# Picking the right cam...



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

Hey everyone I need you help with picking a comp cam for my 06 gto m6. Its a daily driver and ive only done exhaust and intake on it. I dont want to go to crazy with the cam. I was told to go with a 228 but I dont see that comp cam has one. Also, has anyone got the whole package cam, springs, pushrods, ect?


----------



## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

FlowTechInduction has IMHO the best cam packages. You can get 50 opinions but they are going to be very narrow as they only have the experience of one or maybe a few cams. Ed Curtis at FTI is a guru and has years and years of experience custom grinding cams to suit the needs of any given user. His process is a little longer than just buying a cam off a website but anyways you contact him, he sends you a form where you state your mods, future mods and intended use. He will come back with a couple of options to meet those goals. His packages use only the best American made parts. You can save a few bucks getting one somewhere else but a broken spring down the road will cost you more. In the long run the more lengthy process will give you a great fit.


----------



## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

My cam doesn't fit in my trans or suspension


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

Thanks for the advice. Ill be calling them up on monday to see what package they can put together for me.


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

jpalamar said:


> My cam doesn't fit in my trans or suspension


Good for you! You deserve a cookie!:lol:


----------



## IcemanGTO (Mar 2, 2011)

Before you pick any cam definitley do your research and 
talk to people that actually have a aftermarket cam in their car.


----------



## serotonin (Mar 15, 2010)

lasoya113 said:


> Hey everyone I need you help with picking a comp cam for my 06 gto m6. Its a daily driver and ive only done exhaust and intake on it. I dont want to go to crazy with the cam. I was told to go with a 228 but I dont see that comp cam has one. Also, has anyone got the whole package cam, springs, pushrods, ect?


I got a 228r kit from texas-speed; included the cam, springs and pushrods and am very happy with the purchase. There are quite a lot of videos of 228r (gto specific) upgrades on youtube if you want to get a general idea of what it'll do for you sound-wise. IIRC they are comp cams, but not sure.

+1 on IcemanGTO's suggestion, too.

Happy hunting,
Sero


----------



## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

Picking a cam by sound is like picking dinner by what your poop looks like.


----------



## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

IcemanGTO said:


> Before you pick any cam definitley do your research and
> talk to people that actually have a aftermarket cam in their car.


I'm sorry man this is not good advice. Cams have to fit *YOUR* needs and not everyone knows how to read a cam card.





svede1212 said:


> FlowTechInduction has IMHO the best cam packages. You can get 50 opinions but they are going to be very narrow as they only have the experience of one or maybe a few cams. Ed Curtis at FTI is a guru and has years and years of experience custom grinding cams to suit the needs of any given user. His process is a little longer than just buying a cam off a website but anyways you contact him, he sends you a form where you state your mods, future mods and intended use. He will come back with a couple of options to meet those goals. His packages use only the best American made parts. You can save a few bucks getting one somewhere else but a broken spring down the road will cost you more. In the long run the more lengthy process will give you a great fit.


:agree
Now this is good advice.


----------



## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

No offense to anyone with cam insight (as I do myself), but as previously stated, nobody off the street or the net can tell you what cam you need for YOUR car. That's what the pros are for. I have no idea who or what these Flowtech people are, but I'm sure they're in business for a reason. You've got options. I swear by Comp Cams. They're my boys. Everything I run is Comp, FAST, RHS, TCI, you get the idea. You've also got Lunatti. I heard Crane Cams is back in business as well but I haven't verified that.

I don't know what a Texas-Speed 228r is, but the cam I got from my T-S LS3 heads/cam package is a custom ground Comp Cam (hand picked and ordered by T-S) at 228/232, .595 lift, 114+2 LSA. This was picked for MY CAR with MY MODS. With the giant hollow stem LS3 valves, anything bigger would crash into the pistons on an LS2 motor. I didn't know that. Probably 95% of the people on this board didn't know that, and NOBODY at the local Friday night cruise in knew that who were scoffing at me with their LS1 F-bodies with donkey d!ck sized cams compared to mine. Pick a Pro. Call a Pro. Leave it to them. Be happy. Drive fast. Be safe.


----------



## serotonin (Mar 15, 2010)

svede1212 said:


> Picking a cam by sound is like picking dinner by what your poop looks like.


There really isn't any need to make snide comments when people are simply trying to have a constructive discussion.

You research a cam, you probably would like to have an idea how it sounds in your vehicle. It's part of the plate you will eat off of. Now who was it that mentioned sound was "the think to pick a cam by". Was not me.

Furthermore, talking to people who have cams in their car and how it effects their vehicle and drivability is worth discussing; I will disagree that talking to people is a bad idea. However, making a purchase on just that element (word of mouth) is not intelligent. I do agree, calling a reputable supplier, to discuss specific cams/grinds that suit your needs is probably one of the best things you can do.


