What Cams?

[grundyd 2]

I have my 1.9 mi16 in bits at the mo and wanted to know the best make and type of cams to fit?

I want it for track use mainley and light road, can i fit both inlet and exhaust cams? (im on standard manigment)

Whats the best make and price?

Sorry asking the simple questons lol Thanks dave

[Richie-Van-GTi 73 2 Cars]

Cat cams are always popular and competetivley priced. Do a search for all the answers.

[grundyd 2]

Well thanks for that have spent 40 mins reading old posts for no help oh well

[boombang 2]

Well thanks for that have spent 40 mins reading old posts for no help oh well

That's the attitude, I'm sure a few more nice sarcastic posts and everyone will be queueing up helping you out!

 

Whilst we're waiting for that, I would personally PM PeterT with the current specification and application and find out what he recommends.

 

The search as I am sure you have found is crap unless you know exactly what you are searchng for, but off the top of my head I think you'll be recommended an inlet cam supplied by Peter. Gets the thumbs up from a few members.

[Cameron 16]

Newman cams are by far the cheapest option at £350 a set. You'll never get Catcams for that sort of money!

I'd recommend Newman PH1 (go on their website) if you're running standard management, although I wouldn't recommend doing that. If you're on aftermarket management then PH2 could be an option, but be prepared to lose some low rpm tractability.

[mmt 15]

Cameron:

 

Are the Newman cams any good? Do they wear or are they ok compared to the Kent and Piper units?

 

Can not see the Ph2 on their web? There is a Ph1, Ph 3, Ph 4 and Ph 5?

 

Do you know if the Ph4 will run on 45 webers? Race only.

 

SORRY for the hi-jack!

[woodsy 0]

i got a new catcam inlet only from QEP, think it was stage 1 and in the future i can put this as the exhaust and get a stage 2 for the inlet thats what i was told.Must admit though i havent seemed that much in bhp difference last time it went on rollers, but maybe as SBC said i could do with verniers to get the most out of the new cam.

[Anthony 1,003]

As above, look at a Petert Stage 1 regrind - cheap, and well proven gains. Plenty of happy customers on here

[kyepan 291]

i have a peter t regrind..

 

one chap on here had 240bhp out of one.

[Cameron 16]

Newman cams shouldn't wear as long as you run them in right.

 

Have a look at this article on their website:

 

Camshaft selection!

 

Phase 4 cams will probably be too much if your only upgrade is weber carbs, you'll probably find that you'll need to be revving to 8.5-9K to get the most out of them, and for that you'll need some pretty serious bottom end work. I basically found this out the hard way, and ordered PH4's as their catalogue said a decent spread of torque and a power band of 3-7K. Sounds good, but in reality all power below 6K was killed (we're talking 20-30bhp here) and it only started to make good over 7K, which was rubbish considering my std bottom end and rev limit of 7.5K!

If I were you, I would go for PH3 as a maximum. I have PH2 in my engine now and they made a very nice gain (10-15bhp) throughout the range.

Edited November 23, 2009 by Cameron

[petert 591]

I'm still honouring the offer in the Group Buy section - $205 for Stage I or II regrind, including a chip and return postage. With the Stage I inlet I would recommend a std. exhaust cam. With the Stage II inlet, you can use either the Stage I on the exhaust or the std. exhaust. The Stage II/Stage I combination gives a fair amount of overlap however and will give a rougher idle. This much cam timing is way too much for the standard management and injectors however. The Stage I/Std. exhuast combination will take the injectors to their limit.

Edited November 24, 2009 by petert

[grundyd 2]

Q.E.P say fit only an inlet cam on standard ecu and intake can any tell me why?

[Cameron 16]

Because the old engine management won't work reliably enough.

[grundyd 2]

Because the old engine management won't work reliably enough.

 

So i can't put two cams in with out an aftermaket ECU? sorry for being stupid

[Baz 421]

You can, but it probably won't run, well at least not very well if at all.

[grundyd 2]

You can, but it probably won't run, well at least not very well if at all.

Best just to stick to the one for now then ok i can do sum oprdering now then thanks

[Masekwm 2]

I'm still honouring the offer in the Group Buy section - $205 for Stage I or II regrind, including a chip and return postage.

 

That's bloody tempting, the cams are a straight swap aren't they with no head work required?

[grundyd 2]

Can the inlet cam be fitted with no adjustment?

