Uprated Cams

[jordan walker]

Found that thread where Jamie took out the 282s and put in some 244s instead.

http://www.ukstarletowners.com/topic/57173-jamies-335bhp-white-gt/page-15

Maybe worth a quick look, nobody seems to really rate starlet cams.

Cheers buddy good little read that!

So from what has been said here all over gt turbo and the Internet about cams is that our cars want as little as possible duration (read a few times no more than 260 degrees) with a bit of lift

So from what I can gather the earlyer speed vision cams if you can find any are the mustard (confirmed by Phil and a few others on a few threads I found on tgtt) by the newer speed vision ones are a bit too crazy (a few have said ideal for drag starlets)

I'm thinking these puppy's http://www.pipercams.co.uk/pipercams/www/product.php?pid=TSFTEBP285

Might be the ones to have a bash at then from what I've read today has anyone had experience with them in a starlet? Obviously they're a very well known can in other cars but I'm curious if anyone has shot a set in a starlet?

They look a very similar spec to the ones Jamie swapped his 282's out for

Edited February 10, 2017 by jordan walker

[5e colin]

Mine was a complete kit though

Very fresh gt2860rs

Upgraded v band stainless exhaust housing

Genuine tial waste-gate

Upgraded WEPR stainless manifold

Fittings

And a full stainless exhaust

Anyways was just giving my opinion, not saying I'd give away my cams I love how they drive on track and having power very clearly 4K+ does make gear decisions easy lol

Phil

phil arnt your cams low profile ?? 265 degree ?? or is it the 272/280 combo

[morgey]

I havent read all of this, just skimmed, Theres a lot more to cams than just lift and duration, the whole inlet system can make a difference.

Speaking from N/A side of things chucking in the biggest duration with highest lift isn't really all that great (as mentioned it moves the power range) but if you dont have a head/inlet system that can flow that much air or a compression ratio that draws the air in then they are wasted. Obviously turbos differ here and a general rule of thumb is they never demand as much duration as an N/A to keep making power due to valve overlap and the air being forced through the chamber at which point its wasted boost (From my understanding)

The other thing that cams really benefit from is being dialled in which in FE engines is incredibly hard to do because of the timing gears.

I've dropped some "drop in cams" into my 4age and the power change was debatable. They are supposed to give 7-12hp midrange on stock ecu and they did 1-2hp with a few uptop which was meant to be unchanged lol

[Phil]

phil arnt your cams low profile ?? 265 degree ?? or is it the 272/280 combo

Yup 268 degree iirc

Which isn't Lairy in NA terms at all, but is plenty for turbo motor and track use.

Phil

[AdamB]

Stock cams aren't just good for "all round power", their actually quite lairy for a small displacement, low compression turbo motor.

If I was to recommend cams, it would be to stick with the same duration as stock but just increase the lift and maybe alter the LCA/LSA slightly.

You may well gain some power on your setup, but you will also lose power in the mid range, gain 20-30bhp up top, lose that and torque in the mid range you'll think the car is actually slower. Cams should be spec'd based on what the car is used for, if it's a daily driver or weekend toy then stock cams suffice rather well. If the car is a track / drag car and spends most of it's life above 5000rpm then yeah you can afford to lose that mid range power.

Turbo engines are extremely fussy with cams, get it wrong and the engine characteristics change completely. IMO the stock cams are bang on and the money is better spent elsewhere.

I've detailed a lot on cams over the years on this forum, you may have seen some of my posts, the cams would be the least of my worries on the 4E/5E cylinder heads.

Edited February 12, 2017 by AdamB

[jordan walker]

Stock cams aren't just good for "all round power", their actually quite lairy for a small displacement, low compression turbo motor.

If I was to recommend cams, it would be to stick with the same duration as stock but just increase the lift and maybe alter the LCA/LSA slightly.

You may well gain some power on your setup, but you will also lose power in the mid range, gain 20-30bhp up top, lose that and torque in the mid range you'll think the car is actually slower. Cams should be spec'd based on what the car is used for, if it's a daily driver or weekend toy then stock cams suffice rather well. If the car is a track / drag car and spends most of it's life above 5000rpm then yeah you can afford to lose that mid range power.

Turbo engines are extremely fussy with cams, get it wrong and the engine characteristics change completely. IMO the stock cams are bang on and the money is better spent elsewhere.

I've detailed a lot on cams over the years on this forum, you may have seen some of my posts, the cams would be the least of my worries on the 4E/5E cylinder heads.

[adzy]

that's a massive increase really do you know what cams he used?

and as for the downsides that's to be expected really for what my car gets used for driveability doesn't really upset me

Speed vision, not sure on the specs of them though

[jordan walker]

Speed vision, not sure on the specs of them though

Cheers dude that's similar figures to what Speedvision claim

[AdamB]

Yeah your names popped up in pretty much all the cam/headwork threads I've came across lol I was waiting for you too pop up, I was starting to think you had something against me

My car will never be close to a daily drive again to be honest everything has been ripped out to save weight it doesn't even have heaters anymore for what it gets used for I don't need it to be a nice drive It's essentially a "track car" if you want to call it that. But saying that if I was to go for some ridiculous cams and after fitting them and mapping them to find that I don't like them there's nothing stopping me from selling them on (at a loss obviously) and putting my originals back in.

