After an unsatisfying attempt at using the search function I've decided to ask a question that I am almost certain has been brought up before, but a few answers would help out.

A company on Ebay is selling comp cams for less than $330 shipped. Thats pretty freakin cheap. So, I started looking into what comp has to offer a little deeper. I really like the XR281HR (228/230 .571/.573 112), from what I remember from past threads people have expressed fairly good dyno numbers, at or near 400whp cam only, and decent driveability. Some others, however, are insistant on the XER lobe saying that its the nastiest and you shouldnt look at anything else. The XER281HR (232/234 .595/.598 112) (or V2) is the cam that the XER enthusiests always harp about when comparing it to a cam similar to the XR281HR.

From what I gather XER lobes and valve spring life dont go together in the same sentence. But they also produce more top end than most other lobes.

I plan to drive daily, frequent highway miles, but I do want something thats violent! The more I think about it, a cam that pulls to 7000 is fine with me, and with 4.10s the bottom end should be ok.

How much difference between the two cams are we talking? If there isnt a significant reason to go with the XER then I wont. I might actually enjoy a few more miles on my springs. But if someone says "i saw 25rwhp difference between the two cams, go XER" then that would justify it for me.

 

7000 rpm on your 98 is suicide unless you plan on swapping rod bolts. But on 98 blocks with less than adequate oiling it is still not a good idea.
If you want a cheap cam/spring look at Patriot combos like 226/226 with their dual setup. Good all around street/strip cam and shifts around 6500. (cheapest XE-R combo out there (all top notch parts as well)
If you want more lope but still want spring life, then Old Man cam

 

I was hoping you would reply, you seem to be on top of all my cam issues. Awesome. I would still like to get to 400 cam only though. I wouldnt plan on spinning it to 7000 on a regular basis, mainly just at the dyno. I feel the best shifting at 6500. I swear i have heard people talking about shifting thier v2 at 6500 though, and definatley seeing 400rwhp. Thats why its appealing to me.

 

wow, you weren't kidding about Patriot being cheap. I wish someone would have said something to me about them earlier! How well does their stuff hold up?

 

I have the 228/230 571/573 that you are talking about. I chose this cam over the xer because of the spring harshness. I love this cam. Sounds and performs great. It's about like stock power below 2000 but when it gets above that it really turns on. I have a vido of it if you want to hear it.

 

Their cams are Comp cams and their Gold springs are top notch. The reverse 230 cam they have is not so good, but the 226 is great.

 

Yeah I love my cam! I've put right at 25K miles on my whole combo in sig minus the built T56(500 miles) and BFG DRs (10K+ miles??), and never ever ever had a problem that was related to the cam, etc (well of course except I needed the tranny built of course..) It was a nice looking piece, and still looks nice, I pulled it out to check it a while back and it was still nice and shiny, no marks...

I was kindof worried because of the low price, but it didnt break on me lol..

I can break the DRs loose at 70ish every time too..which is always fun
Also, pulls hard till the needle is buried. You can cruise in 5th from 30 mph all the way till it tops out too...5th is really fun on the freeway...no need to downshift really unless you're racing..passing is as easy as pushing the gas pedal a little I love it.

The XER lobe does make a little more valvetrain noise under the hood I think but other than that, nothing...

The difference in power is very noticable from 1000K+ rpms after the tune, and 1500ish+ before the tune. Limiter is set at 6800 although I shift at or before 6500. Idle is great, even with A/C on.

It sounds mean at idle and cruising but in a stealth way...very sexy, until you push the pedal, then it sounds freakin mean...with open headers it broke window panes in my house at idle when I first cranked it. Everything rattled and vibrated. Although, it did quiet some once it was tuned, but in a good way.

Mileage is 18ish city with a mostly easy right foot. 400+ mi per tank every
time on the freeway. Best is 440ish if I remember correctly

And I got my cam itself for like $285 when they first came out.

