Is a cam swap a waste of money for drag racing?

[booneSS13]

Specifically talking about n/a builds. I was looking at some dyno sheets for most of the popular Ls3 cams for our cars and unless I'm reading them wrong it looks like h/c/i cars including my own are losing over 100 hp and over 100 ft/lb of torque from 2 to 3.5k rpm. In fact It doesn't look like the aftermarket cams match the factory cam until around 5300rpm on almost all the off the shelf cams I've seen.

If this is the case then these aftermarket cams may make more peak power but is nowhere near optimal for these near 4000lbs cars in a drag racing situation.

Let me know what you guys think

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[G701LE]

I would have to say some of the 10 second people would disagree. But, they will have to chime in. Heck, even 11 second cars.

[booneSS13]

Originally Posted by G701LE

I would have to say some of the 10 second people would disagree. But, they will have to chime in. Heck, even 11 second cars.

I've seen the faster cars with a cam swap, I just wonder if they'd be faster with the factory cam. You're making about anywhere from 60-80 more horsepower but not until way up in the power band.

It's just not making sense to me that a car can be at over a 100 hp deficit for a few thousand rpm with these cams and still run quicker. I wonder if they'd be even quicker with the stock cam and gears with other supporting mods

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[jc615]

Why are you running at 2-3.5k at the drag strip?

[booneSS13]

Originally Posted by jc615

Why are you running at 2-3.5k at the drag strip?

Your launch and 60ft especially on an m6 car. And with a cam your making less hp and torque all the way up to almost 5500 rpm. I was saying from 2-3.5k is the point where your over 100 hp and torque less

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[camarosspower]

When you race rpms are always 5k plus. So you are always in the power band

[booneSS13]

I took this picture from Google images. The blue circle is where the aftermarket cam matches the torque and the red circle is where it matches the hp in the power band. The green box shows where the gain is made in the power band with the aftermarket cam.

It just seems to me like the gain is way too high up in the power band too benefit a 4000lb car especially with that big of a loss earlier in the curve

[booneSS13]

Originally Posted by camarosspower

When you race rpms are always 5k plus. So you are always in the power band

On a m6 car you're not when you launch especially from start to the 60ft mark

[fif_gen_powa]

Wow. All the fast cars launch at 5k+ and the rpms never fall below there during the race

[booneSS13]

Originally Posted by fif_gen_powa

Wow. All the fast cars launch at 5k+ and the rpms never fall below there during the race

Your rpms obviously drop below 5k after you launch. They don't just stay up at 5k plus rpm. There's always a drop when you launch any m6 car after you get traction....

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[fif_gen_powa]

Originally Posted by booneSS13

Your rpms obviously drop below 5k after you launch. They don't just stay up at 5k plus rpm. There's always a drop when you launch any m6 car after you get traction....

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You don't drag race much do you...

So your argument is cammed power is less under 5k... And you say being under 5k only happens during the launch... So you're actually trying to say a cammed car will 60' slower. Which is false, this whole argument is false.

They make more power high in the rpms and a properly setup car stays high in the rpms, never drops out of the power band, including launching.

All of the fastest N/A Camaros have cams that's a fact

[camarosspower]

Let's say you start from idle on a m6. You will below 5k for less than 2 seconds. For the next 10 seconds you are at 5k plus. What do you prefer??

[booneSS13]

Originally Posted by camarosspower

Let's say you start from idle on a m6. You will below 5k for less than 2 seconds. For the next 10 seconds you are at 5k plus. What do you prefer??

That's not true at all. The ls3 especially with a bigger cam does not zip up to 5k rpm in less than 2 seconds ESPECIALLY if you are on 20s with drag radials

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[booneSS13]

Originally Posted by fif_gen_powa

You don't drag race much do you...

So your argument is cammed power is less under 5k... And you say being under 5k only happens during the launch... So you're actually trying to say a cammed car will 60' slower. Which is false, this whole argument is false.

They make more power high in the rpms and a properly setup car stays high in the rpms, never drops out of the power band, including launching.

All of the fastest N/A Camaros have cams that's a fact

It's not really an argument it was actually a question for those who actually have drag racing experience with these cars that know what they're talking about.

Even all out race cars drop below 5k rpm when launching. I would love to see a video of a fast 4000lb+ stick shift car that doesn't drop well below 5k rpm on launch.....

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