Going on my gut instinct that Joe is a guy that has a real passion for Fords and is determined to find the best possible cam grinds for each application, I went with the Stage 2 cam as I felt it was suited to my car and goals and so did Joe.

But how do CMS cams actually shape up against other cams around for the general purpose of going fast and getting there quickly?

CMS cams are designed to run on the standard ECU is which definatly a plus for a large portion of people but how would a CMS cam (refering to either the Stage 2 or Stage 3 cams) compare to a different cam with a tune? --quick ECU question: Do J3 chips have the ability to run bigger cams? or do you have to have a dyno-tuned chip?

I know any car can be tuned to run better but with a CMS cam that is designed to run on the standard ECU does that mean that the cam is already almost running at full potential and wouldnt benefit from a tune as such as say a bigger, real lumpy cam that Required a tune?

Do cams usually work in that way that they will give an increase in power but the longer the cam comes on for the less concentrated power it will give? So a cam that came on at 3500 would be almost like a small turbo kicking in where as one that comes on at say 2000 will give a smaller, less noticable power increase but spread it out over the rev range?

Cheers Guys.

I know there is info around regarding this but it wont hurt just to get some info. I know Joe is active on the site and is a big part of it as are the other sponsers but this could probably end up as more power to CMS, or just as easily Wade or another cam group.

The cam has to suit the other engine mods. I can give you a cam that will idle very lumpy, but no amount of tuning will make this thing work on an I6 that isnt capable of revving to at least 7000RPM, which is out of the ball game for most 4ltr owners, when we were playing with them, we broke it more than we drove it trying to rev it this high. If you can get a cam that will happily run on the standard ECU, its probably going to be your best bet if the thing is driven to and from work every day, it will have the balance of reliability, economy and power that will more than likely fill your desire. If you can afford to rev the thing to 6000rpm all the time because its your weekend weapon, then you could go with something a bit more lumpy, but go overboard with it and the MAP sensor is going to be less than ideal for load calcs, and tunability is still going to be an issue.

Your probably on to something with your CMS cam, JMM make some great cams, but I wouldnt pay what they are asking for them, Wade are your best bang for your buck cam going, and they would be my choice if I still had a 6.

Thanks mate that put everything into perspective for me. CMS's rep and Joe's willingness to have a long and complete chat make me feel like I have chosen the right cam even without testing one. Wade did catch my attention by there site give the impression that they are a larger company that produces cams for a range of different cars and in turn made me think that their cams might not have as much research and devolpment as say a CMS cam where for CMS to stay in business they would have to make a cam good enough to support them, whereas if Wade's cams for an EF/EL are s**t it would be alright because they can stay afloat by the sale of say Holden cams. We'll see... I'll be sure to give a quick review of the cam when I get it.

Just a quick flash at the inner workings of InpectorRectum's head

If you read the sticky, you will see that there is no best cam. It's wat suits your driving style, do you want heaps of low down power but willing to sarafice up top. Most people will go for a mid range power cam because you are barely ever in the 5000rpm+ revs and if you are you only have another 700-800rpm left before it hits the rev limiter. You also have to look how long the power band goes for, peak power dosn't really mean that much. a consistant power line on the graph is wats best for street. Also Wade do have good cams, the 1673cam Grechi has done a 13.7 down the quarter mile if, if that is what your trying to achieve.

Also it comes down to where the cam is dialled in as well ... and what type of driving you do as mentioned previously.

With the Falcons ... especially the autos ... you are best to have it dialled in to produce the most torque right where your stall converter locks up .... or just before it if possible ... it won't produce that big top end power ... but it will make the vehicle so much more driveable in "normal" situations ... it will really transform the vehicle.

In saying that though ... the top end will be better still than a stock cam as well.

Put it this way ... I had a Stg 2 cam in my work AUII EGAS ute ... untuned. I had it re-dialled again so torque came on stronger around the 1800rpm mark ... and what a difference that made. Bang for Buck ... was the best value power/$ mod I did to the ute.

Had a really nice lope at idle ... but in gear it drove smoother and a hell of a lot more effortlessly than factory.

But it really comes down to the type of cam chosen for application ... also dialling it in makes a big difference as well. I'd hazard a guess an EDIT tune would have given me more scope for power/torque as well ... but untuned I was quite happy with mine.