R4 Camshaft

[jlwade]

I am thinking about putting a R4 camshaft in my1990 240. I have a question and am getting several answers. If I just put the cam in and don't change the computer, am I really doing anything to help the car?

I have heard that the computer is a must. Another friend said just the cam . Another said heaver springs must go with the cam.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

[dickie]

you understand what a cam does, right?

with any drastic change in the way the engine is mechanically timed, you should be tuning your fuel to compensate.

its not a matter of "changing the computer: as much as it is finding good overall solution for your performance goals.

so you have a cam and you want to make better n/a power or build for a turbo? consider all of the supporting work that needs to be done to extract everything you want from the engine and then take it to be tuned by a professional unless you think you are up to the task.

just dropping a cam in is probably fine (you wont be getting ALL of the possible gains, though) unless its some extreme grind. if you want to really upgrade, consider more than just bolt-on accessories.

[jlwade]

Thanks, You told me about what I thought. We run these 240 at a 4/10 circle track. I am about the only one with the stock cam. The word is that the guys running the single cam cars are running the R4 cam. (272 degrees I think.) The R4 is not legal so you can imagine getting a straight answer. One source says that just by dropping the R4 in, you get a lot more power at higher RPM.

Another said that without a computer upgrade ($400.00) you don't gain a thing.