[TexaSS2]

Hello, I'm looking to potentially do a cam swap. However I'm big on daily drivability, therefore don't want to sacrifice reliability or a lot of low end torque for city driving. Would a stage 1 cam be a good option, that still provides enough gains to warrant the expense? If so, what are some of the best options on the market?

Normally I'd do my own research on this but, cams seem to be the one part where there isn't a lot of available data or dyno information so, I'm pretty clueless. Thanks!

[LT1ornothing]

"provides enough gains to warrant the expense"

This is something that is highly subjective. A cam swap alone with no head porting won't yield much power, much less a "mild" daily driver cam that will live in harmony with your factory valverain. As for specs and manners, I'd imagine something grinded along the lines of a stock LS7 would give you a small power bump and be plenty mild.

Duration @ .050 in. (int./exh.)210°/230°Valve Lift0.593 in./0.589 inLobe Separation120°Cam Advance-3 degrees

Again keep in mind that without head porting and at least a factory lt2 intake, a mild cam won't do much, it's a $5K+ job on these motors, unless you are doing all the work yourself.

[TexaSS2]

Originally Posted by 1LEornothing

"provides enough gains to warrant the expense"

This is something that is highly subjective. A cam swap alone with no head porting won't yield much power, much less a "mild" daily driver cam that will live in harmony with your factory valverain. As for specs and manners, I'd imagine something grinded along the lines of a stock LS7 would give you a small power bump and be plenty mild.

Duration @ .050 in. (int./exh.)210°/230°Valve Lift0.593 in./0.589 inLobe Separation120°Cam Advance-3 degrees

Again keep in mind that without head porting and at least a factory lt2 intake, a mild cam won't do much, it's a $5K+ job on these motors, unless you are doing all the work yourself.

Thank you. Yes, it is a bit subjective which is why I was hoping someone had some dyno data available. I've been unable to find any available.

This will not just be a cam on a stock car. It will be a cam on an E85 tuned SS with ported LT2 manifolds, 1 7/8 catless long tube headers, 95mm ported TV, Rotofab, and if I can find someone who'll do the porting for a reasonable price, ported heads. I am assuming these mods give me more to gain with a cam upgrade?

[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by TexaSS2

Thank you. Yes, it is a bit subjective which is why I was hoping someone had some dyno data available. I've been unable to find any available.

This will not just be a cam on a stock car. It will be a cam on an E85 tuned SS with ported LT2 manifolds, 1 7/8 catless long tube headers, 95mm ported TV, Rotofab, and if I can find someone who'll do the porting for a reasonable price, ported heads. I am assuming these mods give me more to gain with a cam upgrade?

There is no reason why that combination shouldn't provide 500 whp in competent tuning hands while mild mannered and easy on the valvetrain.

[TexaSS2]

Originally Posted by 1LEornothing

There is no reason why that combination shouldn't provide 500 whp in competent tuning hands while mild mannered and easy on the valvetrain.

Great to hear, that's basically the goal while I'm still NA. Do you have a ballpark idea of how much of that power is coming from the cam?

[LT1ornothing]

Originally Posted by TexaSS2

Great to hear, that's basically the goal while I'm still NA. Do you have a ballpark idea of how much of that power is coming from the cam?

30 to 35 to the wheels, if garnished by the the complimentary mods you stated. Should be 100 whp package all motor if you shop and tune accordingly.

[ST1LE]

Originally Posted by 1LEornothing

30 to 35 to the wheels, if garnished by the the complimentary mods you stated. Should be 100 whp package all motor if you shop and tune accordingly.

Absolutely. You should be able to go with a mild stage 2 and still achieve your goals of drivability. All in the tune.

I like your build goals OP, exactly what I want to accomplish just not sure how big of a cam I can get and I also dont want any major chop....just a slightly lumpy idle.

I plan to go custom, and work with Pat G again probably.

[KingLT1]

I would go with a Cam motion Titan 1 218/228 .594 .585 114+5 or the Titan 2 222/234 .612 .603 114+4 and have Pray do the tuning remotely. The Titan 1 will have a very mild idle, work with factory headers, converter, and intake manifold. The Titan 2 is borderline of needing Long tube headers, stall, and at least a LT2 IM but it would still work ok with the stock stall. Any larger(stage 3+) then ideally you need ported heads, 3600 stall, and a ported MSD at minimum, and Long tube headers to take full advantage of the extended RPM range of the cam.

Even with the stage 1 I would probably still opt to port the heads, longtube headers (or cat delete pipes with stock headers at minimum), and a LT2 IM.

[Fast6.3]

The GPI stage 1 is also a nice option

[Robby23]

Originally Posted by TexaSS2

Hello, I'm looking to potentially do a cam swap. However I'm big on daily drivability, therefore don't want to sacrifice reliability or a lot of low end torque for city driving. Would a stage 1 cam be a good option, that still provides enough gains to warrant the expense? If so, what are some of the best options on the market?

Normally I'd do my own research on this but, cams seem to be the one part where there isn't a lot of available data or dyno information so, I'm pretty clueless. Thanks!

I have prays stage 3 cam. heads/intake/headers/flex fuel all that and it drives almost stock. can easily daily it. Tuner has a lot to do with drivability in a cam.

[Juiced1]

You can make some excellent gains with just a cam and bolt ons. With E85 you should be over 500 even with a small cam. Tuning is important but the rule of thumb is don't go with to much cam for the stock converter. Most stage 1 cams are designed to rock the stock converter. After that a stall speed is recommended. Check out the GPI stage 1 cam, we've done that a bunch and had some great results for both power and drivability.

[RobbyBeefcake87]

Originally Posted by ST1LE

Absolutely. You should be able to go with a mild stage 2 and still achieve your goals of drivability. All in the tune.

I like your build goals OP, exactly what I want to accomplish just not sure how big of a cam I can get and I also dont want any major chop....just a slightly lumpy idle.

I plan to go custom, and work with Pat G again probably.

I know Pat G is well respected in the GM game in general and especially LS stuff, but sometimes Gen 5 stuff can be a little different. Jorge Loves Speed VLogs has a nice comparison between his old Pat G spec'd and tuned cam and his Pray spec'd and tuned cam, the Pray cam was not only a bigger faster cam, but Jorge claims the drivability improved noticeably as well. Not to mention the Pray cam was remote tuned vs dyno tuned and still delivered improvements across the board. He had nothing bad to say about Pat G, and will continue to take his LS cars there, but just something to think about.

Like others have said, the tuner makes a big difference and it seems the right tuners are making big stage 3 cams drive great with the gen 5 DI engines.