But for what I have done to the car now, the smaller cam works great.
Thats the common misconception that most people make. Bigger is not always better. Bigger is just different. The bigger the cam, the longer its gonna take to hit power and the higher you are going to have to rev to get peak power. So on a strip car, a big *** cam is perfect because they can wind the gears all the way out, and they are not driving the car but a 1/4mi. so they dont have to worry about being comfortable on the way to work. On the other hand, A smaller cam will have the power almost right away, so you dont have to wait for it. Plus, you dont have to rev to 7000 RPM to get the most out of it. Also, a smaller cam will drive almost like stock. And you can get it so have a little lope by lowering the idle. As everyone else said, it depends on your own preference, and whether you wanna deal with driviablity.
Originally Posted by nokeman
Thats the common misconception that most people make. Bigger is not always better. Bigger is just different. The bigger the cam, the longer its gonna take to hit power and the higher you are going to have to rev to get peak power. So on a strip car, a big *** cam is perfect because they can wind the gears all the way out, and they are not driving the car but a 1/4mi. so they dont have to worry about being comfortable on the way to work. On the other hand, A smaller cam will have the power almost right away, so you dont have to wait for it. Plus, you dont have to rev to 7000 RPM to get the most out of it. Also, a smaller cam will drive almost like stock. And you can get it so have a little lope by lowering the idle. As everyone else said, it depends on your own preference, and whether you wanna deal with driviablity.
If you have the correct stall, suspension, gearing, tires, bolt ons, and valvetrain upgrades a large cam could own on the street. Do NOT just go out and buy a huge cam, put it in, and be horribly upset when it's not nearly as powerful/fast as you wanted it to be.
With a smaller cam (224, 228R for example) you can still make more power then 90% of car's on the road. It will also require fewer supporting mods (suspension and valvetrain wise), a smaller stall and smaller gears.
With a larger cam (X4, TRex) you will make more power than most anything on the street. However, you have to have a huge list of valvetrain and suspension mods, a huge stall (which some don't like to DD), and more gear (bye gas mileage) if you want it to be what it was meant to be. So, if you do both the small and the large cam the proper way (the large cam WILL cost more money to setup right), the large cam will kill the smaller cam.
Oh, and for those who talk about losing low end with a big cam, he has a 4500 stall. I don't think he'll be seeing the low end that much.
With a smaller cam (224, 228R for example) you can still make more power then 90% of car's on the road. It will also require fewer supporting mods (suspension and valvetrain wise), a smaller stall and smaller gears.
With a larger cam (X4, TRex) you will make more power than most anything on the street. However, you have to have a huge list of valvetrain and suspension mods, a huge stall (which some don't like to DD), and more gear (bye gas mileage) if you want it to be what it was meant to be. So, if you do both the small and the large cam the proper way (the large cam WILL cost more money to setup right), the large cam will kill the smaller cam.
Oh, and for those who talk about losing low end with a big cam, he has a 4500 stall. I don't think he'll be seeing the low end that much.