Heres one for the experts, why does the sound of the camshaft change when warm in drive?

Cold start the thing sounds pretty cool in park or drive. As soon as you drive for a bit you loose most of the thumpity thump and very nice lope that turns heads and it changes into a a blah putting noise..... its very average and makes you wonder if you got a cam or not in the bloody thing.

But heres the thing. Warm or cold... if you put the car into park, wait 5 seconds the lope comes back and will sound awesome constantly until you put it back into drive and it completly looses it. It sounds the best if i switch off the car when warm and restart after say 5 mins. It lopes like crazy in drive and park untill you drive around for a bit and again it returns to putting....

Question to you, why does it change only in drive? how can i get it to lope in drive all the time like in park!!!. it makes me want to get a bigger cam cause it is really annoying me when rocking up to the traffic lights and all you can hear is a putting v8 noise instead off the vrump, vrump, vrummmmp (theres no exhaust leaks, had it checked!!).

anyone else have the same effects with a mild cam?

For some reason my car lopes pretty hard. I have manual so don't have your problem. I'd imagine that whilst in drive the engine is under load which could be the cause. I think when in drive the rpm is increased isn't it? This could also be your problem.

does it have a high stall??
i think you will find it doesnt lope in gear because of the slight load on the engine from the std torque converter..

its the same as if your cruising at light throttle or coasting...

Yes it is because of the Torque convertor, In neutral & park, only the impeller is turning.When you select drive,the stator is engaged.There is 3 things turning around inside it - impeller,stator,turbine - all turning around at different speeds.At the RPM those 3 parts start turning at the one speed,that is the coupling point or stall speed of the convertor.When you put it back in neutral,it disengages the stator & slows down,your "rump rump" comes back.If you get a Hi-stall for it,make sure you tell the convertor guy the spec's of your engine (cam size etc)

yes its the standard stall. Thanks for that, didnt know the stall effects it that much!.

does a lockup feature on the stall mattter at all? Also what exactly will a highstall do differently to the standard one to get the lope sound when in drive? (i.e, does it have a slower stator rotation when compared to a stock torque converter?)

No, The lock-up will only work in 4th gear,convertor stalled out & holding a constant road speed. Big hi-stalls they usually delete the lock -up feature.The o-ring on the input shaft of a BTR is the lock up clutch seal.

Depending on the size of the stall convertor you need,Those 3 moving parts have vanes bent at different angles to direct the oil around inside to start the others turning, The stator is like a ....boat prop! V8's usually have a low stall speed where as a 6 cyl have a higher stall,so they might use the stator out of a 6cyl (which is smaller,less vanes & and a different blade angle) - less rotating mass.The same reason that they change props on ski boats.

The bigger the hi-stall -The smaller the converter will be & the bigger $ it will cost! A mate put a C4 behind a SR20DET.They used a 6cyl C4 back,C3 stator & a 6cyl TRIMATIC front half with a C4 convertor welded on - $1300.

The stator also has a one-way clutch in the middle of it, If it rolls over or free wheels both ways, It can make the car gutless down low untill the revs build up.