Help me cook up a custom grind cam
Help me cook up a custom grind cam Well, I've decided to get a cam for my car. Since I'm in California, it needs to be a relatively average-mild cam that will do well with the emmisions testing. I was thinking somthing around 220/220 116°. Only thing I found was 218/221 116°, I think it was a Lunati or Comp. I figure I can get one custom ground for less. Anyone have any suggestions? I might get a set of S2 heads in the future, but not sure yet. Thanks! 
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Cincinnati, OH
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam
MTI Stealth Series
Cam Duration Lift
Intake Exhaust Intake Exhaust LSA
220 220 .581 .581 115
Cam Duration Lift
Intake Exhaust Intake Exhaust LSA
220 220 .581 .581 115
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 9,246
Likes: 3
From: Troy, AL
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam I don't know a thing about California emissions (other than them being yet another reason I'll never live in California) but a 220 cam with a 115 LSA should idle pretty much like stock and be very clean.
Or, do it on a 116 just to be safe and to do what no one else is doing.
The MTI Stealth cam has very aggressive ramp rates. Good springs are a must and I honestly don't know how long they would last. It would depend alot on how often you spin it up tight. This is a question for Jayson at MTI.
Changing springs once every couple of years (or even every year) isn't that big of a deal, IMO.
Or, do it on a 116 just to be safe and to do what no one else is doing.
The MTI Stealth cam has very aggressive ramp rates. Good springs are a must and I honestly don't know how long they would last. It would depend alot on how often you spin it up tight. This is a question for Jayson at MTI.
Changing springs once every couple of years (or even every year) isn't that big of a deal, IMO.
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On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 175
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati, OH
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam The MTI Stealth cam has very aggressive ramp rates. Good springs are a must and I honestly don't know how long they would last. It would depend alot on how often you spin it up tight. This is a question for Jayson at MTI.
Changing springs once every couple of years (or even every year) isn't that big of a deal, IMO.
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Verdad Gallardo TECH Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 9,246
Likes: 3
From: Troy, AL
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam Steve, I sent an email to Jayson asking about which springs should be used with the Stealth cam and an idea of how often one should expect to have to change them. I'll let you know what he says.
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam Ferocity, I replied to your other post in detail, but to sum up:
Here in Cali, many people have passed sniffer (recently) with a TR224 on 114, with good tuning (i.e., MMS or AAP before they closed). Imo, you should tune any cam to get the best drivabilty and power out of it, especially for an A4.
Personally I would not run a cam with over .550 lift, as your springs will most likely need to be changed every couple years or so...Colonel I'll be interested in hearing your research results on this question.
It depends on what you are willing to put up with...a TR224 will be the biggest gain, with or without heads it doesn't matter, but will be louder, idle a little rougher, be harder to tune, and possibly have some drivability issues. Not sure on that last on, everyone's version of drivability is different...
If I were you I would go with the MTI B1 cam:
221 221 .558 .558 114, although it is not listed on their site anymore...I'm sure you can find the same profile...this cam will idle very close to stock (you'll be able to tell you have a cam, no stealth here for someone who knows a little about engines at least), be relatively quiet, make more tq at all RPMs, and when/if you do go with all the bolt-ons and heads, will make over 400 rwhp easily on a M6. Hope this helps.
Here in Cali, many people have passed sniffer (recently) with a TR224 on 114, with good tuning (i.e., MMS or AAP before they closed). Imo, you should tune any cam to get the best drivabilty and power out of it, especially for an A4.
Personally I would not run a cam with over .550 lift, as your springs will most likely need to be changed every couple years or so...Colonel I'll be interested in hearing your research results on this question.
It depends on what you are willing to put up with...a TR224 will be the biggest gain, with or without heads it doesn't matter, but will be louder, idle a little rougher, be harder to tune, and possibly have some drivability issues. Not sure on that last on, everyone's version of drivability is different...
