Any regrets on putting a cam in?

[crazydave]

Originally Posted by HAMMERHEAD15

I see you know more about my car than I do! Lol. My whole point in this debate is that heat soak is not a problem. The biggest problem we face with these cars. lets Just say my motor and drivetrain haven't been touched. My car shouldn't be anywhere close to a car with these performance packages like most start with. Trap speed is an indication of horsepower! I certainly don't appreciate being called a fool! To me the fool is the person that pays the money to have a performance shop make the mods that create more heat and rob horsepower, and allow them to tell me heat is not an issue. I've been at the track out running people that have cam, pulleys, injectors, headers, exhaust, and tune. Because they come to the track heat soaked and don't cool the car down and then hot lap it.

I think you should start a new thread and post a few time slips for the fast list so that we can all see the data that seems to make you the fastest stock A6 zl1 of all time according to the list. I know member big dave had quite a few fast passes and that took -1600 DA to get to his 11.5s. I would love to see some 11.40s slips from your runs in May or June.

Originally Posted by E. Bryant

The part that I quoted:

As power increases and as the powerband changes with the installation of a larger cam, the difference between bogging and spinning becomes quite narrow. In fact, on street tires, there may not be anything in-between. This is not a new concept.

Trap speed can also vary for a number of reasons, and comparing your car (which is by no means stock) to another car run on a different day under different conditions with a different driver does not lead to any meaningful comparisons.

Thank you for posting this. This is informative and accurate. Someone who tries to launch an M6 knows that even if you have 600+ hp, the car can still bog on sticky tire and a sticky track. A cam normally moves the power band higher and normally requires a higher launch RPM to hit the sweet spot...and traction.

Now back to the OPs topic....

I had the same dilemma last year and I decided for me at this time that a cam was not worth it. I'm making 684 RWP just with bolt-ons and e85, runs high 10s and the car idles and drives like 100% stock. To me its more fun this way and makes all the power I need.... for now. I have learned over the years that adding too much power to a cruiser can make it a bit less fun as you can never put the power down on street tires. I spin through 2rd gear currently.

Like stated above, a good cam install will not cause a failure, but there is always a x% higher chance that you may have issues due to the increased performance and HP, or potentially human error during the install. I have been in this game for almost 20 years now and I cannot recall many people, who knew what they were getting into, every regretting getting a upgraded cam...I have heard plenty wishing they went with a bigger cam though! GL with your choice OP and hopefully this thread can get back on track.

[370zyzfr1]

Originally Posted by crazydave

I think you should start a new thread and post a few time slips for the fast list so that we can all see the data that seems to make you the fastest stock A6 zl1 of all time according to the list. I know member big dave had quite a few fast passes and that took -1600 DA to get to his 11.5s. I would love to see some 11.40s slips from your runs in May or June.



Thank you for posting this. This is informative and accurate. Someone who tries to launch an M6 knows that even if you have 600+ hp, the car can still bog on sticky tire and a sticky track. A cam normally moves the power band higher and normally requires a higher launch RPM to hit the sweet spot...and traction.

Now back to the OPs topic....

I had the same dilemma last year and I decided for me at this time that a cam was not worth it. I'm making 684 RWP just with bolt-ons and e85, runs high 10s and the car idles and drives like 100% stock. To me its more fun this way and makes all the power I need.... for now. I have learned over the years that adding too much power to a cruiser can make it a bit less fun as you can never put the power down on street tires. I spin through 2rd gear currently.

Like stated above, a good cam install will not cause a failure, but there is always a x% higher chance that you may have issues due to the increased performance and HP, or potentially human error during the install. I have been in this game for almost 20 years now and I cannot recall many people, who knew what they were getting into, every regretting getting a upgraded cam...I have heard plenty wishing they went with a bigger cam though! GL with your choice OP and hopefully this thread can get back on track.

Thank you. Appreciate your response and everyone else's. What kind of cam did you do? I am going for the same set up. Sound stock but have power when you need it. I want to do e85 later but will wait till mid summmer or next year. Cam gets installed this week!

[crazydave]

Originally Posted by 370zyzfr1

Thank you. Appreciate your response and everyone else's. What kind of cam did you do? I am going for the same set up. Sound stock but have power when you need it. I want to do e85 later but will wait till mid summmer or next year. Cam gets installed this week!

When and if I do a cam, it will be a BTR stage 3.

[AJensen383]

Originally Posted by crazydave

I think you should start a new thread and post a few time slips for the fast list so that we can all see the data that seems to make you the fastest stock A6 zl1 of all time according to the list. I know member big dave had quite a few fast passes and that took -1600 DA to get to his 11.5s. I would love to see some 11.40s slips from your runs in May or June.



Thank you for posting this. This is informative and accurate. Someone who tries to launch an M6 knows that even if you have 600+ hp, the car can still bog on sticky tire and a sticky track. A cam normally moves the power band higher and normally requires a higher launch RPM to hit the sweet spot...and traction.

Now back to the OPs topic....

I had the same dilemma last year and I decided for me at this time that a cam was not worth it. I'm making 684 RWP just with bolt-ons and e85, runs high 10s and the car idles and drives like 100% stock. To me its more fun this way and makes all the power I need.... for now. I have learned over the years that adding too much power to a cruiser can make it a bit less fun as you can never put the power down on street tires. I spin through 2rd gear currently.

