LS1 Junkie

So I've been all over this, and many other boards, reading all I can about cams and other peoples setup and I've come to one single conclusion. That is that they're are FAR to many cams and setups available for these motors! So I figured I'd attempt to post my goal along with some questions to further educate myself in my attempt to select my perfect cam.

My overall goal is to have on mean *** street car. I don't autox and am a casual drag racer. My goal has always been to make my car scary enough that the passenger need bring another change of underwear when riding in it. However, that goal is a little far fetched. Therefore I've settled on something a little more mild. I'm not a real "numbers" hunter. Personally I don't believe it matters, I mean what good is 700hp if you run a 14.2! That being said I have deicded, for now, to stick with just a cam swap and leave the 241's on for now. I drive a C5 M6 so it has 3.42's which I'd like to keep, but if necessary I'll upgrade to 3.90's. My car is an 02 so I have the LS6 intake already and I might consider upping it to a FAST 90/90 setup if I go with heads later on down the road.

Some of the cams I've been interested in are..natrually the MS3, G5X2, G5X3, TSP 233/239. Any suggestions would be great, the support on this board is awesome.

Also LSA has been throwing me for a loop. Take the MS3 for example, if I take that same and put it on a 114, would that spread the power out a little more giving me a wider torque band. I'm not looking for a really "peaky" cam which is why I was curious about spreading out the LSA. Any and all advice would be wonderful.

P.S. Flycutting is not an option.

1badA3Z

iTrader: (58)

I had a ms3 with 241s on my car,it ran pretty well,i think my cam was on a 112,i was pretty happy with the cam and didnt even have a good intake,just the stocker,hope this helps u some!

LS1 Junkie

Curious but what kind of power did you make?

MJD

iTrader: (1)

You don't have to go with a huge cam to get a "mean *** street car".

1badA3Z

iTrader: (58)

Mjd is right also,just build smart and do your homework before just settling for something!

LS1 Junkie

That's kinda why I'm posting this...anyone else any thoughts?

MJD

iTrader: (1)

Keep in mind the bigger cams will put your powerband further up in the RPM range. That's why guys run taller gears with these cams. Guys will say it all in the tune but I have a hard time buying that. If you add almost 40 on duration it's going to affect drivability. For a street car go with a middle of the road cam and instead of doing gears add a set of heads. You'll get more usable power for the street, have close to stock drivability, and be very fast. Think about it, how often are you gonna rev to 6500 on the street where these big cams shine? If you look you'll find dyno charts comparing bigger cams with a TR224. For low end power the 224 takes it everytime.

bad6as

iTrader: (17)

I might consider upping it to a FAST 90/90 setup if I go with heads later on down the road.


hey bud i think you should have some long tubes befor you do the cam, it will work but you wont be happy unless you went with the cam from thunder that was made for stock manifolds.

a couple other things you didnt say that would help with picking a cam. is the car your DD? do you want a chopy idle? stock like idle? how far do you want to rev? heads, n20 or FI later on? the more you tell us what you want and dont want and what your goals are "more in detail then a bad *** street car"

LS1 Junkie

A complete and utter valid point! Sorry I had been reading all day about cams and wrote that lastnight when I was a bit tired. My car is a DD but gas isn't a "major" factor to me, although I don't want an 8mpg setup either. I do run American Racing LT's already so I deff have some of the supporting mods. I'd deff consider a FAST intake later on, but i'm not too dead set on heads. The gears, I figured I'd need them period. The reason I threw the idea of the MS3 out there is because I want something that's proven, and proven with stock and aftermarket heads. I'm not looking for a crazy idle, so my attempt is to keep the cam around a 113-115 LSA, which I believe the MS3 (or most TSP cams) seem to be available in. I'm deff not going for FI or juice, just a wicked street car but my goal is 450rwhp mark. I guess heads are a must then huh?

bad6as

iTrader: (17)

450 is very very hard to reach cam only, and hard to get with h/c

you cant base a cams idle off lsa. you base it off overlap. some cams with a bigger lsa 114-115 will lope harder then a cam with a lower lsa 110-112. but thats not all ways the case.

to find over lap add the intake and exhaust durration together. then double the lsa, then subratct the lsa number from the durration number
example
224/224 112 224+224=448 448 divided by two is 224 now 112+112=224 224-224= 0
a 224/224 on a 112 has zero* of overlap

a 236/242 on a 115 has 9* this will lope harder or have a rougher idle then the one above