aftermarket cam gears? how much power to expect from them.

[SoguRacing]

I've just got a few questions. Who has used aftermarket adjustable cam gears and how much of a power increase did you get from them? this application would be for a s13 sr20det.

[fliprayzin240sx]

Power out of cam gears?!?! You dont make power with cam gears, you make some power with the cams thats attached to the cam gear. Slapping a cam gear to your stock cams wont do much, even if they are dialed in for power.

[S14DB]

Cam gears are used to dial in aftermarket cams. It is very expensive to get a machine that align the bolt holes with the center line of the lobes. So, most aftermarket cams can be off a few degrees from center.

You lose power if the cams are off. So, the cam gears allow you to dial them in perfectly.

[burnsauto]

is it true you only really see a difference if they're tuned on a dyno?

[!Zar!]

You don't, "gain" power per say.

You simply recover power that is lost from having the aftermarket cams being off.

[dorkidori_s13]

arent cam gears redundant if you run a powerFC, AEM or any other full stand alone that allows for timing adjustment from the ECU itself???

[!Zar!]

No.

Changing duration and timing are two different things.

[fliprayzin240sx]

arent cam gears redundant if you run a powerFC, AEM or any other full stand alone that allows for timing adjustment from the ECU itself???

No, because you are changing the mechanical timing of the engine, not the electrical timing. Electrical timing is when the spark plugs go off, mechanical timing in this case is when the valves open up, close and how long depending on the cams.

[dorkidori_s13]

sweet...glad i got that question answered...thanks guys :D

[SoguRacing]

thanks for the help. answered my questions. I have aftermarket cams by the way. well, how much power can be recovered by using the cam gears? thanks for the input guys!

[S14DB]

I would say 10-15% of the gains from the cam on average. Have seen higher but the cams were way off. The more they are off the more the recovered.

[alkemyst]

is it true you only really see a difference if they're tuned on a dyno?

No...it's the only way you will be able to know if say -2.5 was better than -5 degrees though.

Butt dyno should be able to get you into the ballpark.

I do know I swapped my 232/232 cams for a 248/232 setup and ran the intake at +2.5 degs advance due to almost all threads saying that was the hot setup.

Freaking sucks on power...my dyno was 108 to the wheels, 119 with the timing advanced a couple degrees at the dist....should be at 150ish with my mods.

I am going to retard it -2.5 degs and take another dyno run. Hopefully I find my lost power.

[alkemyst]

thanks for the help. answered my questions. I have aftermarket cams by the way. well, how much power can be recovered by using the cam gears? thanks for the input guys!

With aftermarket you should have the support of the cam maker. Give them a call and ask them what they advise. Just an FYI, there is no 'best' setting usually. It's going to depend on how you drive the car. Someone running autocross would probably dial in their cams much differently than a 1/4 mile only dude.

[SoguRacing]

With aftermarket you should have the support of the cam maker. Give them a call and ask them what they advise. Just an FYI, there is no 'best' setting usually. It's going to depend on how you drive the car. Someone running autocross would probably dial in their cams much differently than a 1/4 mile only dude.

thanks again guys!

[!Zar!]

With aftermarket you should have the support of the cam maker. Give them a call and ask them what they advise. Just an FYI, there is no 'best' setting usually. It's going to depend on how you drive the car. Someone running autocross would probably dial in their cams much differently than a 1/4 mile only dude.

Wouldn't that be why they buy a particular duration CAM.

[alkemyst]

Wouldn't that be why they buy a particular duration CAM.

To start yes. Then tuning is done to adjust the events to what makes the most power on a particular engine.