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Ok, I did a search and my head is still spinning from all the search results and info contained there in.
I'm looking at some new cams and have narrowed it down to Crower's but can't decide if I want stage 1 or stage 2. The most important piece of info I gleemed from my search is that the intake cam on both the stage 1 and stage 2 cams are identical. At first I was leaning towards the stage 2's but this response by a guy from FC got me thinking and a little confused at the same time:
These are my existing power mods, Borla, Iceman, UDP, Diablo and a JBA Shorty header.
[ 01-13-2003, 01:28 AM: Message edited by: ZX3 Canuck ]
I'm looking at some new cams and have narrowed it down to Crower's but can't decide if I want stage 1 or stage 2. The most important piece of info I gleemed from my search is that the intake cam on both the stage 1 and stage 2 cams are identical. At first I was leaning towards the stage 2's but this response by a guy from FC got me thinking and a little confused at the same time:
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Ideally I'd like to have power in a band that I find usable, 3500-6000 RPM. I do the occasional auto-x or track day, but 90% of my driving time is on the street in traffic. Essentially I don't want a Honda where I have to get into the high RPMs to get to the real power. The cams would also be dyno tuned with a set of adjustable cam gears. In the search results, there was also talk of proper clearence even though both the stage 1 and stage 2 are "drop in"?The Crower Stage-1 cams are actually on par with what was used in the graph you posted. Crower Stage-2 cams consist of a Stage-1 intake cam with a larger exhaust cam. I've found the intake cams seem to limit the power more than the exhaust, and this is why I would recomend Crower Stage-1 with a stock or ported head intended for daily street use. The next step is really up to Crower Stage-3 (the next step up in intake cam size) with a ported head. Unfortunately, Crower Stage-3 cams will not work without clearancing the head, and changing the valvesprings, or I might try them sometime.
Let me give you some background on a good Crower Stage-1 combination before I continue:
'02 Focus Wagon Zetec 5-spd, Generic Cold Air, 70mm Pro-M MAF, FC 65mm TB, Stock intake manifold opened up for the TB, Stock head, Crower Stage-1 cams, FC Cam gears, FC pulley kit, FC Race header, stock flexpipe, and Bosal cat-back.
Low end torque is far superior to stock, with a peak of 153 and strong average numbers. Peak power was 151. Of important note, I stopped adjusting the cam gears at this point to maintain good idle quality, and balance torque and power. Cam gears for I/E set +6/-4. I would have liked to taken the cam gears a little farther, but this is an everyday kid hauler. There is another 7-10 available at peak, but it will sacrifice torque, idle quality and overall drivability.
I hope to have new numbers from the same car with a ported intake soon. I expect gains in torque, power, and that the engine should make power a little higher also. When I'm there I will also take the cam gears a little farther to find their absolute limits.
My point to all this is that you have to be willing to compromise at some point, but that may be for the better. You will not see significant enough gains from the Crower Stage-2 cams to justify the loss in low end torque and idle quality over the Stage-1 grinds if you will drive the car around town every day while you still have the stock head. When you switch to the ported head, Stage-2 is only a larger exhaust cam, which would net you slightly more top-end, but at the expense of low-end. Either will work well with our ported heads though.
These are my existing power mods, Borla, Iceman, UDP, Diablo and a JBA Shorty header.
[ 01-13-2003, 01:28 AM: Message edited by: ZX3 Canuck ]