cam gears

[VTEC16]

Hey guys, im interested in the use of cam gears for very lightly tuned cars (intake/exhaust)....without aftermarket or reground cams.

I am aware that they adjust the camshaft timing (duh!)...but wouldnt that be optimum from the factory?

it would be great if you guys could help me out with the following questions:


1) What is the theory behind them?

2) How much power can they gain?

3) Any drawbacks?

4) ...any other comments?...personal experience?


Cheers.

PS- I did a search and looked through a lot of threads.... :shock:

[VTEC16]

hmmm.....woulda got the same response if i had of asked my mother...

cummon guys.....OH needs to accumulate the info...

[VTEC16]

ok...did some research....

In a motor that wears socs, ajustable cam gears can pretty much only move your powerband higher or lower in the rev range (you wont gain any "free power", you will eg. gain at top and lose down low), because the inlet and outlet is controlled by the same cam (hence same cam gear).

In a dohc however, because you can fiddle around with the intake and exhaust cams seperately, you can adjust the overlap (wen air and fuel is pumped in / exhaust gas pumped out), and hence tune your car to its optimum setting, this gives the opportunity to find "free" power as well as move your powerband if you so desire. limitation is that you need an experienced tuner and a dyno =$$$

So it seems that if you had a dyno in your living room, you could get some adjustable cam gears and it would be a bargain mod....but due to the difficulty in tuning (without a dyno) it may be more cost effective to perfom other mods first!

Well......thanks for the silence...at least i got off arse (?) and researched it myself.

cheers.

PS- if my info is wrong....pls state below..

PPS- apparently AEM adjustable cam gears are prone to slipping due to their 3 bolt design, try ones with 4 to 6 bolts.

PPPS- ohh...and apparrently they can give ~10hp (claimed...but it depends on how modded the engine is, and not sure whether that was atw or at fly.

[vti-2]

Well......thanks for the silence...at least i got off arse (?) and researched it myself.

cheers.

You posted yesterday. Give people a chance to see this thread, research and then reply.

regards.

[fried]

from what ive heard....

advanced cam timing can move ur powerband.... but as uve stated, there is gain, and there is loss....

i guess in a simple world, ud want advance cam tuning for low end power, and ur intake and exhuast will give u higher end power.

????

[joneblaze]

Well done VTEC16. You actually searched your OWN info and even posted up a brief explanation for others. cheers mate. :) i've been around the adj. cam gear/timing thing a few times, at garages and seen a few cars that have them, but didn't fully understand (and still dont). Your post (if its correct :P) is short and sweet. well done mate!


jon



p.s: any of u experienced hands wanna jump in and add/expand?

[big_red]

Depends what motor you have... you running B16 / B18?

If you are then you could try +4 intake cam and leave the exhaust alone. This is the best setting I have found so far. My mates are running +4 on intake AND +4 on exhaust. (+ means advance)

My btec comes in alittle stronger ... helps if you have intake, exhaust and extractrors ...

These settings were dialled in with no dyno time. My mates wer ethe ones who went to the dynos. I just got the settings off them.

See how you go. Good Luck

[VTEC16]

joneblaze-

Thanks mate... Its too easy to be lazy and make a new topic....i think OH needed a thread on cam gears......so its not the end of the world....but i learnt a fair bit of stuff....so im happy too!


big_red-

iv got a b16a (see signature). Im a little hessitant to just use someone elses settings....bc our mods may have slightly different effects....and when you are talking small gains, it is hard to say whether a +1 helps or hinders without having a run on a dyno.....but then cam gears are relatively cheap, so the cost of dyno tuning them kinda takes away from the bang-for-your-buck aspect....So i guess i probs would use other ppl's settings (LOL).

thanks for the input guys.....anyone else have thoughts or personal experience???

[Qwooootz]

I got my Cam Timing Adjusted at Hanny's Performance..!! ive had a few people done it from there and noone has complained yet!! great mid end to long end power! and not alot of short end lost..! still very torquey!

Btw Is it Essential to get the Ignition Timign done too? VTEC 16 would u liek to research on that too .lol jokes.!

[joneblaze]

Ahh..the "Hanny's treatment" ;)
What car?

[VTEC16]

Btw Is it Essential to get the Ignition Timign done too? VTEC 16 would u liek to research on that too .lol jokes.!

No its not essential - and can only really be adjusted with an ECU.....so im not gonna touch it! sorry :?

[luzinit]

I got my Cam Timing Adjusted at Hanny's Performance..!! ive had a few people done it from there and noone has complained yet!! great mid end to long end power! and not alot of short end lost..! still very torquey!



haha torquey?? what car man??/ my cars still torqueless!
BTW can some of the more experience forum members shed some light on this hanny's method? wtf do they do EXACTLY and why dont u need adjsutable cam gears?

[geo41e]

ok, l've known rob for like...10+ years..fam friend..and he is jus a freak when it comes to hondas, anyway

he tunes ur STOCK cam gears as u woul with ajd cam gears. However rob takes off the gears itself to adjus the timming, with the adj cam gears, u can un tighten the bolts and turb them there without taking off the actual cam gear.

that is the main diff. basically adj the intake and exhust timming. Also, he adv 3 deg for the ignition timming, i think...

hope this helps.

[EG5]

ok, l've known rob for like...10+ years..fam friend..and he is jus a freak when it comes to hondas, anyway

he tunes ur STOCK cam gears as u woul with ajd cam gears. However rob takes off the gears itself to adjus the timming, with the adj cam gears, u can un tighten the bolts and turb them there without taking off the actual cam gear.

that is the main diff. basically adj the intake and exhust timming. Also, he adv 3 deg for the ignition timming, i think...

hope this helps.

adjusting Cam timing is different with adjusting ignition timing.

what rob normally do with adj cam gear or his custom job is to advance the intake by 3 degree and retard the exhaust side by 3 degree

[EG5]

I got my Cam Timing Adjusted at Hanny's Performance..!! ive had a few people done it from there and noone has complained yet!! great mid end to long end power! and not alot of short end lost..! still very torquey!



haha torquey?? what car man??/ my cars still torqueless!
BTW can some of the more experience forum members shed some light on this hanny's method? wtf do they do EXACTLY and why dont u need adjsutable cam gears?

adjustable cam gear is needed when u got aftermarket cams
with stock cams i dont really see alot of power gain at all.

[Qwooootz]

EG5: thats true u dont really get power gain from the cam adjustment but it sure does help ur VTEC bang a lil harder than usual!.. but id really like to dyno and see onetime.. now imma pop too the cam thread about what cam to add hehe..

joneblaze/luzinit: just a 00' civic coop VTir .. nothn special like a type R hehe..

geo41e: ey james is that yoo?

[geo41e]

lols nah dude...l ain't james, l'm geoff!

lols

[geo41e]

yeahalso, yonas what i meant to say was he adj the cams for the the intake and exhust

and also adj the igition timint vias the distributor...forgot to mention that

oopss

[Qwooootz]

ohh .. geo = geoff hehe.. my bad