Cam -v- Supercharger Question ?

[rackmaster]

CC,
I'm not even worried about making more power, I run around with one buddy that has a 2011 Camaro SS that is turbo charged and my neighbor accross the street has a 2012 shelby Mustang. I know I can't keep up with the Jones's, SO I figured If I can't beat them, I would at least like to sound better than them, Since your really spend more time sitting around than you do running your car. I already have BFE headers,no cats, Borla S exhaust & a tune, I already like how my car sounds I just want something a little X-tra they don't have, but don't want to have a major problem like I see so many others having. I'm just trying to figure out what upgrade is the least stressfull on the vehicle.

[SSBUSDRVR]

Trying to make a decision as well.

Edelbrock offers a supplemental warranty.. thats the only way I would boost this engine.. knowing that someone has put their name and money as a gauranty... you have to keep to their criteria which is mild.... they do that for a reason.. because they know better. There is risk in anything when you add stuff to an OEM engine..

Understand the risks involved when modding an OEM.Would you still do this over a Cam install? Kind of leaning towards the Edelbrock FI. Don't plan on modifying the boost etc but will be running ARH LT's HiFlow Cats/Catback/Tune. Thx

[east TX Muscle cars]

Originally Posted by SSBUSDRVR

Now a bit confused. Thought FI with mild boost like from the stock Edelbrock/Magnuson etc. was a better bet than doing a Cam Swap to a stock engine for street use?
Thought you only ran into trouble when you started modifying things to run higher boost, not changing fuelflow letting it run lean etc that things went boom?

Reading the internet post is almost bad sometimes. Just cause one or two blew up doesnt mean all will. just cause one guy says "this is right" or " that is wrong" doesnt make it right or wrong. What people need to really do is find a GOOD shop. One that many trust. Find someone that knows what there doing, look at there builds, talk to there customers, look at how there cars hold up that they built. If a shop is building cars right and left that are cammed, or boosted and have been running for years with no issues dont you think they know what there doing? ask them. there are ALOT of these shops out there alot of them are on here even.

We have built MANY 600+ hp cammed and boosted GM cars over the years that have held up for 10s of 1000s of miles with zero issues. You see people blowing up there cars with a cam only, well there is lots of things that could have made that happen. They could have over reved it, the tune could be off, cam installed wrong so many variables into a motor going.

In all our experience i can say i have not see a cam only car that was treated RIGHT blow anything. Cam only cars, if done, and tuned right should last a VERY VERY long time. Now sure if you have a HUGE cam you will need to change valve springs every once and a while, the big cams do put stress on them, but in the get go run a good spring, make sure its a dual spring they will last alot longer that a single.

as for a SC being hard on a motor sure it is. Its alot harder than a cam. HP is stress, the more HP you make the more stress on parts that were not made to take all that. The rod bolts are week in these cars, the pistons cannot take a ton of stress, and when your really pushing a motor hard they cant take detonation.(<---tuning/fuel) BUT if you are safe with the SC, build it right, tune it right, you will be fine for a long time. You run 5-6 PSI then your motor will last a long time. You want to run 12-13 psi well its not going to, its not made for that.

What it comes down to is if you want to build a big bad car then you are always going to have to be ready for it to break. BUT if done RIGHT and built right, tuned right you can have a nice fast DD car that will last a long time if taken care of.

BACK TO THE OP:

a better choice is what you want.

do you just want the lope of a cam like you said? or are you wanting the power of a blower? a blower on 5-6 psi will make was more HP than a cam. a BIG cam however will not be a DD friendly. MOST blowers you can blot on, tune and go. you will not really even know they are there till you floor it. but a BIG cam your always gunna know. Big cams are harder to drive around parking lots, take off from red lights. but are they a pain, i would think not. its something you get used to. if your wanting a GOOD DD cam there are a TON of companies out there than make them. you need to see what your future plans are first for the car so you can get a cam that fits your future needs also :-) if you have any questions about cams, or what one to go with or what your wanting to do with yrou car, shoot me a PM ill be glad to help you out.

