# Cams, Heads, and drivability



## motoristx (Apr 27, 2010)

do we had a thread like this already? i didn't find one so if we do please Direct me to it! :cheers

First of all, I wanted to show what Cam, Heads and CI I had before my rebuild. I want to explain the Drivablity of what I had and the pros/cons to help my fellow GTO owners make a better decision about what might work best for your application. I would also like to see others with LS1 -LS2 setups share some info similar to what I've shared.

I do not want to see the Endless Cams debate, so please, try not to debate anything, just put what you have, and how you feel it acts in terms of drivability.

Specs:
I had a 400 CI LS2 (I think) 4.005" bore 4" stroke
Ported 243 heads with bigger valves, i don't know the springs
Cam was an old MTI cam, 244/244 .612 .612 112lsa
other mods too but are not important to this discussion

Pros:
-500 RWHP
-sounded Great!
-very large RPM range for power starting at about 3000-3300 RPM all the way up to 7k!

Cons: 
-needed new clutch, stock would not hold
-any time I had it under 1800 RPM, it would buck hard (crusing RPM would have to be over 2000 no mater what speed i was going)
-brakes felt weak (weak vac?) 
-had to have it tuned, before that it ran very bad

Drivability/Summary:
This was my every day driver, it wasn't to hard to drive after I got used to the rpm range. this is my first V-8 powered sports car so I didn't know what to expect. my Girl Friend could drive it and only stalled it a few times lol: i guess that might not be saying much). it was great for the Highway, but in stop and go traffic it sucked mainly cause of the clutch, and at slower speeds I had to keep the RPMs over 1800 or it would buck hard. it got about 13 MPG in city at worst, and I've gotted 20 on the Highway.


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## 87GN06GTO07IRL (Aug 10, 2009)

500 rwhp with that cam!!! You got a damn good tuner then! Your cid would be less than 400.


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## motoristx (Apr 27, 2010)

ok i might be exagerating, it was a cold day and it was 497 rwhp, 500 sounds so much better. there are a ton of extras on it, just didn't feel it was that important to list everything. the important issue I wanted to tackle was the drivability with differant setups, where is the point to where i'd be sacrificing too much?


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## motoristx (Apr 27, 2010)

ok I'm done with my car!!! got the engine all rebuilt, broken in and dynoed, this is what I ended up with!

Specs:
406 6.6 Liter 4.020 bore and 4.0 stroke (turns out I have a Calies Dragonslayer) 
got some slightly deeper dished pistons from dimond, 11:1 comp
Same heads, 243 ported, had to do a valve job they where so loose! 
Cam, 243/251 .624 .624 114 lsa its the comp cams LSr 54-462-11
also used comp cams short travel lifters 15850-16
ported the TB
rest of the mods are the same

Differences:
514 rwhp 477 rwtorqe

my tunner is telling me its starving for air in the 5.5k rpm range and up. if i can increase the intake, maybe i can pick up 10 -15 horses?

I have and AEM brute force cold air intake. I think it's a stock MAF sensor no screen. FAST intake, the old style. also have 36lbs injectors.
Exhuast is Kooks Long tube headers, 1.7 inch. Borla stainless cat back system with high flow cats.

as far as driveablility. its smoother! It shakes just like it did before, no more and no less with the SCSS motor mounts and trans mount. even at lower rpms its smoother, it will still buck a little is you let it, but closer to 1500 and less. it also feels a little more torqeyer(?) in the low end.

any ideas on the intake? i was thinking of going with K&N, it looks like the filter is larger wich would allow for more air flow. my tuner wants me to get that short one that fits a fliter right at the TB.
I don't know what i should do


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Damn that's one hell of a duration. Nice.


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## motoristx (Apr 27, 2010)

its not as choppy as everyone lead me on to think. it was the absolute biggest i could go with without having to redo my whole valve train. Also it only really work with big cubes... so i hear, or atleast the bigger CID helps with the loss of torqe

i need to post a video, you can hear it all the way down my street at the other stop sign idling. since it has cats, there is no rumble or tone, just poping sounds. Kinda sounds like poping popcorn. i love it! idle is set at around 850- 900 ish


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## GoldenGoat (Mar 10, 2011)

Good deal.

Never seen that combo before were the pistons custom?


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