Cam for a 5.3L daily driver
12-21-2004, 02:46 PM
#21
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My SOTP opinions based off of my 4x4, EC-SB, 6.0, 4.10/32" tire, truck...
Supporting mods: my amatuer tuning for each cam, cat-back exhaust.
- TR220-112. Very mild and tame under 3,500 or so. Power under there was very linear. Way down low it was rather uninspiring. The more you revved it, the more power it made. It probably made more power than stock after about 2,500. Up around 3,500-4,000 or so, it really woke up. It pulled hard up to and past 6,000rpm. I lost power at highway-cruise RPM's, around 2,200 (and under). Roll on power locked up in OD at 70mph was pretty uneventfull, until you downshifted, where the trucked pulled _HARD_.
Off the highway, the engine needed to be downshifted out of OD on almost every hill around here. That's a bit of a nuisance to me. The cam definitley rewards someone who drives hard. It was a complete hoot when I'd leave the truck in 3rd and blast around on some backroads.
- VHP 047, 210/218 112. To me, this is the most potent (with it's mild duration and tigher LSA) I would go without expecting to lose power in daily-driver-type operating RPM's. Power under 1,500 is soft. On stock tuning, this made the initial lockup in OD a bit of a nuisance. I bumped lock/unlock speeds up by about 5mph, and this was enough to completely clear up the hiccup. That was the only time the power under 1,500 posed any sort of an issue to me. The cam feels like it's making more power than stock by ~1,800. Roll on power locked up in OD on the highway is excellent. No downshift necessary to pass someone. You feel the came wake up around 1,800 - it's a lot of fun to drift in an out of that area. You don't have to drive like a nut to enjoy the power. It's very healthy to 6,000. Very linear and torquey feeling power curve. Haven't run it past 6,000 much at all. I do wish there was a bit more topend power (I'm insatiable), but I'm looking into other mods for that.
What I REALLY love about this cam is that you can plant your foot at half-throttle, and enjoy power that would have required you to rev out the 220/220. I guess that's what people mean by area under the curve.
Neither cam "needed" a converter in my truck... but the TR220 was asking a little louder than the 210/218. The latter isn't really asking at all. It's just kind of poking you saying, "I dare you to put one in..."
Comparing lowend power of the cams: Say the TR220 lost power under 2,500. The 210/218 under 1,500. Both cams made the truck feel like a stock 5.3 liter motor in this area.
The 220's loss of power was gradual an linear - it wasn't easy to to detect until you're locked up or cruising up a hill.
The 210/218 - under 1,500 feels like a more dramatic loss in power, mainly because of the dramatic ramp-up in power at ~1,800.
---
Since running the 210/218, i've installed headers (1 3/4" / 2.5") and H/F cats. They've helped out the lowend. I've now got pretty solid gains from about ~1,200rpm and up, and I still kept the noticeable ramp-up at ~1,800.
I would have liked to try the 220/220 112 with the headers, but things didn't work out that way.
Sorry this is long winded..... I get a little too passionate about this stuff at times.
Supporting mods: my amatuer tuning for each cam, cat-back exhaust.
- TR220-112. Very mild and tame under 3,500 or so. Power under there was very linear. Way down low it was rather uninspiring. The more you revved it, the more power it made. It probably made more power than stock after about 2,500. Up around 3,500-4,000 or so, it really woke up. It pulled hard up to and past 6,000rpm. I lost power at highway-cruise RPM's, around 2,200 (and under). Roll on power locked up in OD at 70mph was pretty uneventfull, until you downshifted, where the trucked pulled _HARD_.
Off the highway, the engine needed to be downshifted out of OD on almost every hill around here. That's a bit of a nuisance to me. The cam definitley rewards someone who drives hard. It was a complete hoot when I'd leave the truck in 3rd and blast around on some backroads.