[S-eatin-grin]

Does'nt a blower cam take some of the stress off FI cars? Why not get both and end up with twice the HP with less stress then the SC alone??

[east TX Muscle cars]

more HP= More stress
IF your pulling boost out of the car and trying to make up the HP by using a cam then yes. NA hp is a little easier on a motor than FORCING the HP in like a blower does. but to say add a cam to the FI setup and it will be safer is not true. you will be at ever higher HP levels which in turn is more stress. thing is if done right these motors can handle 550-600 rwhp for a LONG time

[SSBUSDRVR]

Thanks east TX Muscle cars for the input and thanks OP for bringing the topic up.

[Tshepp]

Originally Posted by VictorySS

everybody puts cams in these car but most get much out of it because they dont swap gears. Whats the point of making all that power way up in the power band if you have a tiny gear and such a tall tire. If I were going to do a cam and didnt want to do a gear swap I would make sure it peaks low and make a ton of tq down low.

This is the boat that I am in right now. I went with a fairly aggressive cam which did make the car sound badass but added alot of power at 5500rpm. I am now debating adding gears but I am tossing the pros and cons back and forth. I would like a little more launch and throwback from the line...For me, I chose the cam and it wasnt about "reliability" because I have full faith and confidence that the shop who did my work would tune the car safely. It was more about, what is your budget? To me, I really really wanted to do a blower but just didn't feel like throwing $6-$8k at the engine. My cam, pulley, install with tune was very reasonable and only a fraction of what the blower is. If I do decide to do heads I will still be at HALF of what a supercharger is...Yeah, I know, I wont have all that torque, slightly less hp, and no cool whine, but I will still have $4k in my pocket for wheels/body kit...etc...Just my .02

[east TX Muscle cars]

gears are a good step if your not planning on going blower. Tire spin at 50 is not your friend..LOL....but with a cam only car gears are a great thing!

[fldrummer]

Originally Posted by Tshepp

This is the boat that I am in right now. I went with a fairly aggressive cam which did make the car sound badass but added alot of power at 5500rpm. I am now debating adding gears but I am tossing the pros and cons back and forth. I would like a little more launch and throwback from the line...For me, I chose the cam and it wasnt about "reliability" because I have full faith and confidence that the shop who did my work would tune the car safely. It was more about, what is your budget? To me, I really really wanted to do a blower but just didn't feel like throwing $6-$8k at the engine. My cam, pulley, install with tune was very reasonable and only a fraction of what the blower is. If I do decide to do heads I will still be at HALF of what a supercharger is...Yeah, I know, I wont have all that torque, slightly less hp, and no cool whine, but I will still have $4k in my pocket for wheels/body kit...etc...Just my .02

Do gears; trust me! Just make sure you find a reputable shop for the install. I've had mine installed for over a year & 19K miles with 0 issues. I still have the stock cam (not for long; hehe), but you would not believe how much better the car takes off now, compared to the stock gears. Claims of it feeling like there's 80 lb/ft more of torque at the wheels? Believe it.

[S-eatin-grin]

Originally Posted by east TX Muscle cars

more HP= More stress
IF your pulling boost out of the car and trying to make up the HP by using a cam then yes. NA hp is a little easier on a motor than FORCING the HP in like a blower does. but to say add a cam to the FI setup and it will be safer is not true. you will be at ever higher HP levels which in turn is more stress. thing is if done right these motors can handle 550-600 rwhp for a LONG time

Yeah...I guess I won't really be reducing stress since I'm going to a smaller pulley to make up for the boost lost..but I am going through JRE for my cam upstall, adding larger injectors and a LPE twin pump along with the Jannetty Camaro Gen5 knowledge so it will at least be high stress done right.. I can't wait!

[east TX Muscle cars]

Originally Posted by S-eatin-grin

Yeah...I guess I won't really be reducing stress since I'm going to a smaller pulley to make up for the boost lost..but I am going through JRE for my cam upstall, adding larger injectors and a LPE twin pump along with the Jannetty Camaro Gen5 knowledge so it will at least be high stress done right.. I can't wait!

you are on the right path. the fuel system and a good tune is the way to get it to stay together!