im thinking its time to swap my cam. for years ive heard the ZZ9 cam from TPIS worked really well with the stock LTR and aluminum heads setup. but ive also read alot of people putting in the ZZ4 cam with good results. heres the specs on the 2 cams, as well as the stock L98 cam for comparison:

ZZ9 - 212/226 .483/.520 112LCA
ZZ4 - 208/221 .474/.510 112LCA
L98 - 202/206 .403/.415 114LCA

one other thing i forgot to mention was price... $375 for the ZZ9 vs about $150 for the ZZ4. is it just me or does the ZZ4 seem to be a huge upgrade over the stock cam as it is? do you think the extra lift/duration of the ZZ9 will provide that much of an improvement over the ZZ4?

so which would you choose? get the ZZ4 now... or save for the ZZ9?

 

although the zz4 looks big on paper its not really that big in real life. I'd suggest buying desktop dyno and take a look at a variety of cams. The zz4 is usually only good for ~5 hp according to desktop dyno, therefore not worth swaping to unless you have a peanut cam. Whats your setup? Both of those cams aren't usuable on stock heads because they lift over .500. The zz9 looks like a pretty good mild cam. Another one you may look at though more expensive is the ligenfelter 211/219 cam. Depending on your mods you may want to look at a larger cam such as the hot cam or the xtreme energy 270hr, both should work with stock heads although the 270hr is pretty close . Another one to look at that i haven't seen anyone use is http://www.sdpc2000.com/search.asp?s...14-4&doQuery=1 its pretty damn cheap for a roller cam, and should put out good power.

 

i disagree-the zz4 crate engine is putting out 355hp with only a few changes(heads intake and camshaft)now i know that the long tube design chokes the intake but with some porting and a zz4 i'm sure that he will pick up 25-40 hp.i also have dd and can tell you that it isent always right on.seems to me that it is better for trending than actual numbers.from his post i'm assumeing that he is running the stock tpi and vette heads already.
p.s i'm running the zz4 with a supercharger and afr heads and will be going to the dyno next week to see what it says--dd-says 458 hp so i guess i'll see how close it is
pete

 

Check sig. The motor only numbers are 267hp and 356tq. That was w/ no tuning and the ZZ4 cam.

 

you didnt include your signature in your post

 

Um, maybe its just me, but the ZZ4 create motor is basicly a L98. It has the same heads, its a 350, roller cam. with the ZZ4 cam, you would just complete the package. Tell Gm Performance parts that there ZZ4 cam doesnt make any power, yet they show that it makes 355 hp and 405 ft-lbs... i think thats awesome. the ZZ9 looks crazy expensive, considering that the LT4 HotCam has a little more durration, little more lift, and as i see it here, is $204.55.
specs are
218/228 .525/.525 112 LCA.
The only problem i see with that is that they rated that with 1.6 rr's, and if you really wana bring out the power in the LT4, 1.6 really help out. The ZZ9 is a good cam, but for the money, theres something cheaper for around the same performance.

 

The ZZ4 (as tested) has the following advantages over the L98 with regards to top end power:

750 CFM carb (vs a 48mm throttle body ~600 CFM)
A manifold that will run to 6000 RPM (vs TPI)
1 3/4 full length exhaust headers (vs manifolds and cats)
The ZZ4 camshaft (vs stock L98 cam)
10:1 Compression (vs the L98's 9.8:1)

I think that'll all add up to about 100 HP over a TPI L98.

 

not to mention no accessories or driveline loss.

and sorry the hp numbers i was quoting on dd2000 was with my (1988) stock cam which has 207/213 duration with 415/430 lift hence the only slight gains with the zz4

I'd still op for the hot cam or somehting slightly bigger

 

All depends on what you want / plan to get out of your engine.

With the stock type TPI setup, the ZZ4 will help make MORE low end power and bump up the mid range power as well.

The bigger cams are designed to make their power higher up, at the sacrifice of lower end grunt, and the stock type TPI doesn't make it's best power in these upper RPM ranges.


With tuning, the ZZ4 cam can give some good gains.

A guy I know installed one in his L98 GTA. Car was running 14 flat with no tuning, and the only mod being headers.

He added the ZZ4 cam, ported the lower intake, ported the plenum, and gasket matched everything. With no other mods, and no tuning changes from the previous setup, he ran a 13.60 after sorting out the traction problems hitting 2nd.


HTH and good luck

 

I REALLY hope that with all the stuff this summer i can hit loooow 14's. 14.0-14.4 is where i wana be. Think its possible with the lil 305 with the stuff im doing?