5 Things You're Doing WRONG | Camshaft Selection and Tuning [TECH TALK]

So many people get some, or worst case scenario ALL, of these 5 points wrong when selecting and setting up their performance cam/s. So what are they?

1.) Choosing the wrong camshaft
2.) Not setting the timing correctly
3.) No supporting modifications
4.) Incorrect idle speed
5.) Getting it all wrong, then making it worse, with a drill

Firstly Andre runs us through some of the basic yet so often overlooked questions you need to ask when choosing the correct cam for your application. For example, what application is going to see you wanting an aggressive cam, and when would one actually be detrimental to performance and your vehicles drive-ability?

Up next is getting the cam timing wrong. An INSANE amount of people spend big money on a cam, then just set it to 0 and send it - not ideal. When incorrect this can at best cause loss of performance (the opposite goal of fitting our cam) and at worst cause valve to piston contact, which is going to cost you much more than the time and tools it takes to do it right.

Following on from this, it is also important to have the correct supporting components to go along with the bigger cam, valves, higher flow air intake and a freer flowing exhaust system which are generally modifications that are naturally done beforehand anyway, but are missed often enough to make it worth a mention.

The last two common issues we’ve seen countless times revolve around idle tuning. Firstly is targeting an idle that is to low. With the OEM cam out of the picture, and in particular if you have better an aggressive aftermarket cam, the OEM idle speed also needs to go in order to save you hours and hours of trying to make something work that simply never will, or even worse, drilling a hole in your throttle body butterfly as a way to compensate for poor, or non-existent, tuning. Again though, Andre shares the solution to help you make the correct changes and get better results.

Lastly we take a look through the Practical Reflash Tuning course where you’ll learn from start to finish how to reflash your stock ECU in 6 steps, even if you have installed an aftermarket cam in your car.

0:00 - Aftermarket Cams Pitfalls
0:50 - 1: Choosing the wrong Cam
2:39 - 2: Getting the Cam Timing Wrong
3:40 - 3: Correct Supporting Parts
4:30 - 4: Choosing a Suitable Idle Speed
5:24 - 4 Continued: Idle Targets
10:19 - 5: Put The Drill Down, Leave Your Throttle Body Butterfly Alone
12:55 - Tune Your Own Performance Cam

Want to learn how to EFI tune? Start with some free lessons right here.