I’m looking at options for a cam on the GTR and want some personal opinions form those who have gone down the cam selection road and have experience in the matter on what cams have done what in their car. No BS here please…
99/00 model LS1 from a Corvette, cable throttle. Bone stock. Stock headers, mated up to the factory Ultima exhaust(cats, 2.5" pipe, flowmaster can) for the time being. I will be making headers/exhaust for it relatively soon.
I’d like to find a cam that will liven the motor up a little bit more, without sacrificing too much low end. I’ve built a handful of these motors for people but have never spec’ed out a cam for one myself. At this time I don’t think ported heads/headwork will be an option, even though I am making it a pressing matter in my emails that he should do so.
Along with the cam a decent set of roller rockers and pushrods + rod guides would be in good order, as well as some valve springs.
Just interested in your preferences, what you’ve used and how well it worked/didn’t work for you.
You obviously dont want all top end so stay away from the ms4. A nice 226/230 or some thing along those lines would give you a nice all around power band. If you are going to laugh at suggestions go search the interwebz like every other goober
I know who I can contact if needed, and truth be told, will be contacting such people as I will have to schedule a solo dyno day for the car regardless. The point of me posting here was to collectively ask what other members have tried in their own cars and how it performed. I know there are more than a handful of active members here who have good information regarding this topic based on the Ls motors other than the big tuners.
Brands don’t do me shit, I can google that all day long and know who makes good cams. Specifics are what I’m after…lift, duration, lobe centers, etc, etc that work well with what this car has… Specific cam profiles used that did or didn’t work in your application, not “Texas Speed cause their top notch”
Not that I don’t appreciate the help/comments, just not what I’m looking for…
I have a TSP224R 112lsa in my car, basically it’s a comp XE-R cam ground to TSP’s specs… 224/224 duration with .581/.581 lift. Great power, tons of low end and it stays alive through 7200 RPMS.
I have a dyno sheet somewhere, the curve is gorgeous… It’s not peaky like the MS3/MS4/WAYTOOBIGFORDAILYDRIVING cams and still makes quite a difference over stock. Lots of people make 385-400whp with supporting mods with a 224 cam.
I have the exact specs some where around from my brother cartek stage 2 cam and it was some thing like 224/228 with a .580 lift. It builds power down low and has a nice normal idle. On a head cam package it made over 440whp so the cam alone will put you up around 400 with a good power band
guys have put down between 380-400rwhp on this cam with stock manifolds,exhaust etc…IMO, this would be the best cam for your application. It revvs out to 6800rpms from a idle.
other wise, I would obviously recommend anything from texas-speed.com…I have the MS3 (magic stick 3) cam in my car which is a little bit too radical for your application but I love it…and ever sense Brandon (FAST) tuned it, the car has a very everyday drive-ability to it.
As far as pushrods, Thunder racing hardened 7.400 will do (stocks are 7.425) LS2 timing chain, Ported LS6 oil pump (Which I highly recommend sense your going to be beating the car) and obviously titanium retainers,locks,seals and patriot gold dual .660 lift springs…The stock rocker arms are fine. More people actually break aftermarket rocker arms then the stockers.
a 99-00 LS1 also has the LS1 intake manifold and 853 heads. The LS1 intake manifold you want to atleast put a LS6 on there (20hp gain) or a FAST 90…
The 853 heads are ok…241’s (01-02 LS1) are better and the 243’s (LS6) are the best…you can get all those heads for under $600.
Personally what i would do is contact a guy named patrickg on ls1tech.com. He will spec out a custom ground cam for your exact needs and get the most power out of your setup as possible without sacrificing anything. His cams make more power than tsp, cartek and anyone else that makes cams