If I were you I would go with the MTI B1 cam:
221 221 .558 .558 114, although it is not listed on their site anymore...I'm sure you can find the same profile...this cam will idle very close to stock (you'll be able to tell you have a cam, no stealth here for someone who knows a little about engines at least), be relatively quiet, make more tq at all RPMs, and when/if you do go with all the bolt-ons and heads, will make over 400 rwhp easily on a M6. Hope this helps.
11 Second Club
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,311
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From: loudoun county,va
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam hmmm how bout a 221/221 561/561 115 with xe-r lobes...
fast ramps
good lift(but still pretty spring friendly)
and sneaky(quiet)
should idle nice and give it a kick in the azz thru out your band
and added cool point for running something differant
fast ramps
good lift(but still pretty spring friendly)
and sneaky(quiet)
should idle nice and give it a kick in the azz thru out your band
and added cool point for running something differant
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam
hmmm how bout a 221/221 561/561 115 with xe-r lobes...
fast ramps
good lift(but still pretty spring friendly)
and sneaky(quiet)
should idle nice and give it a kick in the azz thru out your band
and added cool point for running something differant
fast ramps
good lift(but still pretty spring friendly)
and sneaky(quiet)
should idle nice and give it a kick in the azz thru out your band
and added cool point for running something differant
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam There are no XE-R lobes that are odd numbered(221) or that have lift below .581". Also, there is no 222 XE-R lobe.
It sounds like a less lift more aggressive version of the MTI stealth cam, if you ask me.
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam Lots of good info guys, thanks. I was looking about again for cams and found another. What about .563/.563 222/222 114? Will this pass emmisions with tuning?
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam
Here in Cali, many people have passed sniffer (recently) with a TR224 on 114, with good tuning (i.e., MMS or AAP before they closed). Imo, you should tune any cam to get the best drivabilty and power out of it, especially for an A4.
Personally I would not run a cam with over .550 lift, as your springs will most likely need to be changed every couple years or so...Colonel I'll be interested in hearing your research results on this question.
It depends on what you are willing to put up with...a TR224 will be the biggest gain, with or without heads it doesn't matter, but will be louder, idle a little rougher, be harder to tune, and possibly have some drivability issues. Not sure on that last on, everyone's version of drivability is different...
Personally I would not run a cam with over .550 lift, as your springs will most likely need to be changed every couple years or so...Colonel I'll be interested in hearing your research results on this question.
It depends on what you are willing to put up with...a TR224 will be the biggest gain, with or without heads it doesn't matter, but will be louder, idle a little rougher, be harder to tune, and possibly have some drivability issues. Not sure on that last on, everyone's version of drivability is different...
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam I have a custom 220/220 that made 395 RWHP and 378 RWTQ running lean with no tuning. I should make over 400 with tuning. Its smog legal, makes peak HP at 6100 and idles steady at 750 RPM's. If your interested pm 93PONY. He set it up for me and he really know his stuff. This cam makes more power than the TR224 across the power band.
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam Looking around some more... Whats the difference between the Comp 224/224 114 and the TR224 114, besides the extra .002 lift on the Comp and the fact that its $50 cheaper? Thanks
Re: Help me cook up a custom grind cam I think most of the TR224's being shipped now are closer to a 563 lift than the 561 that they originaly spec'ed them at. I don't know what the differences are between those two cams, but some possibilities are ramp rate and ground in advance. My guess is most 224 cams perform close to the same now days, since everybody is on to the fast ramp rate thing for LS1s. The MTI C2 cam would be another good 224 cam to consider also; has more lift than the TR224, but you have to weigh that against valve spring life. I even saw a '99 SS with an early Comp 224 with only a 533 lift that performed very well (over 400 rwhp.) 224 seems to be the sweet spot for these cars; sure you can get more power with a bigger cam and ported heads, but you reach a point of diminishing returns where the dollar/hp ratio gets a lot higher.