Daily Driven Cam Choice

Tech discussions on the L77 6.0L V8.
JUNKYARD_JACK
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 10:13 am

Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by JUNKYARD_JACK »

There are so many cam options out there it is just making my head spin. For all those who have a daily driver with a cam, what made you want that cam and how much do you like it? I was thinking about the LS9 cam because of its awesome price but I've heard G8 guys say stay away from it because it kills the power down low and our cars are heavy so it just negates what you gain at the top. So I've been looking at more mild cams like the ones from Tick Performance but there's so many options there too, I like the look of their tow max cams and the torque max cams but then the line of stock converter cams look like they'd do the trick too. I don't know and I just wanted to hear from some other guys that have cams. Down the road I would like to do a LSA blower, maybe I just need to do the blower and the ls9 cam together so I take care of the power down low issue lol
lastcall190
Posts: 604
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:17 am
Location: North Jersey

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by lastcall190 »

I had a daily with an LS9 cam. Why? I didn't have the resources at the time to DIY and the LS9 was the cheapest option and a 3 bolt cam for a DOD delete. I was satisfied and never felt it was a turd. A change to 327 or 345 would take care of it. Sure there were likely better options but I had a few cammed fbodies and found that after camming them more aggressively I did not enjoy what my daily driver turned into

Just my two cents. Good luck in your choice

-J
2012 Caprice
2008 CVPI

Both gone but not forgotten...
GammaFlat
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 9:26 am
Location: NW Indiana

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by GammaFlat »

I'm kind of not qualified to answer this question because I've not changed my cam but I've read about it and thought about it plenty.

You will lose low end torque with an LS9 cam but it will purr like a kitten and have loads of higher RPM torque and HP. The wide LSA makes it idle nice and it has decent lift and duration (see below) but could also be considered it's achille's heal. If you run a stock GM cam, you can likely count on more reliability with stock GM parts in the rest of your valve train (springs, retainers, pushrods, yadayada). The bigger the cam you buy, the more money you should spend on the rest of the valve-train.

You have to get real with yourself and decide if you want rumpity rumpity and the crappy drive-ability that goes with it. If so, get some lift and duration with narrower LSA. To see comparisons on youtube, look for L76 camshaft upgrades (or similar wording). The L76 is nearly identical to our engine (save not made for ethanol). You can also think about your engine this way: we have an LS2 with LS3 heads and intake. Or put still another way, we have a "de-bored" LS3. You can look at any of these engines for "rough comparisons" to your situation.

Camshaft performance is impacted by lots of things - how well heads flow (ours flow great), volume of engine, compression ratio, stall speed, leverage (rear end and trans ratio). What you have now and where you're going in these areas are important considerations when selecting a cam.

At the end of the day, you're asking the right question (IMHO). What works for you guys? A word of warning about opinions though... Any opinion you get really isn't relevant unless you understand that person's goals, tolerance, future plans, current configuration, blah blah blah. I think you'd be fine with an LS9 cam. I say that knowing that it wouldn't necessarily be the best for quarter mile performance compared to the same cam with a narrower LSA. Is the very best quarter mile time the goal? Is drive-ability important? How soon are you doing a super charger?

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Here's some common cams to peruse:
L77 Caprice 196 208 0.4780 0.4660 116.0
LS9 211 230 0.5620 0.5620 122.5
Slpy Stg 2 228 230 0.5850 0.5850 112.0
L92 198 209 0.5000 0.5000 115.0
LSA 198 216 0.4800 0.4800 122.5
ZL1 198 216 0.4920 0.4800 122.5
Crane 1 200 200 0.5020 0.5020 113.0
LS1a 199 207 0.4720 0.4790 117.0
LS1b 202 210 0.4960 0.4960 116.0
LS2 204 211 0.5250 0.5250 116.0
LS6 204 211 0.5250 0.5250 116.0
LS3 204 211 0.5510 0.5250 117.0
Late LS6 204 218 0.5550 0.5510 117.5
Tex Spd 208 214 0.5500 0.5500 112.0
LS7 210 230 0.5930 0.5890 120.0
Thumpr 219 233 0.5530 0.5360 109.0
Crane 3 224 232 0.5900 0.5900 115.0
Comp 227 227 235 0.6140 0.6210 113.0
Current: 2013 9C3, deeper trans pan, 12VoltSolutions Remote, Class III hitch, Android Auto capable radio
JUNKYARD_JACK
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 10:13 am

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by JUNKYARD_JACK »

I have watched a ton of videos from Richard Holdener on youtube and after watching countless dyno runs with various cams I believe I want to go with the sloppy stage 2 cam shaft. Its only 200 bucks from Jegs at this time and has at least the same or more power down low then it opens up at the top. Its not wild but after looking at graphs I believe it will meet my goals.

Adv. Duration: 283/286

Duration @ .050": 228/230

Lift: .585/.585

Lobe Separation: 112 LC
AceVL
Posts: 49
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2020 4:39 pm

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by AceVL »

JUNKYARD_JACK wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 12:06 pm I have watched a ton of videos from Richard Holdener on youtube and after watching countless dyno runs with various cams I believe I want to go with the sloppy stage 2 cam shaft. Its only 200 bucks from Jegs at this time and has at least the same or more power down low then it opens up at the top. Its not wild but after looking at graphs I believe it will meet my goals.

