cam swap and mpg

[lipsasaurus]

right now im getting 20mpg in town on my 01 T/A m6. wanted to do a cam swap with springs, rods, rockers, the kit from comp cam basically. what duration do you guys run and what is your MPG. what is the typical loss in mpg for a mild-average cam, still street able but added power. I am also looking for a replacement WS6 ram air hood if anyone has one

[1slowbusa]

i have the G5X3 112LSA cam with AFR205 heads and on the interstate with an SD tune i get 21mpg. I can make it better but need more tuning time.I have a 6 speed car.

[lipsasaurus]

well right now im getting 21 in town only.. not sure i would like to drop down that low for a cam, id be willing to lose 2-3 but not 10

[0rion]

well right now im getting 21 in town only.. not sure i would like to drop down that low for a cam, id be willing to lose 2-3 but not 10

might I recommend a prius for you? Those get really good gas mileage.

[Lunatikgixxer]

haha youre SOL buddy. I did a cam only swap with the 233/239 on 112lsa and i averaged about 10mpg driving 2.5 miles to work every day. Really shitty gas mileage. Never really clocked it on the highway since i didnt drive a lot of highway but i can tell you i got a hell of a lot better mpg on the highway thats for sure. I didnt drive like a grandmother either. Im sure i could squeeze about 12 out of it if i drove like a bitch lol

[Blue28]

A lot has to do with how good your tuner is at dialing-in the part-throttle, cold start/idle parts of your tune. IMO, don't worry about who can get you the HP/TQ at W.O.T., that's the easy part of the tuning, go with a tuner that a good reputation of making the car very driveable!

[Firebirdjones]

My wifes car has a baby cam, basically an LS6 cam with slightly more intake duration and ground on a 112 lsa. 210/218 at .050 and .551 lift.

With an SD tune I'm getting 23 mpg around town and over 30 highway. Sweet little setup for her daily driver.

[lipsasaurus]

well this information has been useful, i guess i will consider an ls6 cam but i drive mine daily unless im on the gsxr so getting around 10mpg isnt good seeing as i drive 11m to work

[Blue28]

IMO, if you stick with a small cam (low 220s or smaller) I don't see you really loosing any mpg, unless your right foot starts liking to get heavy. There's plenty of good options that are clearly a better choice than the ls6 cam, A EPS TT1 would be a very good choice. It's a 214(.600")/220(.564") 115lsa cam, and it has -13*valve overlap. EPS also has the TT2 which is slightly larger,a 218(.595")/226(.598") 113lsa with -4* valve overlap, you should also have minimal effect on mpg with it also.
Lunati has the "Voodoo" #60513 which is a 217(.549")/223(.549") 113lsa (-6* overlap) another very good choice. If going with more aggressive/higher lift lobes doesn't bother you then the CompCams LSR 54-455-11, 215(.604")/223(.610") 112lsa (-5* overlap) can be added to your list.
There's also some very good custom grind I'd recommend.

[INMY01TA]

I have a 230/236 cam. My tuner was supposed to be really good he's done alot of really fast cars. I get about 15-16 mpgs on average, mostly around town. Don't do much highway driving in it.

[Y2K_CAMARO]

I run the Torquer v2. Its a 232/234 duration on a 112 LSA. My car is a 6 speed and I average around 17mpg. Dont expect to mod much more if your worried about losing some mpg.

[seweber]

I run a 228r tsp cam kit, full bolt-on, 3.73 gears in a 9” rear, and a 3600 stall. I drive about 20 miles a day 5 days a week, and put my foot in it every now and then (at least every other day). Car is getting around 17 mpg.

[Firebirdjones]

well this information has been useful, i guess i will consider an ls6 cam but i drive mine daily unless im on the gsxr so getting around 10mpg isnt good seeing as i drive 11m to work

Actually I'm not running an actual GM LS6 cam, it's a custom grind by Crane per Vinci specs with quicker ramp profiles, 4 degrees more intake duration and tighter lobe seperation, but it's very similar to an LS6 cam.

If you only drive 11 miles to work I wouldnt worry about gas mileage, you could ride a bicycle if you wanted to. But if it's gas mileage you want, the closer to stock you stay the better off you'd be. You would have to stay pretty mild on the cam (like mine). You'll find alot of mpg in the tune itself, I did.

[lipsasaurus]

i would greatly love a larger cam, but this is my daily driver so i cant really afford getting 10 in town with gas being $4 for premo. I would like to upgrade the oil pump, time chain, cam, push rods, rockers, springs, retainers, seats and seals though. I know its impossible to get the power i want with the mpg as well but i would be ok with 16 in town vs 20. That being said i would appreciate if you guys would tell if your talking town or highway mpg. there are no tuners where i live so id have to do a frost tune for mine

[Firebirdjones]

I gave you both figures,,,23 in town driving is pretty regular.

On the highway my best has been 30.19 but regularly gets 29+.

[lipsasaurus]

sounds like i have a summer project then, thanks

[lipsasaurus]

I drive a bike when possible, a motorcycle that is but the winters can be pretty cold on a motorcycle.

[WICKEDLS1]

full on forged 6.0 here with H/C/I and i get around 18 on the highway but like 10-11 in town with the way i drive and thats with 4.10's, however if you worried about mpg's i would just sell the car these arent meant to get ridiculously good mpg's, and if your going to do a cam you might as well do one thats going to benifit you decently performance wise. i know i wouldnt be happy with an ls6 sized cam for all that work but to each his own

[Firebirdjones]

Not meant for?? I don't know, it's been GM's quest for years and the car is designed around that concept. It's been one of the better MPG cars I've ever owned. Considering it's a V8 that is capable of over 30 mpg I'd say they do pretty darn good for themselves. I just have a simple tune with a wideband and get right at 30 mpg with mine. I can't complain, the car is efficient enough to make anyone happy to drive daily. Some of your econo boxes with smaller engines barely get that kind of mileage. So it's nothing to sneeze at.

The LS1 vette guys talk about getting 32-34 mpg quite often. This .50 overdrive is the key. When you look at other V8's built since then, there really hasn't been any improvements in mileage. Cars have gotten heavier and they have resorted to cylinder deactivation and other goofy methods.

Even your reported 18 mpg isn't horrible considering, but I'd bet there is alot more in there to be had with some tuning tricks. Especially the 10-11 around town.
Guess it would surprise you if I said I have a couple of 40 year old muscle cars here with engines twice the size that are getting similar MPG figures and doing it with a carb and no overdrive

With gas prices slowly climbing, (and they will keep doing so), gas mileage goals aren't such a bad thing. Within the next 3-4 years I see $5 a gallon at the pump being a regular accurance. They are just warming us up to the idea right now

[Y2K_CAMARO]

Within the next 3-4 years I see $5 a gallon

For the love of God, no!!!!