Camshaft selection is a tricky thing which is very much dependant on what you want your car to be. A race car, a drag car or an all round street car. The selection on which camshaft you use will change the rev range you will make your power. So it’s important to get it right or you’ll have a hard to drive streetcar much like my R32 GT-R.
HKS Pro cams
When I got the results of a compression test on my GT-R motor and found a couple of cylinders low. I decided to do build a 9 second GT-R. I really wanted to get on the top 10 quickest GT-R’s in Australia list which was fairly attainable in the early 2000’s. Not so much anymore for the average person such as myself
As the main focus of my GT-R was to break the 9’s I decided to go with the larger HKS procams, 280 degrees. I wish I could tell you the camshaft selection I made was a good one but for a car that was driven everyday, it was terrible!
With this camshaft the car felt really laggy with nothing down low on the rev range. The low comp motor I built didn’t help with this camshaft selection as even getting off the line normally was an issue. If I was to launch the car it was totally fine.
The great thing about the procam though was the fact that the car was very lively on the higher rev range. The top end power was amazing and hitting high speeds was very easy to do in my 32 GT-R.
Standard cams
Race Pace a very reputable GT-R performance workshop claim that it’s not worth the money changing camshafts on a RB26. They are using standard cams with a few secret head tweaks and people are getting a very punchy car for both street and race.
A few people that have used Race Paces advice have given very positive feedback with their setup. I can’t comment more than that as I haven’t spoken to anyone personally that have had this head work done.
I have now installed the standard cams based on the feedback from Racepace and will be proceeding with their secret head work. However, the major contributing factor for the standard camshaft selection is to clear the defect on my car.
In conclusion, consult your tuner or mechanic and get their advice on the their camshaft selection that best suits the application of your car. In some cases you might not need to change your camshafts. Your money could be better spent elsewhere.