ECS Big Blower Cam installed - full how-to write-up coming

[azvren]

would this cam be good for nitrous also? sorry if its a newbie question, im just not familiar with cam specs yet or cams period at that lol.

[robertway]

Originally Posted by azvren

would this cam be good for nitrous also? sorry if its a newbie question, im just not familiar with cam specs yet or cams period at that lol.

I am no expert either but my understanding is that a cam one would use in a naturally aspirated setup would be more appropriate for N2O. Blower cams have less intake/exhaust overlap so the pressurized intake charge doesn't get blown out the exhaust valve as much while the intake and exhaust are both open (their degrees of overlap determine this) so the blower can pack more air into the cylkinder before the intake valve closes. N2O doesn't create pressure/boost but instead creates a colder and much denser intake charge which significantly ups its explosive potential but the engine is still at the mercy of atmospheric pressure to fill the cylinder with that charge. An N/A cam with more overlap actually helps the intake charge more and more at increasing rpms because for the period of time the intake and exhaust valves are open at the very beginning of the intake stroke, the scavenging (sucking) of the exhaust system pulling air out the exhaust valve actually helps to draw more of a charge in through the intake valve. The double-edge sword with more overlap is the loss of driveability at the lower range of RPMS requiring a higher idle sometimes as well as dealing with a little surging at times rolling around in parking lots or cruising in 6th gear on the highway at60-65mph where rpms are in roughly the 1200-1500 range but on the flip side of things, when you get on it the friggin thing pulls all the way to redline for the most part.

There is a happy medium though and the exact specs of a cam I cannot say. This is really the first time I have put a cam in a car and everything above is what I have derived from reading and talking to folks so it is not based on actual experience so I hope someone truly in the know will chime in and confirm or deny what I have said here. I relied soley on the shop I am dealing with to recommend the best cam for what I am going to be doing with the car which is eventually add a Centrifugal blower to it. It is a custom grind that they have been using on their blower cars for quite a while and it gets LOTS of rave reviews from the Vette community and the dyno charts I have seen of it used on both Camaros and Vettes speak for themselves even in a N/A setup.

In any event, I see you are in Texas and there are a lot of reputable shops from Texas that are very active here on the forums and could very easily get you setup with an appropriate cam package that suits your need for the car just by you telling them what kind of power you're trying to make and how much or how little drivability you're willing to give up. You are about two hours South of Jason at Texas Speed up in Wolfforth, TX and about 6 hours from Andy at ADM Performance out in Lewisville, TX. Both of these shops are well respected in the forum as well as many others in Texas but those are the two that come to mind.

Hope this helps take some of the guesswork out of things or at least where to go for some professional help.

Good luck...

[azvren]

Thanks for the info rob! This is just the info I needed as I'm going with spray for my form of "forced induction" and I need to figure out what I was gonna do about a cam!

[Kilo-9]

Now that you've had this cam for a while and are tuned, how do you like it? How's the driveability? Any new videos?

[robertway]

Originally Posted by Kilo-9

Now that you've had this cam for a while and are tuned, how do you like it? How's the driveability? Any new videos?

Actually, I just had the car tuned this past Wednesday (2/2/11). Despite the cam having been done for almost a week and a half before that, I was waiting on a VMax CNC Ported Throttle Body from member SC2150and some exhaust diverters from Steve at NOWEEDS. All that is in and the car tuned by Doug at ECS and so far I could not be happier with the outcome. Divability is great, car settles right down into idle with no issues, cruises on the highway in 6th at 1300-1500 with no issues, and crawls around my neighborhood in 3rd at 1000-1200 rpm with only the slightest bit of burping if I get off the gas a little too much to keep it from decelerating. Overall I could not have asked for better and that is not to mention the numbers but more importantly the torque and HP curves.

I still have to get back down there hopefully very early this coming week becauise we forgot to do one final pull with the NOWEEDS open to see what if any gain there was as I'd like to have a sheet that has my previous CAI/Headers graph overlayed with the cam and NOWEEDS closed and then the cam and NOWEEDS open on top of that. I also need to shoot some better video of the car on the dyno as I didn't get a pull with the diverters open and small children for miles running for their lives. Also need some video of the cam idling with diverters closed/open so hopefully I'll have all that doner early next week to be able to do one complete update post.

One thing I'll add is that while I was at the shop I was able to get a look at the details of one of the latest LS3 Camaro centri builds they did with their Paxton Kit, the same blower cam I just installed, and Meth Injection and all I have to say is OMG with a look of on my face. The details of the build I will refrain from since it is not my car but I strongly suggest anyone on the verge of doing a cam/centri/meth build to reach out to them for some details before you settle on something else. ECS is pretty known for pushing the limits in the Vette community and raising the bar as to what is reliably possible with the Vettes and I think that is about to happen here in the Gen5 community as well based on what I got to see and talk to them about.

I know I must sound all "fanboy" for ECS but when I get treated the way I was treated and get the results I feel my hard earned money deserves I want to make sure that experience is communicated to others. It is all too often only the bad is mentioned but it also good to hear the good.

[go chevy]

cool man your car will bounce :p

[Kilo-9]

Thanks for the detailed review! Based on your past posts, it had all the detail that I hoped it would when I asked!

Did ECS design this cam around a centrifugal blower? Will it perform equally well with a Magnuson? Thanks and keep up the good work!

For me, the list of blower cams keeps growing instead of narrowing in on a choice!

TPE G5 Blower Cam
ADM Stage 2.5
Jannetty "Rough Idle" Blower cam
ECS Big Blower Cam
ETMS Blower Cam
Livernois 2C

[robertway]

They also have a "small" blower cam. In speaking with them I believe they use the small blower cam on the P/D's but will use either the small or large on the centri setups but the only real way to get that answer is to give them a call, I don't want to misrepresent what they usually do.

[Kilo-9]

Originally Posted by robertway

They also have a "small" blower cam. In speaking with them I believe they use the small blower cam on the P/D's but will use either the small or large on the centri setups but the only real way to get that answer is to give them a call, I don't want to misrepresent what they usually do.

Sounds good...when I get closer to buying a cam kit, I'll get in touch with them. Thanks!

[steeleshark2]

What was your final numbers?

[robertway]

Originally Posted by steeleshark2

What was your final numbers?

Full results posted; http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128899