Not another "Which cam..." thread

[Batmanntexas]

Hello Everybody! So, like the title says, I'm not looking to get opinions on "which cam" I should go with, as I already have the new cam in my possession. I'm just looking for a few things:

1) To get some feedback, from the folks that "know", on the cam that I have chosen, i.e. idle quality (smooth, lumpy, etc.), power characteristics, etc., and

2) Estimated power increase from changing the cam

3) Estimated power increase if I switched to E85

The current combo @676RWHP/582RWTQ is:
LS3
Whipple @ 10lbs
65lb/hr injectors
LS9 cam (211/230, .552/.558", 122.5*LSA)
1-7/8" LT headers
full 3" dual exhaust
ZL1 pump
ADM FPCM
Alky Control 100% Methanol
93 Octane pump gas


the new combo is:
LS3
Whipple @ 10lbs
95lb/hr injectors
Custom Cam (227/243, .629/.629", 115*LSA, 110*ICL)
1-7/8" LT headers
full 3" dual exhaust
AGP dual pump setup (twin 430LPH)
Alky Control 100% Methanol

My tuner is estimating 70-80RWHP from the cam swap, without the E85. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Scott

[avido]

why don't symply use a stage 3 from brian tooley?

[Batmanntexas]

My tuner custom spec'd this cam. I looked long and hard at BTR stage III Blower cam, as well as the offerings from Cam Motion, Lingenfelter, etc.

What's the use in using a tuner if you don't trust his/her recommendation and advice?

[bayarea408]

its going to be one lopey angry car, awesome. Why not go for E85 while you are switching out the ZL1 pump? Do you get E85 in that area, enough to justify? I dont think 95lb injectors is going to be enough if you go E85, that is a lot of power on pump already.

[AGP Turbo]

70-80whp gain going from a small blower cam to a medium one. I don't think that's going to happen.

[TRC-SS]

Originally Posted by AGP Turbo

70-80whp gain going from a small blower cam to a medium one. I don't think that's going to happen.

Was gonna say the same thing 211/230 is a small cam

[VASTREETRACER]

I went from the same setup you had minus the meth and I have 2" headers to the BTR stage 3 blower cam and went from 635 rwhp to 686 rwhp on the same dyno (corrected) I have since upped the boost to 13 lbs and sit at 721 rwhp

[BiggFoot]

I don't see how you could gain that much hp by making the change to a custom cam, especially when a 70-80 hp gain is about what you would expect from adding a cam to begin with.

Looking at your set up, since you already have meth injection then your cheapest/easiest way to add hp would be to increase boost to 13 psi. Now THAT would get you the 70-80 hp. The switch to E85 is not cheap to do it right, but that would get you ~ 85 hp as well.

[Batmanntexas]

Originally Posted by bayarea408

its going to be one lopey angry car, awesome. Why not go for E85 while you are switching out the ZL1 pump? Do you get E85 in that area, enough to justify? I dont think 95lb injectors is going to be enough if you go E85, that is a lot of power on pump already.

E85 is not locally available, roughly 40-50 mile drive to get to a station that has E85. I did purchase the flex-fuel sensor and E85 compatible pumps from AGP though, so the car will be set up for E85. I'm sure the 95lb injectors WILL NOT flow enough for the E85, as i purchased those over a year ago, when I wasn't thinking about everything else. I may see if I can exchange them or sell them off, and get something bigger.

-Scott

[Batmanntexas]

Originally Posted by TRC-SS

Was gonna say the same thing 211/230 is a small cam

Yep, it is the stock GM LS9 camshaft. It is small, but it was better suited to boost than the stock LS3 cam.

-Scott

[avido]

Originally Posted by Batmanntexas

My tuner custom spec'd this cam. I looked long and hard at BTR stage III Blower cam, as well as the offerings from Cam Motion, Lingenfelter, etc.

What's the use in using a tuner if you don't trust his/her recommendation and advice?

No,of course I'm not trying to force the choice. I have this cam,not 100% tuned in speed density it drives like stock but it gives hell of a power. The new version it seems to sacrifice a little bit of top end for the low end

[AGP Turbo]

If E85 is not available the best thing you could do is spend more $$ to drop the compression. Swapping to some LSA heads with thicker head gaskets. This will let you pulley up for some more boost safely on pump gas.

[JMI]

Honestly, I don't think you'll gain a lot by switching to E85 since it's on meth already.

[TRC-SS]

Originally Posted by Batmanntexas

Yep, it is the stock GM LS9 camshaft. It is small, but it was better suited to boost than the stock LS3 cam.

-Scott

My cam isn't much bigger....its a 214/246-114.5. I gained 69rwhp adding the cam and going down 1 pulley size on my blower. I then gained 40 more by adding meth.