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

Thanks for everyones advice. I had called comp cam and they helped me out and gave me some good info. I also tried calling up HPE but for some reason there phone number is out of service. Does anyone know if there still in business?


----------



## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

Who's HPE? Hennessey? Hinson? If it's Hinson Super Cars then ya they're still in business. They're out of northern Alabama. That's who I bought my Nick Williams 102mm throttle body from.


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

HPE is horsepowerengineering > Home


----------



## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

serotonin said:


> There really isn't any need to make snide comments when people are simply trying to have a constructive discussion.
> 
> You research a cam, you probably would like to have an idea how it sounds in your vehicle. It's part of the plate you will eat off of. Now who was it that mentioned sound was "the think to pick a cam by". Was not me.
> 
> Furthermore, talking to people who have cams in their car and how it effects their vehicle and drivability is worth discussing; I will disagree that talking to people is a bad idea. However, making a purchase on just that element (word of mouth) is not intelligent. I do agree, calling a reputable supplier, to discuss specific cams/grinds that suit your needs is probably one of the best things you can do.


That wasn't snide. That was a very good analogy. If you want to "discuss" things on the internet I wouldn't be so sensitive. A cam is a performance part not a muffler. I try to give good, informed advice with 7 years of experience with this car and even at that I hesitate to give cam advise. The cam (and install thereof), heads, LTs and exhaust as well as tuning all affect how it sounds and that's before personal taste. How it drives is once again HUGELY dependent on the tune with many, many tunes being poorly done. From what I gather over the years my more radical cam drives better than much milder ones that people have issues with. That's all in the tune so comparing a "good driving cam" with a "poor driving cam" might have nothing to do with the cam at all.


----------



## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

There's a whole host of things to consider with cams. Like previously mentioned, you need to know your mods vs future mods. Ported heads or L92s flow differently from stock, so you're already changing your volumetric efficiency characteristics there. Your intake manifold makes a difference, as do your throttle body specs. Where do you want your power band? That's something else to consider too.

Personally I think a cam should be the last engine mod you make, or at least the last thing you shop for when building, since you are eliminating any other variables that are going to change driveability. I'm sure GM ran extensive computer modeling tests to come up with the cam we have, through both manifold vacuum and dynamic cylinder compression testing data. There's so much science at work, it'll be almost impossible to pick the "perfect" cam. Unless you're a guy like Ed Curtis who pretty much knows his stuff by experience/trial and error.


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

I agree the cam should be 1 of the last things. Right now I have a K & N intake system and magnaflow exhaust. Im going to do the rest of the mods all at once which includes 102mm fast intake, JBA headers, cam kit and tune. I want a cam thats in the middle rang in size. I was looking around and I seen 2 cams that I want to get your guys thoughts on and if you can tell me if there too big for my upgrades or not big enough or just right for my upgrades. The first one specs are 238/240 on a 112 LSA 605/609 lift and the second one is 239/242 on a 112 LSA 651/610 lift.


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

Pbtt


----------



## dustyminpin (Jun 19, 2006)

lasoya113 said:


> I agree the cam should be 1 of the last things. Right now I have a K & N intake system and magnaflow exhaust. Im going to do the rest of the mods all at once which includes 102mm fast intake, JBA headers, cam kit and tune. I want a cam thats in the middle rang in size. I was looking around and I seen 2 cams that I want to get your guys thoughts on and if you can tell me if there too big for my upgrades or not big enough or just right for my upgrades. The first one specs are 238/240 on a 112 LSA 605/609 lift and the second one is 239/242 on a 112 LSA 651/610 lift.


Those cams are HUGE. Like, stroker motor huge...


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

I didnt think of this until now but I wanted a cam that was the same size as the HPE S cam which is pretty big but I live in california and we have that crappy law SMOG that we have to get checked every other year unless its a new car the its after 4 years. Now I need to find a cam thats as big as I can get and still pass smog. Any advice?


----------



## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

DD + huge cam + must pass CA SMOG = doesn't make much sense.


----------



## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

lasoya113 said:


> I didnt think of this until now but I wanted a cam that was the same size as the HPE S cam which is pretty big but I live in california and we have that crappy law SMOG that we have to get checked every other year unless its a new car the its after 4 years. Now I need to find a cam thats as big as I can get and still pass smog. Any advice?


The same advice that was given earlier. Talk to a professional. I think the magic number is around 4 deg or less of overlap you should be good. I've heard of tuners passing cams in the mid 230's duration *buttttt* you have to have a tuner that knows what he is doing to tune it for smog time and a "good" smog guy. You have to pu$$yfoot it around till you get it retuned again too.


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

Can anyone that lives in california tell me what cam they have in there gto that will pass smog? Im looking to put the biggest cam I can get that will still pass smog with a good tune. Thanks..


----------



## lasoya113 (Mar 19, 2011)

anyone?


----------



## Civenegas85 (May 10, 2011)

Sorry Cali...... a lot of Texas boys on this forum....


----------

