Dabom75

iTrader: (3)

I have done some searching but cannot find exactly what I want to know.

I know that my car has the ls6 block and intake.I have also read that GM put the "truck" cam into it so that it would not rival the vette's ls6.

My question is what kind of cam can I put in it and not really need a tune because the closet tuner to me is about 2 hrs away. Can I just get an ls6 cam form a vette and drop it in without doing anything else or am I sounding like a total dumbass?

Car is 35th anniversary SS LE a4

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Even if GM had put an LS6 cam into stock '01-'02 LS1s they still would not rival the Z06, simply because the 243 LS6 heads are superior in flow to the 241 LS1 heads.

I would assume that the more likely reason was cost. The more engines that use the same parts, the cheaper they are for GM to produce. By using the truck cam in '01-'02, GM was able to delete the EGR system on the LS1 thus allowing for one intake (LS6) to be used across all the 5.7L LSx engines while also sharing the LQ4 truck cam with the 6.0L. It was a win-win.

Even an LS6 cam is going to require some tuning if you want max power and the best possibile driveability. The factory PCM is designed to compensate for a varity of driving and weather conditions based on tables that are programmed for stock cam behavior. When you move towards a cam with a different profile/more overlap, you are altering valve events that will effect the PCM's ability to accurately compensate for the wide range of conditions that it was designed to compensate for.

In other words, with any cam that's not stock to your engine, you're going to have a bit of driveability issues on a stock tune (idle surge, idle hang, misfires, etc.). Granted, the closer you stay to stock cam specs, the fewer (and more minor) these issues/conditions will be. But don't have any false hopes that you can pop in even an LS6 cam and have 100% stock like driveability on a stock tune, especially with an A4 trans. The M6 cars have a higher factory idle speed and don't need to idle both in and out of gear like the A4s. Plus, the higher misfire readings from the aftermarket cam will cause intermittent TC lock-up failure. Of course, this too can be corrected with tuning.

Everyone has a different tolerance level for driveability issues. You might find someone with an LS6 cam in their stock tuned LS1 car that says it's fine, but that doesn't mean it's going to be perfect to you. When I cammed my first LS1 nearly a decade ago, plenty of people told me that the cam I was looking at would be totally driveable with almost no issues. Ha. That was not the case, but I'm also the sort of guy that tends to be a perfectionist with a very low tolerance for driveability issues.

In summary, if you plan on any sort of non-stock cam (espeically in an A4 car), and you want stock like/best possibile driveability, you'll need a tune. Hope that helps.

Dabom75

iTrader: (3)

Thank you that helps alot and explains a good bit to me.

Just have to wait on the cam after exhaust work is done anyways maybe by then I can get a chance to take it to the tuner as well.

Was looking at a TSP 224r with 12 LSA. I know I would have to replace a few other things as well but I am looking to get a nice ride but have that lope at idle. LOL

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

No problem.

Any 224 cam on a 112lsa is going to give you a nice lope at idle. But you'll definitely need a tune to get it running right, plus a better set of valvesprings. Even with a tune you might get a bit of idle surge with your A4 car and a 224*/112lsa cam. You'll also want to look at getting a higher stall TC to take better advantage of your higher powerband.

PS. If a lopey idle is what you want, then stay away from the LS6 cam. Your idle will be as smooth as a stock Z06 so all the work is hardly worth it, IMO.