[My87z28]

So after this winter’s upgrades I’ll be full bolt ons and E85. I’m contemplating next winter’s upgrades. I think I would like to do cam and heads. The car is an M6 car and is not a daily driver. I am newer to late model muscle, I have never owned a manual car with an aftermarket cam. One of the cams recommended to me has been the TSP VVT 3 cam. At first thought, I would have thought this cam would have a lot of duration (235-239@.050), however I’ve been looking through some videos and it appears there’s a lot of NA M6 cars running the VVT 3 cam.

How is the drivability of a manual car with a moderately aggressive cam?

What’s your input?

[MP3BOOSTED]

With that cam specifically I can tell you that the driveability is very close to stock, only the take off you feel the car wanting to jump around because of the big cam, but it’s well worth it, I’m actually going to be full bolt ons by the end of the month, I’m missing a ported throttle body and MSD intake manifold as well as ported and polished heads to complete that heads/ cam package. The cam is well worth it though, love it!

[My87z28]

Originally Posted by MP3BOOSTED

With that cam specifically I can tell you that the driveability is very close to stock, only the take off you feel the car wanting to jump around because of the big cam, but it’s well worth it, I’m actually going to be full bolt ons by the end of the month, I’m missing a ported throttle body and MSD intake manifold as well as ported and polished heads to complete that heads/ cam package. The cam is well worth it though, love it!

I’m pretty sure your’s is one of the videos I saw on YouTube. I think the name was the same. You have an all black newer chevy truck behind the car in the driveway?

What do you mean by “jump around”? Surging or feeling like it doesn’t want to get going? Does it require a bunch more throttle getting off the clutch? How does your lower rpm power feel compared to before the cam? I know the VVT-3 cam will pull like crazy above 4000RPM, but I’ve seen where on some people’s set ups that it has lost up to 35rwtq almost everywhere under 4000rpm. I more thought about the VVT-2 (231-235 @.050) cam to retain some of the lower end. But I wanted to hear from more people with experience on these cars being cammed, especially manuals.

[MP3BOOSTED]

Yes that's mine, so jumping around i mean as far as when you taken off, so for example when i leave my house and give it some gas to go into first gear the car jumps with the cam lope here and there! sometimes its just a smooth get up and go. surging is only at idle but that's beginning to clear up, i'm hoping after all the other mods i do as well as when i change out the cam sensor that it will clear up. i haven't heard about the VVT-3 losing that much power, makes me want to just rip it out right now lol but i truly did feel a good difference after the cam install. maybe with the better air flow from CNC'd heads and intake manifold it will feel 10x better. its really not a bad drive though to get straight to the point. my friend has a stock 1le and i let him drive it and he was saying how much better my car feels compared to his, feels way smoother then his stock car.

all depends on your taste though, if i was closer to a lot of these tuners on this forum i honestly would of went with one of there cam setups or what not but i prefer a local tuner for installation / troubleshooting purposes when need be. i also live real close to TSP so i drive out there to pick up my orders.

[jimmypop13]

Find out what the overlap is using an online calculator. When you start getting above 7* overlap you start to get bad driveability with surging and bucking down low at slow speeds like through parking lots. Definitely not fun. I had a 236/242 111LSA cam in an LS1 that loved to buck around down low. Plus you don't want a big cam that's gonna zap all your torque down low and lose the fun on the street.
Edit: I just checked and VVT2 is 1* overlap and VVT3 is 5* overlap so both should have good driveability. I think VVT1 or 2 would be best if you're trying to have a fun street car so you don't sacrifice too much power down low. Bigger is not always better

[umby24]

Originally Posted by MP3BOOSTED

Yes that's mine, so jumping around i mean as far as when you taken off, so for example when i leave my house and give it some gas to go into first gear the car jumps with the cam lope here and there! sometimes its just a smooth get up and go. surging is only at idle but that's beginning to clear up, i'm hoping after all the other mods i do as well as when i change out the cam sensor that it will clear up. i haven't heard about the VVT-3 losing that much power, makes me want to just rip it out right now lol but i truly did feel a good difference after the cam install. maybe with the better air flow from CNC'd heads and intake manifold it will feel 10x better. its really not a bad drive though to get straight to the point. my friend has a stock 1le and i let him drive it and he was saying how much better my car feels compared to his, feels way smoother then his stock car.

all depends on your taste though, if i was closer to a lot of these tuners on this forum i honestly would of went with one of there cam setups or what not but i prefer a local tuner for installation / troubleshooting purposes when need be. i also live real close to TSP so i drive out there to pick up my orders.

His friend here, can confirm about the drivability.

It felt to me like it maybe needed a very slight bit more throttle at start, but otherwise felt great. Maybe it was the tune that did this, but I felt like the throttle response was much better than my car, it felt much lighter under the foot to get going.

[My87z28]

Originally Posted by umby24

His friend here, can confirm about the drivability.

It felt to me like it maybe needed a very slight bit more throttle at start, but otherwise felt great. Maybe it was the tune that did this, but I felt like the throttle response was much better than my car, it felt much lighter under the foot to get going.

Thank you, I’ve been asking around and keep hearing good things about the VVT-3 cam. It definitely sounds badass.

[MP3BOOSTED]

Originally Posted by My87z28

Thank you, I’ve been asking around and keep hearing good things about the VVT-3 cam. It definitely sounds badass.

I also wouldn't say it's not good for the street or what not, just get some sticky tires because the car feels like it wants to do a full 360 on you, pretty scary, pedaling the crap out of it with these 305s on it.

[My87z28]

Originally Posted by MP3BOOSTED

I also wouldn't say it's not good for the street or what not, just get some sticky tires because the car feels like it wants to do a full 360 on you, pretty scary, pedaling the crap out of it with these 305s on it.

Planning on getting Nitto 555R 305/35R20 DR’s soon.

[DFW1LE]

That cam has 5* of overlap. These cars do not need high duration cams to make good power, but being an M6, I can't imagine the drivability would be too bad if tuned correctly.

[KingLT1]

Originally Posted by jimmypop13

Find out what the overlap is using an online calculator. When you start getting above 7* overlap you start to get bad driveability with surging and bucking down low at slow speeds like through parking lots. Definitely not fun. I had a 236/242 111LSA cam in an LS1 that loved to buck around down low. Plus you don't want a big cam that's gonna zap all your torque down low and lose the fun on the street.
Edit: I just checked and VVT2 is 1* overlap and VVT3 is 5* overlap so both should have good driveability. I think VVT1 or 2 would be best if you're trying to have a fun street car so you don't sacrifice too much power down low. Bigger is not always better

You are not going to lose much low end even with the VVT3...that is the whole point of VVT and how the LT1 can make soo much low end tq even with a 260cc head. Aside from that this engine makes enough TQ down low, that even losing a little in trade for top end power would not be all that bad. I would not assume anything based on past experiences with a LS motor...it's simply not the same. I currently have a H/C/I LS6 Z28 and a 6g SS...I work on, tune, and drive both of them. 2 completely different animals. LS does not make anywhere near the same amount of TQ below 3k rpm. The LT1 even makes 40ft lbs more then a LS7 @ 2k rpm.

[My87z28]

Thank you guys. It sounds like when the time comes I’ll be going with a VVT-3 cam and CNC’d heads.

[MP3BOOSTED]

Originally Posted by My87z28

Thank you guys. It sounds like when the time comes I’ll be going with a VVT-3 cam and CNC’d heads.

awesome!! well worth the purchase, i am taking my heads to Texas Speed on Monday to get ported!

[6spdhyperblue]

Is anyone upping the compression to offset the dcr loss?