What are the best cams?

vicious46

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Hello S197 Forums,

I've recently purchased a 2005 Mustang GT and I was wondering what are the best cams for performance and lope sound?


Thanks Vicious4.6,
 

msvela448

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dark steed

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The Ford Racing Hot Rod cams give a good lope and some decent power gains as well



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Dino Dino Bambino

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Hello S197 Forums,

I've recently purchased a 2005 Mustang GT and I was wondering what are the best cams for performance and lope sound?

Have you done any other performance mods to your 4.6?
Every aftermarket cam is going to produce a loss of performance to some degree below 4400rpm, and most only begin to produce performance gains from 5000rpm upwards. It all depends on what your end goal is going to be.
Most try to compensate for the loss of engine torque by increasing the torque multiplication to the wheels with higher ratio axle gears (4.10 is most popular).
 

Badd GT

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Run #3 JLT series 3 intake and tune
Run#7. Headers and comp 127400cams
Run#12. Delete plates & BBK 62mm TB
Run#17. Port and polish heads

You will lose no low end with comp 127400 cams but they don’t lope




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Dino Dino Bambino

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That's the best N/A set up I've ever come across. I think the ported heads really help those cams (and vice versa) due to the higher valve lift.
Which valve springs did you use?
Did you use phaser limiters or lockouts?
 

Badd GT

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Springs came from Livernois, I believe they are a PAC product.
Used Livernois limiters initially, switched to Comp limiters later.
 

Badd GT

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No! Some Pretty well known machinist down outside of Atlanta Coupe Performance I believe was the name. Scott Milner was his name. He’s still around I believe
 

Dino Dino Bambino

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Well he did a great job porting the heads 'cause you gained 29hp/19lbft with no torque loss at lower rpm.
 

07 Boss

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Hello S197 Forums,

I've recently purchased a 2005 Mustang GT and I was wondering what are the best cams for performance and lope sound?


Thanks Vicious4.6,

You need to get a plan together before just buying cams. Now you have to consider rear end gears, new valve train (at least springs), exhaust, torque converter (automatic) and tuning. You also may need to limit or lock out the cam timing. In theory it should be one of the last mods to consider and it should be used to tune your powerband to go along with your other supporting mods. Make a plan and build from the ground up. Tires, wheels, suspension then add power to the drive train. It is a tried and true method of a successful build.
 

dark steed

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No! Some Pretty well known machinist down outside of Atlanta Coupe Performance I believe was the name. Scott Milner was his name. He’s still around I believe

Small world! I had my gears done at his shop! Lol


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tjm73

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Cams. Not much draws more sorcery and hearsay than cams. As my years of experience grow and the amount builds I've seen happen, I've come to a conclusion. There is no "best" cam(s). The cam(s) is the mechanical brain that controls everything. You need to look at your whole engine package and then you can piss away money on a "close enough" off the shelf cam(s). Or, you can contact a reputable cam specialist and supply all you parameters and let him design a cam custom for your application. Cost is pretty much the same.

Buying a cam for sound is close to foolish if you don't understand what you are giving up to get that sound.

That sound is a by product of a number of things. The more it sounds like an old school race car, the less driveable it will be at low engine speeds.
 

msvela448

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"Lopy cams"... Means low vacuum... caused by the cams specs (high lift / long duration for big "gulps of air" at idle). The Lopy cam translates into top end power when airflow is plentiful... Just bad driveability for "normal driving".

That's why the old school muscle cars nearly died / stalled while idling at every lope. Sounds mean as hell... But really not practical for street driving... Remember your brake booster works on vacuum... Also.... Modern cars have idle air bypass valves and electronic throttle bodies that are constantly trying to achieve a smooth 650 (or so) RPM idle... So that super "Lopy" cam can lead to check engine lights as the computer tries to adjust to keep the idle smooth.

Cams aren't magic... They simply open and close valves to let air and fuel into, and out of, an engine. However... The "art" is matching a cam to the other engine components and the desired performance characteristics.

If it's just "sound" you are after... Put your money into exhaust components.

If it's performance you are after then cam choice should be one of the "advanced" discussions about building an engine and tuning package.

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dark steed

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I agree/disagree with that statement.
Sure, there are better cams for performance. But not everyone is going for max performance, it’s the overall experience. Kinda like the guy who goes with 20’s because of how they look, even though they don’t perform as well as 18’s.
With headers and a good tune you should get ~30-40 HP, depending on supporting mods. And get Lito to tune it, drivability will be just fine.


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