Jorday

I have an XE-R 228/236 112 in my car, and no matter what I do the startup problems will not go away. It's annoying but I can live with it. Other than that it behaves ok with some occassional surgeing and a stall once in a while.

Jordan

98_1LE

iTrader: (17)

My TR220/114 cam will not idle in first without a little bucking. If you want it to idle in gear, go with the '02 Z06 cam.

The Dragon

iTrader: (6)

YES.

I hate to do this since a LOT of companies that offer tuning might put contracts out on those that offer the knowledge there buuuuuut there is a forum that exists solely for tuning now

If you get anything other than stock-like drivability from a baby cam like mine then either the tune is grossly incomplete or other things are wrong with the car.

In short: there should be no reason why any of the cams mentioned in this thread couldn't be tuned to NEVER die at a light or on off-throttle deceleration; furthermore, cold or hot starts should be no problem as well.

JoSeY

I have a stock 346 w/the 230/227 112 X1 from MTI with A4, 4000 stall and Jayson tuning. The thing starts right up cold/hot doesn't matter and quite RARELY does it stall out. I'm not saying it will ever be as smoothe as what a stock cam would be but ****...if you wanted that smoothness then don't mod your car.

I don't mind having to tune my car or spend a lil extra doing things to make it purr like a kitten w/that big of a cam on stock cubes...not when a smaller cammed or stocker pulls up next to me when we're cruisin and decide it's time to mat the throttle...I always love the look on their faces as they have to pull back up to my window w/their mouths hanging open.

Reckless

iTrader: (9)

Guys running a TH350 or TH400 avoid many of the idle issues. Most of these guys are running a full manual valve body with no tranny braking for first or second gear. Thus there is very little load on the motor while idling. This is one way to get around idle issues with an auto

MyLS1Hauls

iTrader: (2)

I'd like to see a G5-X2 in an A4 idle and start right up 100% right all the time. My buddy and I have tried everything to get the above 228/236 112 to idle/start perfectly and it can't be done. If someone else can get it to do it, then they are a better man than I. Most of the time its fine, but it gets a bug up its butt once in a while and needs the gas to start for about 15 sec. Another thing about big cams is that the car shakes like hell when you start getting too big...My 228/228 starts right up every time, but it bucks at low speed if you arent careful with the clutch.

Vents

iTrader: (9)

well, if you consider idling @ 1k rpm it's not bad at all. nice and streetable. however, at 800, yes it's bad. but not so bad that you couldnt drive it. i love mine @ 1000, it makes traffic much easier on me, and the car dosent bog at all under stop and go conditions.

Loudmouth LS1

iTrader: (10)

Wait a sec, explain a little more about why the Turbo 400 will idle better? Cuz my car is almost done havin one installed and I have a decently large cam (228 XE-R - 228/228 .588/.588 112)! I have no doubt that when it is done being tuned by The Dragon (Big Props to ya bro, can't wait to get it done!) that it will idle great no matter what tranny I got in there and i'll have no problems, just wonderin why the turbo 400 makes it easier than a 4l60e?

Reckless

iTrader: (9)

Depends on who built your tranny, but most full-manual valve bodied trannys don't have the bands inside that cause the tranny to load in 1st or 2nd gear (while off the gas). This way, when you blast down the track and cross the line, you can throw the tranny up into 1st gear and coast onto the return road. Hence the meaning of "no tranny braking".

The fact that the tranny has no internal bands to cause low gear braking, and that you will have a loose converter, means you will have very little load on the motor at idle. The motor won't start loading until the converter starts to flash.

humanoidZ06

Very well said The key to driveability with a large cam is proper tuning. In a previous life I drove a Mustang that had a wicked grind (in excess of 260 @ .050"), and the car did not have any driveability issues. It started when the key was turned - every time, it did not surge, and it never stalled. I have friends running very large cams in all types of EFI cars with no driveability concerns. If you exceed the tuning capability of the stock PCM, there is always DFI or Motech

Loudmouth LS1

iTrader: (10)

Oh, ok, thanks a lot for clarifying for me!!! That's gunna be sweet!!

TTopJohn

See, that's the thing - I do want it to handle every day driving as well as the stock cam, but I still want to mod the car. It can be done, you just compromise a bit on the horsepower. Think about a Lingenfelter style package. For the forseeable future, I'm still going to need the Camaro to be a car I can drive to work without a care.

As someone said above, gears, and more cubes both make this easier to accomplish - and they are both an option for me.

I think my question is the same one a few others have - how far can you go with the cam and still be at stock drivability levels? Some report tuning can get monster cams to be daily driver friendly, some report that a TR220/114 can't idle along in gear without surging(WOW, really? bad tune?)
The more folks who post up with their experiences, the more info we have to figure out what is going on.

SouthFL.02.SS

Based on the info you read, you just have to make an educated guess as to what you want, install it, and see what you get. It's a case by case basis as to how your setup responds to a cam. My setup needed some mild tuning to get it to idle (and it's a 'small' cam!), then I did a full tune and this squeezed another 20 hp out of the cam. It's controlled voodoo, you just gotta dive in and do it.
-AND, you always end up thinkin' "shoulda gone bigger!"

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

What he said, I was sure a 224 would be at my limit, but now I think a 227/227 XE-R would have been about right.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

As mentioned by a few others, having the right rear end gears really helps with this. I have a TR224/114 with 4.11 gears, and no problems with 1000 to 1500 rpm operation. Driveability is very good, almost stock; but above 4500 rpm, this thing screams! I strongly recomend the TR224/114.

Godspeed

I have tuned some of the G5X-2 cars to start and idle so smooth I once had a request to roughen up the idle some. Some cars idle pretty decent with a stock tune, others after a little tuning work, and some take a couple of rounds before everything is ironed out. Haven't encountered one yet that I can't make start and idle without surging issues.

DailyAluminumBlock

Two words for cold and warm starts. VOLUMETRIC EFFICIENCY TABLE. If you don't tune your car and have some shop tune it and they don't know this then take it to some one else. I just came back from Corvettes of Carlisle and after standing at the dyno all day and seeing heads and cam corvettes only make 380 at the wheel (and this was max except for a cartek car which made 427) and 11.5 a/f ratios it made me sick.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

I have a 242/242 .65/.65 114LS solid roller in my 346. It starts quickly and idles quite nicely at 850 RPM, and likes to spin to 7500. I don't daily drive it right now (it's at LG getting a rollbar), but I wouldn't hesitate to do so if the car were here. But I really gotta get the A/C fixed (blown compressor). That's the worst part about its daily driveability rightnow. It's driveabilty isn't drastically different than the B1 cam that I had in the old motor.

Err, just ignore the manual rack and the Madman torque arm.

-Andrew

soundengineer

iTrader: (16)

get something in the 224 range...It will be a lot better for a normal style driving....start getting bigger and you get more power...but driveability starts to go away...and Idle has to be higher....
You can still put up some way respectable #'s with a 224...and you'll have a little more on the safe side for long term...especially if you spray it or blow it for more power.

I have the X1...but I have no plans of putting on nitrous or a blower....and I am semi-used to a big cam and the slightly different driving stle I will need because of a previous Beast I owned....

unfortunately..you cant have your cake and eat it too...theres gotta be a little bit of givew and take....more normal driving and a little less power...or more power and less driveability.

1BadAzzWS6

iTrader: (11)

I have a FMS 226/226 .575/.575 112lsa. It's very streetable and has a great lope. The throttle body needed to be drilled out a bit, but after that it idled very well.