8v camshaft

[andynorfolk]

i'm thinking of camming my 8v gti and i wondered if i could have some advice as to what cams people recommend and what other bits i'd need and whether i'd need to get it chipped/mapped

baring in mind the engine was fully rebuilt about 4k ago...

any help welcome

[Wayne]

I am guessing it is digi if so then a 270 would be ok, no real need to get it chipped.

[andynorfolk]

it is digi, and i was planning on going for a 285 piper cam... would that cause a problem?

[Wayne]

it is digi, and i was planning on going for a 285 piper cam... would that cause a problem?

Only thing is it might give you a lumpy idle.

[andynorfolk]

would i be able to get the digi ecu remapped to sort that? or can it not be mapped?

[Wayne]

would i be able to get the digi ecu remapped to sort that? or can it not be mapped?

You can get them chipped all ok

[rob.043]

A 285 deg cam will not run smooth at idle, changing the chip wont make much odds i dont think, its the valve overlap that makes it rough. It may also be down on power until you get up to 2000-3000rpm, where it will all start to make sense. So not as good round town / slow traffic.

Also, a 285 would probably benefit from additional mods, 4 branch, head work etc, to get the full gain.

I fitted a 260 deg (or something like that) to my initially standard engine, and its a good upgrade, bit more go particularly up to 6000, no, or less tail off in power after 5500 that the standard had (about 220 deg on a standard cam iirc). And as i do other things to the engine I get more from it. However, the gain will only be so big as its not as long a duration as say a 285...  But its still good at low end.

Get to understand cam specs a bit and choose something that suits the compromise you want!

[DOA]

A 285 deg cam will not run smooth at idle, changing the chip wont make much odds i dont think, its the valve overlap that makes it rough. It may also be down on power until you get up to 2000-3000rpm, where it will all start to make sense. So not as good round town / slow traffic.

Also, a 285 would probably benefit from additional mods, 4 branch, head work etc, to get the full gain.

I fitted a 260 deg (or something like that) to my initially standard engine, and its a good upgrade, bit more go particularly up to 6000, no, or less tail off in power after 5500 that the standard had (about 220 deg on a standard cam iirc). And as i do other things to the engine I get more from it. However, the gain will only be so big as its not as long a duration as say a 285...  But its still good at low end.

Get to understand cam specs a bit and choose something that suits the compromise you want!

The trouble is that every company seems to use different definitions of duration (some from certain values of lift, some from zero lift etc etc) so a piper 285 cam might be a different duration to say a Newman, Kent, Catcams, whoever 285 cam. Aside from that, the duration only tells you one factor in the miriad affecting cam performance so the number on the box rarely tells you very much in real terms (its a bit like comparing CPU's and graphics cards on computers, the numbers rarely tell you much in real terms and the dyno holds all of the answers lol). AFAIK a piper 285 isnt a particularly lumpy cam but I confess I havent looked in a long while. If you look on the manufacturers websites, they usually have reasonable guides on powerbands, which cams will definately need further mods to be any use etc. Going one better, call your manufacturer of choice and ask them what they recommend based on your requirements and then once you have it fitted, post something up to let people know what you thought  .

[andynorfolk]

well the piper cam i'm looking at says the power band on the 285 is between 2500-6800 and i already have a 4 branch mani and exhaust system and if i were to upgrade the cam it would be accompanied by a set of weber twin 40s, and then get it all set up properly on a rolling road, that's the plan anyway come spring time

[rossbarry1]

i got a tsr203 cam for sale