355 or 383
I have my 383 up and running in a DD,...the torque is HUGE fun in my street machine.
I'm running a mild cam but fully ported on the intake(58mmTB/ported runners) and heads, CC valve train and headers.
It's easy to drive and has power everywhere.
I will have to start road racing to really stretch this set up out.
I have the cast crank and this same setup with bigger cam,different driver, broke the previous cast crank on a 6,000+rpm WOT clutch drop/drag race scenario,...I sleep fine at night, but I'm way easier on equipment.
I'm running a mild cam but fully ported on the intake(58mmTB/ported runners) and heads, CC valve train and headers.
It's easy to drive and has power everywhere.
I will have to start road racing to really stretch this set up out.
I have the cast crank and this same setup with bigger cam,different driver, broke the previous cast crank on a 6,000+rpm WOT clutch drop/drag race scenario,...I sleep fine at night, but I'm way easier on equipment.
this is a very vague debate however running a comparably smaller cam in a larger motor will tend to affect the power curve in a poor way for a drag car/preformance driven car...........it will build torque down low however it will begin to choke very very fast up top......if you cannot flow the air to fill the extra ci of the cylinder (low VE) the motor will NOT make power up top.....think about the vacuum generated in the cylinder vs. crankshaft rotation in degrees in a 3.48" stroke motor vs. a 3.75" stroke motor....now think basic cam design open the valve to early what happens? open it too late what happens?.......ive seen many under cammed 383+ci motors...had a friend of mine that thought a bigger motor didn't need alot of cam......he had a much smaller cam in his 396LT1 than i ran in my 355 LT1....needless to say with the same weight i put 10mph on him and he couldn't figure out why..... its a great concept for pulling stumps out of your front yard but not so much racing............remember torque is the engines ability to maintain speed under load.........horsepower is its ability to accelerate its velocity not maintain it......
Last edited by quik95lt1; Oct 13, 2011 at 07:46 AM.
this is a very vague debate however running a comparably smaller cam in a larger motor will tend to affect the power curve in a poor way for a drag car/preformance driven car...........it will build torque down low however it will begin to choke very very fast up top......if you cannot flow the air to fill the extra ci of the cylinder (low VE) the motor will NOT make power up top.....think about the vacuum generated in the cylinder vs. crankshaft rotation in degrees in a 3.48" stroke motor vs. a 3.75" stroke motor....now think basic cam design open the valve to early what happens? open it too late what happens?.......ive seen many under cammed 383+ci motors...had a friend of mine that thought a bigger motor didn't need alot of cam......he had a much smaller cam in his 396LT1 than i ran in my 355 LT1....needless to say with the same weight i put 10mph on him and he couldn't figure out why..... its a great concept for pulling stumps out of your front yard but not so much racing............remember torque is the engines ability to maintain speed under load.........horsepower is its ability to accelerate its velocity not maintain it......
The main reason is not because you can run a small cam for the same power level. Its because a more radical cam that would cause a very peaky power curve in a smaller displacement engine will have a more streetable attitude in a larger displacement engine. Easiest way to explain is to say a cc306 383 engine will drive like a cc503 355 engine. This is due to the additional 10+% hp/tq across the entire power band. Hope that helps.
Last edited by white ghost; Oct 15, 2011 at 09:43 AM.
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The main reason is not because you can run a small cam for the same power level. Its because a more radical cam that would cause a very peaky power curve in a smaller displacement engine will have a more streetable attitude in a larger displacement engine. Easiest way to explain is to say a cc306 383 engine will drive like a cc503 355 engine. This is due to the additional 10+% hp/two across the entire power band. Hope that helps.
the post from the ghost should be a sticky.
On The Tree
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 174
Likes: 0
From: Yakima, WA
So newbie question; what would it take to go onto a 396 (just bigger crank or is that a whole new SB) any other costs with going up to 396?
i had the same delima
did the research
go 383 if your gonnna stick with the lt1
i switched directions after i got everything ready for the build
for price, and power, and reliablity im swapping the old crappy lt1 for a lq4
the whole motor is cheaper than a stroker kit
with nothing more than heads and a cam itll be pushing more than a 383 stroker lt1.
and itll hold nitrous a hell of alot better.
did the research
go 383 if your gonnna stick with the lt1
i switched directions after i got everything ready for the build
for price, and power, and reliablity im swapping the old crappy lt1 for a lq4
the whole motor is cheaper than a stroker kit
with nothing more than heads and a cam itll be pushing more than a 383 stroker lt1.
and itll hold nitrous a hell of alot better.
[QUOTE=AdamGolnik;15521808]383 for tons of low end, or the 355 if you want to make high rpm horsepower.. QUOTE]
not at all............completely dependant on the top end of the motor............
not at all............completely dependant on the top end of the motor............
