iwanagofast

Whats the big advantage of useing turbo cams over stock cams whats the big difference between them and are they even worth paying the extra money for

Fabrik8

They're a little more optimised for higher flow and have the overlap specs to work well with forced induction. Whether they're worth it really depends on what you're trying to do and how many improvements you need to make. For a regular street car build with moderate power, I'd just say forget the cams. If you need extra power, turn the boost up a tiny bit. If you're looking for a big power build, then you could consider cams so that wouldn't get in the way of your efforts.

Anyway, there's no reason you can't make good power on stock cams, so I'd recommend getting everything else that you need if you're putting together a turbo kit for the street. Basically, spend the money you need on the turbo kit, and get the cams later. Spending money on the cams and not getting the proper turbo system parts is far worse than just using the stock cams, if that makes any sense. Cams are pretty easy to install and you can add them at any time should you so desire, so worry about them later if you're on a budget. Or, don't worry about them at all and stick to the stockers like most people do.

JDMPWRD

+1...pretty much sums it all up.

for most street setups, stock head would do. On my setup (jdm h22 t3/60-1) i have a bone stock head and i'm making 420hp on 15 psi and the head is perfectly fine.

If i were you i'd take that money and spend it on something more essential..a good intercooler..a nice turbo manifold or wastegate.. w/e.. u get the point.

xeno

+ 1 fabrik8 has good info. on the tech. end. wow thats impressive about your H22 man 420 hp 15 psi on stock stuff :-) good tune right ? tuning = key to all things turbo.

JDMPWRD

stock head...the block was sleeved with aftermarket pistons/rods..

bigger turbo + more boost now...shooting for 10s... around 650hp or so..

but yes you're absolutely right.. tuning is KEY in the life of the motor.

John L.

It's easier to turn up the boost than to swap cams IMO, when cams are expensive you go for them after you've already figured out you don't want an ever larger turbo because of lag, so you go for a power improvement that doesn't involve a bigger turbo. It depends a lot on costs though. With a Ford DOHC 4.6 V8 cams cost $1500 a set so it's not worth it for most people. Cams are considerably cheaper for most smaller and/or single/twin cam engines. The DOHC Mod has 4 cams and it's not very popular so that's where the cost comes in.

As for a cam being specifically for turbo use, they usually have less overlap and smoother idle which helps with efficiency and spoolup. They may run long durations and/or high lifts but keep the overlap to a minimum because under boost the exhaust backpressure pre-turbo is often 2 times the boost pressure and this can cause a reversal of flow during overlap as exhaust pressure at the valve will be higher than boost pressure at the intake valve.

For a VTEC engine however, you have a smooth cam at lower RPM anyway, so really you just need to be mindful of where you switch over to the high cam at. It's still possible to find gains with less overlap and more lift/duration on the high cam but that's where my lack of direct experience with Hondas comes into play so can't say much about that.

Jarrod

If people are making 600-700-800whp stock cams, don't you think they are good enough for your street motor?