Like stated above, a good cam install will not cause a failure, but there is always a x% higher chance that you may have issues due to the increased performance and HP, or potentially human error during the install. I have been in this game for almost 20 years now and I cannot recall many people, who knew what they were getting into, every regretting getting a upgraded cam...I have heard plenty wishing they went with a bigger cam though! GL with your choice OP and hopefully this thread can get back on track.

Your set up is incredible to make that much power and run high 10s with an M6...Kudos to you sir, thats not easy to do.

Did you ever run it or dyno it with straight 93?

Im in the same boat as the OP, not really sure if I want to go cam route, since i like the smooth drivability of it stock, but I want the power...

[crazydave]

Originally Posted by AJensen383

Your set up is incredible to make that much power and run high 10s with an M6...Kudos to you sir, thats not easy to do.

Did you ever run it or dyno it with straight 93?

Im in the same boat as the OP, not really sure if I want to go cam route, since i like the smooth drivability of it stock, but I want the power...

It did like 610RWHP on 93 pump gas.

[Liquidity]

Originally Posted by AJensen383

Sorry man, that's just the way I see it. Mods just don't add any value to a car, any car really old or new and depending what mods are done, may actually hurt the value. Just because someone spent 20k-30k in mods doesn't make a worth that much more. It just makes it harder to sell because now you are selling to a specific buyer. If a person wasn't into performance, or a stereo system why would they want to buy a car that you modded to 800hp, or sunk 10k into a killer sound system, when they are perfectly happy with a stock car that has a warranty and potentially not buying an abused car. I'm just saying once a car is modded, you are now selling it to a specific buyer, which in turn kills the potential value.

Value of any car will always be the highest if its all original.

Truth

[Liquidity]

As the topic is Cams, perhaps adding who offers the best Cam Installs who be helpful. A few hours south of me is Redline Performance and Vengeance Racing is another top Camaro Shop.

[STUNNAH]

Originally Posted by AJensen383

EXACTLY.....Just by putting a cam in, isnt going to make your engine fail...Its all the surrounding things that may go wrong.

I do agree with adding a cam and modifying the crap out of your car will hurt any kind of resale value, but thats a whole other thread.

+1...Ever try selling or trading a modded car???No way you will get what you put into, unless there is a specific person that wants to purchase and is willing to pay for work that has already been done...The general public or especially a dealer will not pay the overage cost of the mods...

Originally Posted by SquawkVFR

That's just not true. I mean... jeez...that's just wow...not one shred of truth in that at all.

It's the absolute truth...Take a car to a dealer with a nice set of aftermarket rims, he's going to ask "do you have the stock rims"...Most vehicles get top dollar in resale if they are completely original, been there and done that...

[STUNNAH]

Originally Posted by HAMMERHEAD15

My car shouldn't be anywhere close to a car with these performance packages like most start with. Trap speed is an indication of horsepower! I've been at the track out running people that have cam, pulleys, injectors, headers, exhaust, and tune. Because they come to the track heat soaked and don't cool the car down and then hot lap it.

HP is not an all inclusive factor of trap speed, actual there are so many variables I want even start naming them...Anyone that drags knows this to be true...It is not unbelievable that a stock or slightly modded car can beat a highly modded car in a race, but again there are so many variables I want even start naming them...

Again just based on the topic of the thread, I don't see the need to add a cam to my build, simply because I fear the damage that could be done...

[SquawkVFR]

[2NASSTY]

This Car is crying for a Cam. Love my BTR Stage 3 combo through a 6M. Currently at 775 rwhp with the addition of Meth. Car has trapped 138 MPH in neg DA.

PB in sig was without Meth on a hero sixty foot with excellent track prep. Could not run close to these numbers without a CAM and supporting mods. Still on just 2.55 upper pulley so heat soak is not much an issue yet.

I believe the LT4 Six Gen ZL1 may have a slightly aggressive CAM from the factory. Specs are hard to find. This tells me CAMs should not be a problem if assembled and tuned correctly in the LSA and LT4.

[Moto-Mojo]

I've read nearly every post in this thread. I like this one the best: "Big mods are not for the faint of heart and are a personal opinion."

[bkevind]

Geez, some people have no tact...anyway.

I will be having a cam put in my 1LE. I've had many cars over the years and I've modified almost all of them, used them very very hard and have had zero regrets. Surprisingly the only things I've broken are suspension mounts and swaybar mounts.

I will be tracking the living sh out of this car, and continue driving it like I stole it. If/when it breaks, that's part of the fun tax. Life would be boring af if I was afraid to do all the fun things I like to do.

Does it need a cam? Not really, for the track I should focus entirely on mechanical grip and brakes and heat management, that's money better spent if I want to drop lap times. But...I feel like the car is slow in stock form, especially on the street. It looks good, sounds good but it doesn't deliver with actual acceleration performance. I'm pretty sure a new camry or accord or whatever boring family car could give likely give me a run - if the owners ever use more than 5% throttle. (Ok maybe not really, but you get what I'm saying - performance is just not impressive at all except for handling)

[bkevind]

eh sorry just realized this was a ZL1 specific topic. I think a stock ZL1 would be a lot less lame than my stock 1LE haha.