Adv. Duration: 283/286

Duration @ .050": 228/230

Lift: .585/.585

Lobe Separation: 112 LC
If you go for that one be prepared to put a higher stall in it. That’s a relatively mid sized cam so just keep that in mind. Someone else on the forum installed the sloppy stage 2. Maybe talk to them about it.
South Cackalacky

2014 Caprice PPV
2005 Pontiac GTO
1998 Lexus SC400
AceVL
Posts: 49
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2020 4:39 pm

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by AceVL »

GammaFlat wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 5:33 pm I'm kind of not qualified to answer this question because I've not changed my cam but I've read about it and thought about it plenty.

You will lose low end torque with an LS9 cam but it will purr like a kitten and have loads of higher RPM torque and HP. The wide LSA makes it idle nice and it has decent lift and duration (see below) but could also be considered it's achille's heal. If you run a stock GM cam, you can likely count on more reliability with stock GM parts in the rest of your valve train (springs, retainers, pushrods, yadayada). The bigger the cam you buy, the more money you should spend on the rest of the valve-train.

You have to get real with yourself and decide if you want rumpity rumpity and the crappy drive-ability that goes with it. If so, get some lift and duration with narrower LSA. To see comparisons on youtube, look for L76 camshaft upgrades (or similar wording). The L76 is nearly identical to our engine (save not made for ethanol). You can also think about your engine this way: we have an LS2 with LS3 heads and intake. Or put still another way, we have a "de-bored" LS3. You can look at any of these engines for "rough comparisons" to your situation.

Camshaft performance is impacted by lots of things - how well heads flow (ours flow great), volume of engine, compression ratio, stall speed, leverage (rear end and trans ratio). What you have now and where you're going in these areas are important considerations when selecting a cam.

At the end of the day, you're asking the right question (IMHO). What works for you guys? A word of warning about opinions though... Any opinion you get really isn't relevant unless you understand that person's goals, tolerance, future plans, current configuration, blah blah blah. I think you'd be fine with an LS9 cam. I say that knowing that it wouldn't necessarily be the best for quarter mile performance compared to the same cam with a narrower LSA. Is the very best quarter mile time the goal? Is drive-ability important? How soon are you doing a super charger?

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Here's some common cams to peruse:
L77 Caprice 196 208 0.4780 0.4660 116.0
LS9 211 230 0.5620 0.5620 122.5
Slpy Stg 2 228 230 0.5850 0.5850 112.0
L92 198 209 0.5000 0.5000 115.0
LSA 198 216 0.4800 0.4800 122.5
ZL1 198 216 0.4920 0.4800 122.5
Crane 1 200 200 0.5020 0.5020 113.0
LS1a 199 207 0.4720 0.4790 117.0
LS1b 202 210 0.4960 0.4960 116.0
LS2 204 211 0.5250 0.5250 116.0
LS6 204 211 0.5250 0.5250 116.0
LS3 204 211 0.5510 0.5250 117.0
Late LS6 204 218 0.5550 0.5510 117.5
Tex Spd 208 214 0.5500 0.5500 112.0
LS7 210 230 0.5930 0.5890 120.0
Thumpr 219 233 0.5530 0.5360 109.0
Crane 3 224 232 0.5900 0.5900 115.0
Comp 227 227 235 0.6140 0.6210 113.0
I’m in the same boat as you. Trying to decide on which one but I’ve researched the topic to death.

This is the “family” car so I don’t want to put a stall in it.
South Cackalacky

2014 Caprice PPV
2005 Pontiac GTO
1998 Lexus SC400
JUNKYARD_JACK
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 10:13 am

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by JUNKYARD_JACK »

I'm not against putting a bit of a higher stall converter in it but that was one of my next areas of research. I've been a mechanic for 11 years but I'm in the repair industry and anything performance I've built or worked on had a manual trans. Torque converters and stall speeds are still a mystery to me lol. I have some friends I need to reach out to for a crash course in fast automatic cars.
AceVL
Posts: 49
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2020 4:39 pm

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by AceVL »

JUNKYARD_JACK wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 1:30 pm I'm not against putting a bit of a higher stall converter in it but that was one of my next areas of research. I've been a mechanic for 11 years but I'm in the repair industry and anything performance I've built or worked on had a manual trans. Torque converters and stall speeds are still a mystery to me lol. I have some friends I need to reach out to for a crash course in fast automatic cars.
If you’re willing to do a stall, then there’s really nothing off limits.

If you have the supporting mods and everything else then go for the big power. If you’re really wanting to do an LSA or forced induction down the line though, you should keep that in mind.
South Cackalacky

2014 Caprice PPV
2005 Pontiac GTO
1998 Lexus SC400
JUNKYARD_JACK
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 10:13 am

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by JUNKYARD_JACK »

https://youtu.be/JQ_SRd3nzDE

If these really are good on the stock converter I might be highly considering this cam.
User avatar
Chevy-Art
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2021 8:22 pm

Re: Daily Driven Cam Choice

Post by Chevy-Art »

I am not going to add too much, but for me these are the ones I would go with:
LS3 204 211 0.5510 0.5250 117.0 I think this is the part number 12623066
LS2 204 211 0.5250 0.5250 116.0
LS6 204 211 0.5250 0.5250 116.0
The biggest benefit is the dod delete.

I was also looking at these.
BTR Cam Specs 221/228 .613"/.605" 112+2 BTR CAMSHAFT - LS3 - N/A STAGE 1 - 32128122R1

TSP Cam Specs 225/236 .629"/.615" 114 LSA, 109 ICL as Standard TSP Stage 1 LS3 N/A Camshaft
2013 Chevrolet Caprice PPV Hugo Blue
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