R3-R2

[mfg]

Installing an R3 camshaft into a Studebaker Avanti R2 engine will add considerable low end torque.....True?

[Gunslinger]

I would say false if my experience with my Corvette is any indication. I believe the higher lift R3 cam would somewhat hurt the low end but add to the top end breathing.

My '69 Corvette 427 435 hp Vette has a L88 camshaft in place of the standard cam...its power band is 4400-7000 rpm's and doesn't really begin breathing until it passes 4000 rpm's when you feel a real kick in the pants and it really accelerates. I would think the R3 camshaft would perform in a similar fashion in a R2 engine.

[Charlie Kile]

The R3 cam will also have more valve overlap which actually hurts a supercharged engine.

Charlie RQB3921

[Gunslinger]

High lift camshafts will move the engine's power band upward...to higher rpm regions. That's why many, if not most, camshafts with high lift profiles will lose some low end torque but gain high end power where they start to breathe. It's all in what the cam designers want to achieve from the engine.

Today's camshaft designs with computer controlled design and manufacture can be the best of both worlds. The Lunati VooDoo line of asymmetrical design camshafts have a great reputation for making power and having a good idle. Too bad we'll never see such designs for a Studebaker engine unless someone with deep pockets steps up to underwrite the R&D and manufacturing costs for such a minuscule market segment.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Gunslinger

[mfg]

Very good points by Gunslinger and Charlie Kile!!.....Answer....FALSE!