BTW 93 octane all the way with frequent tuneups of course..and if you're worried about breaking the motor because it's a cheaper cam, fahgettaboutit....I beat the crap out of it just to make sure it wouldnt break unexpectedly..its a nice piece. Very worth it, and I think every LS1/LS6 should have one at least this big, but maybe not on an XER lobe if you are worried about changing springs often.(No probs with mine though at 25K miles..) Chew on that

 

lol just picture me banging the cam on the sidewalk

 

I have looked and looked for dyno numbers for the 226 cam and i cant fint squat! Mvvette97, have you dynod your car or do you know what kind of numbers your cam is suppost to make? The V2 is almost garunteed to make over 400rwhp with all bolt ons.

Stone4779, do you have any clips of your car idling or driving? Id love to hear it. I really like what you have been saying about it!

 

sorry man, haven't had it on a dyno or anything. just got it done about three weeks ago. I'm glad I went with the 228 because I know if I went smaller I would not of liked it.

 

you might troll the for sale section for a week or 2 till you find a cam in the 228-232 range. even on xer lobes good springs will last a long time ,15-20 K or more depending on who you talk to.

 

Im kinda with you again mvvette, I dont really want to go smaller than 228. For ever and ever i was just for sure that I was going to get a torquer v2, mainly because they sound awesome, they lay down monster dyo numbers, and they dont need to be spun very high. I might just go with the XER281HR. I havent done a cam before, but it sounds like most people dont stop with just one swap, they do one and then decide on something different and its no big deal to yank it back out and put another one in. So, i bet that if the XER281 was too big i would go down to the XR281. I could use the same spring, correct? As long as it was a double spring.

Slow trap, thats an awesome paint job!

 

I used the comp 918 single spring. I had the same problem deciding between the XER and the XR so since there wasn't that much differance I chose to have a little bit better reliability and got the XR. I don't regret it because it has a killer idle and love the power. Oh, if you are going to run stock heads that are not milled you will need the comp 7.425 pushrods. You can run the stock length 7.4 but you will have ticking noise because of the smaller base circle in the new cam.

 

I didnt know that. Wow! I thought most of these cams were made with the same base circle as the ls1 cam. I didnt think it was really an issue unless you were running an ls6 cam. Well, Im glad you said something.

 

Whats this I hear on XER lobe cams thrashing the valve springs? Thats true but it depends on the duration and lift of the cam and what type of springs you are using..

see my sig..I have an XER cam and there is no way my cam will not trash a patriot gold dual valve spring. 26k miles so far on my h/c raced hard many times, no issues

 

People have been routinely using stock or similarly sized pushrods in smaller base circle cams for years without issue, howvever getting things closer to stock preload levels will quiet things down a bit. Im actually running .011 more than stock preload with excellent results. 7.425 seems to be a good compromise.

Incidentally, Im running the XER281HR with Patriot Gold Duals, and have had great success.

 

thanks with something like a 228r or a t2 you will have room for improvement when you decide to get heads to.with a decent set of heads 450+ rwhp is possible.i put down 436 with the 228r with a set of tea 1.5s through a hooker catback so i would of had 440 + with a cutout.

 

mvvette97, what kind of power range do you feel with your XR281? Is it like the comp specs say "2200-7400?" That seems pretty high.

 

what does the +2 mean on someones signiture? Do you still use the dot to dot method of install or does the +2 mean something different?

 

+2 is the advance in the grind.
I run a TV2 232/234, .595/.598 113+0 in my 370cid
I used to run it in my 346 before that.
Cam only it is not such a great cam, sluggish in midrange trq (the 112+2) would be a bit better.
If you look around in the dyno section, cam only only put out ~360rwtrq but closer to 39x rwhp (with bolt ons and tuning).
Now slap a set of heads on and increase compression and DCR and that baby rumbles. Look at the numbers in my sig, and that is considered a medium cam for a 370.

A 23x range cam will spin till at least 6600+ shifts BTW mine can go past 7K. That depends on the valve events, LSA/ICL

If you are looking for a good cam only with good midrange till 6500 rpm, this is what I would recommend: 228/232, .588/.595 110+4 (Comp XE-R) custom grind.