STG 1 CAMS 101

[Mattstang04]

Take me to school. My interests are rising for a set of stg 1 cams for my 73xxx highway mile gt. I wont change valvesprings, I want to do them myself, I want to maintain reliability, driveability while still getting the most out of a cam swap of this level. So what cams are the best, worst, and most popular? I was considering comp cams. I heard VT stg 1s were the way to go but they have now changed manufacturers. Issues? I dont know alot about modular cam manufacturers. Stangnet rocks:SNSign:, let me know what your opinions are.

 

[98COBRA281]

vt cams are now CMS, with stage 1 you wont have to change valve springs, but it cant hurt, your reliability and drivability will be fine with stage 1's, my cams have almost the exact same specs as cms stage 1's.......

 

[Mattstang04]

Are the CMSs a good quality like the VTs? What kind of performance gains do these generally produce? Would I have to degree these cams?

 

[98COBRA281]

Are the CMSs a good quality like the VTs? What kind of performance gains do these generally produce? Would I have to degree these cams?

CMS are the exact same cams as the old VT's, i think that cms stage 1's are good for about 20-25rwhp...........

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

CMS stands for Cushman Motorsports, and Jim Cushman is the one who designed the cams so they are exactly the same. Still cut by the same people as well.
In the real world they are good for about 16-21rwhp peak vs peak against PI cams. But at 5800-6100k vs PI cams it's closer to 25-30rwhp.
And cam specs being very similar or even the same don't really say a lot about behavior (not that yours are worse in anyway 98Cobra), i could design a cam that averages out to the same duration and LSA and they wouldn't even run in the car. Although LSA is more telling since you're using two data points instead of 4 like duration.

 

[Mattstang04]

I like wat Im hearing so far. Would the motor be damaged by reving into those higher rpms? And is there any power or torque loss in the bottom end? I drive this car 100 miles every day because I work 50 mile from home. I know there will be a loss in mpg so Im trying to be as educated about the selection process as I can.

 

[02nightmaregt]

:OT: I would look into another DD. Thats a few miles.

 

[lvmustanggt]

Don't do cams . 100 miles a days is way too much driving for mustang gt, get better DD like imports.

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

Cams aren't going to hurt your highway mileage too much at all. Before heads and cams i was getting like 22-22.5 on the freeway, now it's exactly 21.6. Around town is where it hurts. And revving wont hurt anything as long as you have the proper oil levels. I rev to 6400 in datalogging and am setting up my tune to shift around 6250-6300.

 

[Green&GoldGT]

There are some companies, I believe one is Crower or Comp that sell cams intended to save gas and increase performance slightly. I haven't cared to look into them, but it doesn't seem worth the money for those small benefits. If you are looking for cams, you shouldn't care about MPG.

 

[kuwait]

I like wat Im hearing so far. Would the motor be damaged by reving into those higher rpms? And is there any power or torque loss in the bottom end? I drive this car 100 miles every day because I work 50 mile from home. I know there will be a loss in mpg so Im trying to be as educated about the selection process as I can.

i didnt notice any mileage loss on the highway , its just abit worse in go and stop traffic and around town , you don't lose torque down low , in fact i can feel it getting some if anything , i am revving my car to 6k with the stock springs and the car aint complaining , just tune the car and it will be fine

 

[Winters98GT]

I would add a set of springs to any aftermarket set of cams. It's better to pay the couple hundred dollars and do it right, than to risk the entire motor.

 

[98COBRA281]

I would add a set of springs to any aftermarket set of cams. It's better to pay the couple hundred dollars and do it right, than to risk the entire motor.

yeah, i only paid about $190 for my comp beehive springs.........

 

[OC Stang]

I am considering getting some cams too.

What would it cost to have them installed? Not sure I would want to tackle that myself.

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

yeah, i only paid about $190 for my comp beehive springs.........

I paid 100 shipped, cheap insurance for the 6100+ range.

I am considering getting some cams too.

What would it cost to have them installed? Not sure I would want to tackle that myself.

Stage 1's aren't bad to install yourself if you've been around a wrench for awhile. I've done 2 sets. But if you want to leave it up to the pros it really varies a lot for install prices.

 

[98COBRA281]

I paid 100 shipped, cheap insurance for the 6100+ range.

dang good price, i searched all over, and the cheapest i found was $190.00, and i couldnt find any used ones........

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

dang good price, i searched all over, and the cheapest i found was $190.00, and i couldnt find any used ones........

I used a "cheater" craigslist search that lists every town and found a new set out of Yuma, AZ which is like 3hrs by car from here. She just listed them as 4.6 springs with the part number, was selling them for her husband. i'm sure she had no idea what they were. Ahh the days back when this was a budget build

 

[Mattstang04]

I would love to get a gas saver dd but I love driving this car too much. I was really hoping to just get a nice 20 rwhp bump without the downtime of ripping the heads off. The car get slightly under 26 mpg (apprx 25.8 mpg) if I play nice with it. I figured if I can pull this off and still maintain 22mpg I'd be cool. If the heads have to come off then I may as well get them reworked or maybe replaced all together and thats going steeper than I really want to go right now. Anybody heard anything about the Comp XE262?

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

Get LT headers then, wont hurt gas mileage at all - if not help it. XE262ah's aren't bad. Some good mid-range power for sure, they are a bit more noisy in the engine bay though from my experience.

 

[Mattstang04]

Headers are another avenue I was considering. But I was going to get the bassani midlengths to go with my xpipe. Sorry about the :OT:. I know shorties dont give the bang for the buck but long tubes would require hackin up my midpipe and a complicated install. So midlengths would be a good compromise I think.