- VHP 047, 210/218 112. To me, this is the most potent (with it's mild duration and tigher LSA) I would go without expecting to lose power in daily-driver-type operating RPM's. Power under 1,500 is soft. On stock tuning, this made the initial lockup in OD a bit of a nuisance. I bumped lock/unlock speeds up by about 5mph, and this was enough to completely clear up the hiccup. That was the only time the power under 1,500 posed any sort of an issue to me. The cam feels like it's making more power than stock by ~1,800. Roll on power locked up in OD on the highway is excellent. No downshift necessary to pass someone. You feel the came wake up around 1,800 - it's a lot of fun to drift in an out of that area. You don't have to drive like a nut to enjoy the power. It's very healthy to 6,000. Very linear and torquey feeling power curve. Haven't run it past 6,000 much at all. I do wish there was a bit more topend power (I'm insatiable), but I'm looking into other mods for that.
What I REALLY love about this cam is that you can plant your foot at half-throttle, and enjoy power that would have required you to rev out the 220/220. I guess that's what people mean by area under the curve.
Neither cam "needed" a converter in my truck... but the TR220 was asking a little louder than the 210/218. The latter isn't really asking at all. It's just kind of poking you saying, "I dare you to put one in..."
Comparing lowend power of the cams: Say the TR220 lost power under 2,500. The 210/218 under 1,500. Both cams made the truck feel like a stock 5.3 liter motor in this area.
The 220's loss of power was gradual an linear - it wasn't easy to to detect until you're locked up or cruising up a hill.
The 210/218 - under 1,500 feels like a more dramatic loss in power, mainly because of the dramatic ramp-up in power at ~1,800.
---
Since running the 210/218, i've installed headers (1 3/4" / 2.5") and H/F cats. They've helped out the lowend. I've now got pretty solid gains from about ~1,200rpm and up, and I still kept the noticeable ramp-up at ~1,800.
I would have liked to try the 220/220 112 with the headers, but things didn't work out that way.
Sorry this is long winded..... I get a little too passionate about this stuff at times.
12-21-2004, 04:27 PM
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Originally Posted by marc_w
My SOTP opinions based off of my 4x4, EC-SB, 6.0, 4.10/32" tire, truck...
Supporting mods: my amatuer tuning for each cam, cat-back exhaust.
- TR220-112. Very mild and tame under 3,500 or so. Power under there was very linear. Way down low it was rather uninspiring. The more you revved it, the more power it made. It probably made more power than stock after about 2,500. Up around 3,500-4,000 or so, it really woke up. It pulled hard up to and past 6,000rpm. I lost power at highway-cruise RPM's, around 2,200 (and under). Roll on power locked up in OD at 70mph was pretty uneventfull, until you downshifted, where the trucked pulled _HARD_.
Off the highway, the engine needed to be downshifted out of OD on almost every hill around here. That's a bit of a nuisance to me. The cam definitley rewards someone who drives hard. It was a complete hoot when I'd leave the truck in 3rd and blast around on some backroads.
- VHP 047, 210/218 112. To me, this is the most potent (with it's mild duration and tigher LSA) I would go without expecting to lose power in daily-driver-type operating RPM's. Power under 1,500 is soft. On stock tuning, this made the initial lockup in OD a bit of a nuisance. I bumped lock/unlock speeds up by about 5mph, and this was enough to completely clear up the hiccup. That was the only time the power under 1,500 posed any sort of an issue to me. The cam feels like it's making more power than stock by ~1,800. Roll on power locked up in OD on the highway is excellent. No downshift necessary to pass someone. You feel the came wake up around 1,800 - it's a lot of fun to drift in an out of that area. You don't have to drive like a nut to enjoy the power. It's very healthy to 6,000. Very linear and torquey feeling power curve. Haven't run it past 6,000 much at all. I do wish there was a bit more topend power (I'm insatiable), but I'm looking into other mods for that.
What I REALLY love about this cam is that you can plant your foot at half-throttle, and enjoy power that would have required you to rev out the 220/220. I guess that's what people mean by area under the curve.
Neither cam "needed" a converter in my truck... but the TR220 was asking a little louder than the 210/218. The latter isn't really asking at all. It's just kind of poking you saying, "I dare you to put one in..."
Comparing lowend power of the cams: Say the TR220 lost power under 2,500. The 210/218 under 1,500. Both cams made the truck feel like a stock 5.3 liter motor in this area.
The 220's loss of power was gradual an linear - it wasn't easy to to detect until you're locked up or cruising up a hill.
The 210/218 - under 1,500 feels like a more dramatic loss in power, mainly because of the dramatic ramp-up in power at ~1,800.
