Looks like we might have the resources in place to offer a matched head/cam package. Question is what would be the dream set up? More lift, duration, etc? I'm thinking possibly bumping lift from 9.8mm to 10.5 (12.3mm is the theoretical max lift before hitting pistons), increasing duration over svt for N/A applications, turbo lots of lift little overlap, etc. List your your specs and we wil try and build'm, flow'm, dyno'm, and sell'm!
Oh yeah and what do you think you would be willing to pay?
Thanks!
-Jesse
Direct injection, variable timing.
I think it should be your dream combo as a business man. I would ask myself what improvements can you make over the SVT cam setup? You'll want it to have a nice profile for NA and OK for forced induction. It seems the people are paying $2-300 for the SVT cams, so if you could get significant gains for $4-500, you would probably have sales.
Thinking that if you went too specific with the grind, like say just for NA or, and even worse, just for forced induction, not as many would buy. If you don't sell the cams separately, but only as a head/cam package, again you will probably alienate your demographic.
The people that want performance and have a few bucks are sitting on that fence. Buy an Audi/Evo/WRX or save a few bucks and supe up the Contour(which they love). The people that don't have new car money, but want performance, would be willing to buy cams, but not necessarilly the head/cam combo. Bottom line=hotter than SVT grind for NA is probably your best bet.
I might would pick up a head/cam combo for an NA setup...
What would be a major difference in head/cam choice for an NA car vs. a nitrous car? Anything?
$2000 would be reasonable for a totally ported head setup with 4 custom cams. of course for that much money titanium valvesprings and maybe custom rocker arms would be nice to have too......
When he asked about dream head setup I don't think he was referring to custom heads with a different fuel injection setup and variable cam timing...
and no 1 cam will be good for everything... which necessitates an N/A cam and an FI cam. Most people going for big power in contours see to be going FI though and they seem to be the people with money.
Me personally if I still have a contour would want a cam/heads package for a 3L N/A running up to 8500 rpm with a powerband in the 5-8500 rpm range.
I think you're a little too much in dream land...
You have to remember that dreams are tempered by reality... so until someone comes up with a VVT Direct port setup.. the chance of someone making it for production/profit is basically nil.
For direct injection you'd have to redo the whole fuel syste most likely.
Every time I sourced out custom cams, I cam in at between $300-$500
PER CAM!!! Ouch... If you're doing better than that Jesse, you should be in the money my friend!
Of course now, I
am living my dream... LSx compatable 6 liter, custom cams on EBay for less than 400 bucks and increases of nearly 100 horsepower and torque without changing the heads or intake... Neener neener
Yep we can do better then that
No one has any special specifcations on what they like to see? If not we'll start with my specs and work from there, just can't critize me on why did you choose this lift or this duration.
Look, I hate to rain on anyones parade, but it usually isn't as simple as just thinking about what cam specs you would like to have. There is a whole lot of science in determining just how much lift you can gain without increasing duration.
The limitation is mostly over metal capability. As you increase lift without increasing duration, the ramps on the cams get steeper and steeper. Eventually (and soooner than later) you hit a point that the forces against the cam face are so strong that the cam either wears out fast or it actually just chunks apart.
Other forces come into effect here too. High revs usually also mean higher spring rates to keep from having valve float (when the lifter no longer follows the cam).
In an attempt to allow for more pressure on the cam face, roller followers are employed, increasing the valve train mass, adding even more to the need for higher spring rates, but having capability for withstanding more pressure.
The pressures on the cam face can be lowered by changing the ramps to increase duration, but the side effect is that the low rpm power drops off (but with potential huge gains at higher rpm).
So it is all a balancing act. Choosing the correct lift to gain power without the need of severly increasing duration, cutting down on low rpm power.
Just where that magic spot is for the Duratec, I really don't know, but I do know that I like the specs of the Cat Cams Stage One cam set. It looks like it may be a reasonable compromise. I would really like to see the specs on the SHO cams.
Specs alone don't fully describe the character of a cam. Some dyno results are usually needed to get a better idea of just how it behaves overall.
