School me on my Gen IV

[13COBRA]

What's different about the Gen IV camshafts? I understand that as far as power adders go for Gen IVs, they're limited to bolt ons and exhaust. Why aren't we able to change out the cams?


Excuse my ignorance.

[parabs]

What's different about the Gen IV camshafts? I understand that as far as power adders go for Gen IVs, they're limited to bolt ons and exhaust. Why aren't we able to change out the cams?


Excuse my ignorance.

First, it’s doable but you likely need a motec controlling the car. It might be doable on hptuners but I think attempts of this approach in the past have resulted in failure to get the car to run reliably.

1. Cam in cam in the Gen4/5.
1a. Not enough sales volume therefore no cheap aftermarket tuning support.

I’m sure Calvo could easily sell you a TT system for your Gen 4. Nth built a procharged Gen 4 ACR iirc. However for the price I believe the arrow H/C or 9.0l H/C packages are a better bang for the buck and come with reliable tuning.

[13COBRA]

First, it’s doable but you likely need a motec controlling the car. It might be doable on hptuners but I think attempts of this approach in the past have resulted in failure to get the car to run reliably.

1. Cam in cam in the Gen4/5.
1a. Not enough sales volume therefore no cheap aftermarket tuning support.

I’m sure Calvo could easily sell you a TT system for your Gen 4. Nth built a procharged Gen 4 ACR iirc. However for the price I believe the arrow H/C or 9.0l H/C packages are a better bang for the buck and come with reliable tuning.

My ACR is purely for the track. I'm not wanting to go forced induction.

I didn't Arrow had a H/C or that the 9.0L H/C Package worked on a Gen IV? Do they?

[Bill Pemberton]

Don't worry about the cam, if you are doing track work the easiest stuff to do is just headers, catback exhaust and MoPar ( Arrow ) PCM. That is good for a solid , reliable HP gain and virtually no issues. All I did on mine and I was running 670 hp at the flywheel.

[13COBRA]

Don't worry about the cam, if you are doing track work the easiest stuff to do is just headers, catback exhaust and MoPar ( Arrow ) PCM. That is good for a solid , reliable HP gain and virtually no issues. All I did on mine and I was running 670 hp at the flywheel.

Thanks Bill. I have all of that plus a few other bolt ons. It's consistently put down 630/600 on the 2 different dynos, and spiked to 642/618 on a very beautiful day!

Honestly, I don't need any more power, as my car already outperforms my driving ability....it's just 35 degrees outside and if I can't be on the track, I'd like to be spending money on it.

[Bill Pemberton]

I would spend the money on other areas that help a lot but don't sound as romantic as more HP ---like MCS suspension and better brake pads.

....... and the most important improvement , " Seat time!!!!!" Folks often waste gobs of money doing all these changes , and in fact constantly change something and they never really spend enough time driving the car and learning. Constant change can often exacerbate the problem as they never really know how the car handles/works , since they have a different machine to learn one event to the next. Sometimes the best thing to do is drive the car for an entire year with no changes , then decide what to do after your skill level is in your comfort zone.

[str5010]

Here's a description of the technology from Mechadyne (the supplier) if you're really interested. First car to market with VVT and cam in block. As mentioned you need a powerful controller to run it and most aftermarket builds just eliminate the VVT and run a single aggressive cam profile that obviously sacrifices emissions, driveability, etc that the factory had to adhere to.

http://www.mechadyne-int.com/products/duocam/

[Creatre]

Honestly, I don't need any more power, as my car already outperforms my driving ability....it's just 35 degrees outside and if I can't be on the track, I'd like to be spending money on it.

Don't have anything to add to the thread other than I found this comment hilarious (and I think true for a lot of us car guys).

[13COBRA]

I would spend the money on other areas that help a lot but don't sound as romantic as more HP ---like MCS suspension and better brake pads.

....... and the most important improvement , " Seat time!!!!!" Folks often waste gobs of money doing all these changes , and in fact constantly change something and they never really spend enough time driving the car and learning. Constant change can often exacerbate the problem as they never really know how the car handles/works , since they have a different machine to learn one event to the next. Sometimes the best thing to do is drive the car for an entire year with no changes , then decide what to do after your skill level is in your comfort zone.

You're very wise, and I need to pay more attention to that.

What pads do you suggest? That was one of my main complaints last year. I didn't think the stock pads faded very bad, but they just didn't have the stopping power I'd like. I don't mind brake squeak, as the car is literally just driven on the track.

[Bill Pemberton]

Get ahold of Danny at G-Loc ( he used to be part owner of Carbotech ) and chat with him. Make sure you spend a bit more and get the pads pre-bedded.

[13COBRA]

Here's a description of the technology from Mechadyne (the supplier) if you're really interested. First car to market with VVT and cam in block. As mentioned you need a powerful controller to run it and most aftermarket builds just eliminate the VVT and run a single aggressive cam profile that obviously sacrifices emissions, driveability, etc that the factory had to adhere to.

http://www.mechadyne-int.com/products/duocam/

Very interesting read, thank you!

Get ahold of Danny at G-Loc ( he used to be part owner of Carbotech ) and chat with him. Make sure you spend a bit more and get the pads pre-bedded.

Thanks Bill! Sent an email!

[Steve M]

You can most definitely change out the cam, and it can be tuned with HPTuners as long as you find someone that knows what they are doing. There are some tricks to doing it, but there are definitely guys out there that have done this successfully. Most don't post on this board though.

[13COBRA]

You can most definitely change out the cam, and it can be tuned with HPTuners as long as you find someone that knows what they are doing. There are some tricks to doing it, but there are definitely guys out there that have done this successfully. Most don't post on this board though.

Hmmm...so the secret crowd haha

Do you like HPTuners on yours? I have the MOPAR Racing one now and was planning on sending it to Prefix to get recalibrated.

[Steve M]

Hmmm...so the secret crowd haha

Do you like HPTuners on yours? I have the MOPAR Racing one now and was planning on sending it to Prefix to get recalibrated.

I like it, but I'm more of a DIY kinda guy, and I've been using the software since the mid-2000s, so I'm pretty familiar with how everything works. It's a pretty polarizing topic on this board for various reasons, although at this point it seems as if most have picked either one camp or the other and are sticking with it. I have no vested interest in either...the same can't be said for everyone on this board though. If you like what you've got, just roll with it - sometimes, better is the enemy of good enough.

[Redx]

My ACR is purely for the track. I'm not wanting to go forced induction.

I didn't Arrow had a H/C or that the 9.0L H/C Package worked on a Gen IV? Do they?

My engine is currently at arrow getting the stage 2 heads/cam package. Included is a new set of h beams rods and forged pistons, as well its getting built for boost. It will either be paxton or procharged eventually. This is a turn key setup no tuning required(in NA form) with the canned arrow tune. Prefix sends you a crate to send your engine in. Scot @ prefix has been excellent to deal with and updates regularly.

AC did one heads cam GEN iv close to 700whp tuned on hp tuners, running about $16k or so but thats on stock pistons. HP tuners is fine if you have someone like AC close, if problems arise, or if you are a Steve M self tune guru.

The prefix was about $2k less than AC, has a solid tune, and comes a forged bottom end. Was a no brainer.