The aftermarket cams that I have found so far are:

Speedvision - few variants but the current ones you can buy new are billets 270/280 degree with 8.7mm lift

Tighe cams - read in a few places that these guys can make you any spec you want but I don't know how true this is I've sent them an email anyway so waiting on a response but I found a set on the Ivan tighe Facebook page that they were sending out to a customer that where 262 degrees with a 8.4mm lift also billets

Piper cams - these are regrinds so you send your original cams off to them and they do some machine magic and send them back with 244 degrees and 8.8mm lift

Tuning developments also do some billets aswell I think but without speaking to him there's not a lot I know about them

Now judging from what I've found on the cam options and from what people have said about cams for the e series it's likely that the piper cams have the best suited spec out of all the cams (unless you can choose custom from tighe) however I've read some pretty opinions on piper and regrinds in general.

So in conclusion cams are suited to me I just don't know which ones will be best suited I have sent emails to tighe and piper so I'm going to see what they say and go from there.

Haha nah mate, don't hold anything against anyone, all here to help each other

Stay away from regrinds personally, trouble with these is that they alter the base circle, LCA, ramp rates etc and their usually a pig to time correctly, will be even more of a bi*ch with the way the E series use meshed gears.

Ivan Tighe are the best option, I've got their spec sheet somewhere for all the "off the shelf" specs they offer, but yes they can also make you your own spec.

If the car is still going to be used on the road with a few trackdays throughout the year, don't go much over stock duration, just increase the lift. Around the 240 mark with 8.2-8.8 mm lift will work well with larger frame turbo's.

Remember also it's not just the cams, you'll need valve springs as well. A lot of so called manufacturers that sell springs don't provide the specs for them, these are good for the bin only. You'll need things like installed height, coil bind height, base pressure etc etc or your expensive cams will turn into paper weights.

Little tip, go with an exhaust cam with a little more duration unless you're going to change the valve sizes. The Intake-Exhaust valve ratio is piss poor on the E series for performance, remember these engines were the Eco ones of the time with the 4A being the performance motor.

[micky boy]

Good to see you still at it jordan lad. Will have to catch up at some point when the weather picks up and get mine back put. Its been sat for over a year so time to get it back out.

[jordan walker]

Haha nah mate, don't hold anything against anyone, all here to help each other

Stay away from regrinds personally, trouble with these is that they alter the base circle, LCA, ramp rates etc and their usually a pig to time correctly, will be even more of a bi*ch with the way the E series use meshed gears.

Ivan Tighe are the best option, I've got their spec sheet somewhere for all the "off the shelf" specs they offer, but yes they can also make you your own spec.

If the car is still going to be used on the road with a few trackdays throughout the year, don't go much over stock duration, just increase the lift. Around the 240 mark with 8.2-8.8 mm lift will work well with larger frame turbo's.

Remember also it's not just the cams, you'll need valve springs as well. A lot of so called manufacturers that sell springs don't provide the specs for them, these are good for the bin only. You'll need things like installed height, coil bind height, base pressure etc etc or your expensive cams will turn into paper weights.

Little tip, go with an exhaust cam with a little more duration unless you're going to change the valve sizes. The Intake-Exhaust valve ratio is piss poor on the E series for performance, remember these engines were the Eco ones of the time with the 4A being the performance motor.

[jordan walker]

Good to see you still at it jordan lad. Will have to catch up at some point when the weather picks up and get mine back put. Its been sat for over a year so time to get it back out.

[AdamB]

Yeah I read that on regrinds on here and a quick Google search brought up lots of other bad reviews from using regrinds in other cars

And that's what I've came to the conclusion of from digging up other threads mate on the specs like I say I'll see what Ivan tighe email me back with and go from there see what they say

As for the exhaust valves been restrictive I looked into this a long time ago thinking 1mm oversized exhaust valves would free up a load of power but then came across a thread saying our valves are already shrouded so bigger valves would only make it worse... But I've just came across a thread on tgtt where some gadgee has took material off his head next to where the exhaust valves are to stop the shrouding so that might be something I can look at but obviously once you start taking material off shit like that it's irreversible without a new head so it's a bit more scary then bolting a set of cams in there

Yeah they are fairly shrouded, no harm in removing material, just take it easy to deshroud it. Deshrouding the intake has no benefit though so leave that as is.

I've got the specs for Ivan Tighe if you want me to dig them out, drop me your email address and I'll forward them over and tell you what I recommend.

[jordan walker]

Yeah they are fairly shrouded, no harm in removing material, just take it easy to deshroud it. Deshrouding the intake has no benefit though so leave that as is.

I've got the specs for Ivan Tighe if you want me to dig them out, drop me your email address and I'll forward them over and tell you what I recommend.

Pm sent matey cheers 👍

[daniel_g]

Did you get anywhere with this?