I was wondering about the Crane 208/216 cam. There are two different ones, the only thing different is the lift .500 and .530. I know the .530 power is higher, but how much higher? I know you can use the .500 lift with stock springs and that I would have to change them with a .530 lift. I'm going to get hardened pushrods with whatever cam I get.

I was thinking about the Comp 212/218 cam, but don't know too much about the lower rpm's on that cam.

 

I have a few concerns about the crane cams.

Look at the 208/216-.500 cam. It looks smaller than the comp 212/218 based on the .050 duration numbers. But if you compare the adv duration numbers it tells a different story. The Crane shows an adv duration of 272/280 while the Comp shows 265/271. This shows the Comp with smaller numbers.

We cant do a direct comparison on just these two sets of numbers, a cam doctor would be the best, but we can make an educated guess. - With the Comp showing lower adv duration and larger .050 duration, it has a faster ramp rate on the lobe. The Crane has appears to have a lazy lobe profile. It opens earlier (creating more overlap) and takes longer to close. The faster ramp would make the Comp perform better in the lower RPMs and give a better throttle response. The Crane would act like a larger cam because of the overlap and move the RPM higher than a similar comp cam.

This is my take on these two cams, any one else have an opinion?

 

BigTex hit the nail on the head. See my post about a comp XE 216 cam. Runs great, but obviously needs stronger than stock springs.