How much horsepower does a new cam add to 3.4L

[silicuda]

I did a search, and read many posts. some claiming 45HP gain from a cam upgrade...

that is hard to believe

[lando_pr]

That depends on the mods your car has. The better the flow of your intake/heads, the better the gains from the cam. Also if you overcam the engine you will get no benefits. A simulation of the cam used in the Power Pack in a stock 3.4L engine showed a gain of about 10hp if I remember correctly. If you want me to, I'll simulate the cam with and without the ported intake/heads and post the graphs and #s. Let me know.

[viper98885]

I could definitely believe that. The 3.4 cam is a hydraulic flat tappet so the cam lobes grind down over the years. Since the newest 3.4L is around 8 years old, there quite a bit of wear on an average mileage 3.4L. When I took my cam out, I could visually tell that a few of the cam lobes were worn pretty bad. Of course, the power also depends on the quality of the head work. The 3.4L heads are the same as on the smaller 2.8L V6 so they are pretty restrictive for the higher displacement engine.

All in all, I would say 45hp is pretty accurate if you get good headwork and a matched cam.

[silicuda]

Damn, well my car only has like 107,000KMS which is 66,000 miles.

Do you guys think changing cams or going to an LT1 is better idea?

[WickEdSix9838]

theres no doubt an LT1 will outrun a head/cam 3.4...but it would cost more...

[silicuda]

how much do you figure it would cost to do an LT1 swap?

i know it would cost roughly around 500 to do cam upgrade

[CamaroL32]

I just think it would be really sweet to have a bad-*** 3.4 and not have to pay the insurence on an LT1.

[lando_pr]

Well, I simulated the 212/212 duration cam with the stock and ported heads and the results were about the same. The peak gains were about 12hp. Considering the wear factor I guess that maybe a peak 20-25hp increase could be possible but no more than that. Anyone with dyno #s?

[lando_pr]

BTW, I'm talking about the cam alone with stock heads. I'm NOT saying 45hp is not possible from a head/intake/cam combo.

[95 3.4 Firebird22hp]

well i got an email back from them and they said the hp gain on a 3.4 stock will be at a 65hp gain with the 3.4 power pack thats not too bad but it will cost yea a pretty penny.
3.4-with all the bolt on's including turbo/nos 390-400hp
LT1-with the same bolt on's 500 or 600hp
Lt1 wins you get my drift [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]