---
Since running the 210/218, i've installed headers (1 3/4" / 2.5") and H/F cats. They've helped out the lowend. I've now got pretty solid gains from about ~1,200rpm and up, and I still kept the noticeable ramp-up at ~1,800.
I would have liked to try the 220/220 112 with the headers, but things didn't work out that way.
Sorry this is long winded..... I get a little too passionate about this stuff at times.
Supporting mods: my amatuer tuning for each cam, cat-back exhaust.
- TR220-112. Very mild and tame under 3,500 or so. Power under there was very linear. Way down low it was rather uninspiring. The more you revved it, the more power it made. It probably made more power than stock after about 2,500. Up around 3,500-4,000 or so, it really woke up. It pulled hard up to and past 6,000rpm. I lost power at highway-cruise RPM's, around 2,200 (and under). Roll on power locked up in OD at 70mph was pretty uneventfull, until you downshifted, where the trucked pulled _HARD_.
Off the highway, the engine needed to be downshifted out of OD on almost every hill around here. That's a bit of a nuisance to me. The cam definitley rewards someone who drives hard. It was a complete hoot when I'd leave the truck in 3rd and blast around on some backroads.
- VHP 047, 210/218 112. To me, this is the most potent (with it's mild duration and tigher LSA) I would go without expecting to lose power in daily-driver-type operating RPM's. Power under 1,500 is soft. On stock tuning, this made the initial lockup in OD a bit of a nuisance. I bumped lock/unlock speeds up by about 5mph, and this was enough to completely clear up the hiccup. That was the only time the power under 1,500 posed any sort of an issue to me. The cam feels like it's making more power than stock by ~1,800. Roll on power locked up in OD on the highway is excellent. No downshift necessary to pass someone. You feel the came wake up around 1,800 - it's a lot of fun to drift in an out of that area. You don't have to drive like a nut to enjoy the power. It's very healthy to 6,000. Very linear and torquey feeling power curve. Haven't run it past 6,000 much at all. I do wish there was a bit more topend power (I'm insatiable), but I'm looking into other mods for that.
What I REALLY love about this cam is that you can plant your foot at half-throttle, and enjoy power that would have required you to rev out the 220/220. I guess that's what people mean by area under the curve.
Neither cam "needed" a converter in my truck... but the TR220 was asking a little louder than the 210/218. The latter isn't really asking at all. It's just kind of poking you saying, "I dare you to put one in..."
Comparing lowend power of the cams: Say the TR220 lost power under 2,500. The 210/218 under 1,500. Both cams made the truck feel like a stock 5.3 liter motor in this area.
The 220's loss of power was gradual an linear - it wasn't easy to to detect until you're locked up or cruising up a hill.
The 210/218 - under 1,500 feels like a more dramatic loss in power, mainly because of the dramatic ramp-up in power at ~1,800.
---
Since running the 210/218, i've installed headers (1 3/4" / 2.5") and H/F cats. They've helped out the lowend. I've now got pretty solid gains from about ~1,200rpm and up, and I still kept the noticeable ramp-up at ~1,800.
I would have liked to try the 220/220 112 with the headers, but things didn't work out that way.
Sorry this is long winded..... I get a little too passionate about this stuff at times.
as far as power band, racing a friend with 212 218, power was equal to his yet the top ends really rules.
12-21-2004, 05:33 PM
#23
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I put a cam from an '02 Z06 in mine. Below 2500 rpm it's only slightly better feeling than stock. Above 2500 rpm it's amazing how hard my truck pulls now. The idle is almost bone stock. I noticed the entonation got a little bit lower but not a noticable lope to anyone else. Just sounds like a more throaty exhaust.
good luck making the choice.
good luck making the choice.
12-22-2004, 12:26 AM
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Originally Posted by Quikenuf
Why dont you check out my dyno graph. Im a huge fan of the 220. I was the guinea pig for this cam in a 5.3. Made some damn impressive numbers for a cam only
http://thunderracing.com/dynographs/...n=read&pgid=94
http://thunderracing.com/dynographs/...n=read&pgid=94
Does anyone think that this is too much Cam!!!
12-22-2004, 01:32 AM
#25
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no matter what cam you go with you WILL want to go bigger later so you might as well get at least a decent one now. The 212/218 is a good daily driver cam though.
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