I had cams in my mind for sometime in the future and this is probably the first time I've heard so many people dissing them. What exactly do you guys mean by "driveability" issues? I like to get on it quite a bit but wouldn't really want to sacrafice much bottom end for only i little more power up top.
My bottem-end sucked, no other way for me to say it. It sucked less after changing to 4.10's, but then my engine was singing at 2700 rpm when doing 75mph.
There are some cam owners that say their torque increased along the whole power band, but I call BS. They blame my tunes, which were first done by Brenspeed and then Bama. They suggested that I got a dyno tune, but there's no way in hell I'd drop $500+ to tune an NA car with just CAMs, LT's (which don't require a tune) and a CAI.
If I hadn't gotten the new car, I was going to take my CAM's back out. I think the LT's were an awesome upgrade, but I only had them on the car for a couple weeks before the cams were then added. During those weeks, the car was a freaking beast. Chirping off the line with only mild pressure on the gas pedal with the 3.31 gears. Added CAM's and that low end power was all gone.
Another point is cam's without LT's is kind of a waste. The cams are pushing more air out and the LT's help with the evacuation.
Lastly, even Brenspeed says this their own Detroit Rocker NA cams.
As with all cams a lower rear gear is suggested
and this about the Hot Rod Cams
Designed for rough idle using the factory valve springs. These cams by FRPP will give you a rough idle with gains in HP and Torque at high RPM. Expect small loss of torque at lower RPM's. These cams are tune required. If you are looking for the rough idle but want the lowest torque loss and highest HP gain in the industry check out our Brenspeed Detroit Rocker grind.
It doesn't get any clearer than that, straight from one of the best in the business. Detroit Rocker's lose torque on the low end, but less than the Hot Rods (according to brenspeed).
Also, with my Brenspeed tunes my car would die sometimes when going from park to reverse or drive. I tried cleaning the TB several times and even installed a catch can. With the Bama tune, I had none of these issues and the car definitely ran a lot better (faster even). I was even able to set the idle RPMs all the way down to 525 rpm. That's super freaking low and sounded great.