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

So i can't put two cams in with out an aftermarket ECU? sorry for being stupid

 

You're not being stupid, but you really need to think this through.

 

The ECU is just a box with a chip in it, and on that chip is a table of references such as RPM, inlet air temp, throttle position etc (load sites basically) which it uses to figure out application of fuel and spark.

 

But this table is just a set of instructions based on some known quantities, i.e. what was fitted from factory.

 

Using aftermarket cams, even regrinds, effectively means you're changing the rules, and as such the look up tables on the ECU could begin to become useless, as a different cam combination may be vastly different from what the factory ECU/programming is capable of coping with.

 

This is why some cams are 'ok' on standard management and some cams, or combos of cams are not.

 

Just having money to throw in cams is not really the best way to go about this. I have PeterT's stage I regrind with a standard exhaust cam for nigh on 240bhp; so wild cams, and double cams is not necessarily the secret to 'big power'.

 

Beyond that though, 'big power' is not necessarily the highest numbers. It's power you can use the majority of the time in the application you have chosen. In my limited experience wild cams - i.e. choosing a stage/phase III as opposed to a stage I because it sounds better down the pub - will not necessarily be any good on the road. It may make big peak figures but be a dog to drive.

 

To para-phrase Mr Sandy Brown (guru on here), moderation is often the key to the best results. Every time you push for higher this and sexier that, you're running the risk of losing drive-ability and reliability or both.

 

Experiment by all means, but there's some excellent advice on this forum, and if that means having a stage I instead of a stage XXI and saving £200 and not sounding so cool down the pub, then trust me/us, you're car will thank you and you'll get more enjoyment from it.

 

[Baz 421]

That's bloody tempting, the cams are a straight swap aren't they with no head work required?

 

Yep, and you don't need the chip either!

[Masekwm 2]

So fitting would be fitting the new cams, belt & waterpump and remap to suit?

[grundyd 2]

You're not being stupid, but you really need to think this through.

 

The ECU is just a box with a chip in it, and on that chip is a table of references such as RPM, inlet air temp, throttle position etc (load sites basically) which it uses to figure out application of fuel and spark.

 

But this table is just a set of instructions based on some known quantities, i.e. what was fitted from factory.

 

Using aftermarket cams, even regrinds, effectively means you're changing the rules, and as such the look up tables on the ECU could begin to become useless, as a different cam combination may be vastly different from what the factory ECU/programming is capable of coping with.

 

This is why some cams are 'ok' on standard management and some cams, or combos of cams are not.

 

Just having money to throw in cams is not really the best way to go about this. I have PeterT's stage I regrind with a standard exhaust cam for nigh on 240bhp; so wild cams, and double cams is not necessarily the secret to 'big power'.

 

Beyond that though, 'big power' is not necessarily the highest numbers. It's power you can use the majority of the time in the application you have chosen. In my limited experience wild cams - i.e. choosing a stage/phase III as opposed to a stage I because it sounds better down the pub - will not necessarily be any good on the road. It may make big peak figures but be a dog to drive.

 

To para-phrase Mr Sandy Brown (guru on here), moderation is often the key to the best results. Every time you push for higher this and sexier that, you're running the risk of losing drive-ability and reliability or both.

 

Experiment by all means, but there's some excellent advice on this forum, and if that means having a stage I instead of a stage XXI and saving £200 and not sounding so cool down the pub, then trust me/us, you're car will thank you and you'll get more enjoyment from it.

 

Ok this helps a lot now i kinda understand thanks . As im on standard Ecu and induction i will fit the one cam im also going for a lightened flywheel i know it wont idel well and a pig to drive slow but good for a track and still reliable

Am i rite saying this?

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

Ok this helps a lot now i kinda understand thanks . As im on standard Ecu and induction i will fit the one cam im also going for a lightened flywheel i know it wont idel well and a pig to drive slow but good for a track and still reliable

Am i rite saying this?

 

No.

 

A stage I PeterT cam - with or without chip - will idle just fine.

 

The lightened flywheel has nothing to do with that, but it'll help in other ways.

 

It's when you add up all of the little bits, working in harmony, when the whole lot really sings for you.

[petert 591]

That's bloody tempting, the cams are a straight swap aren't they with no head work required?

 

Straight swap. No head work required. The Stage I is better with the chip because of the improved ignition curve.