single cam KA

[zsmizzy]

looking at buying a pignose hatch with a single cam and was just wanting to know peoples thoughts and opinions about the single cam
any takers?

[numbnuts240]

most people drop them in favor of the dual cams. there's nothing wrong with single cam ka's. they're just as capable as the dohc ka's. when i had my piggy hatches, i really liked the sohc. nothing wrong with them at all.

[zsmizzy]

as far as power and potential what do you think
would a turbo single be a capable as a turbo dual cam?

[numbnuts240]

most certainly. they're both going to need the same stuff done in order to turbo them. they will yield similar power as well. check out the ka-t subforum as well as ka-t.org. lots of information on sohc ka-t's out there.

[zsmizzy]

ill do that
thanks for the info

[Second Shadow]

The answer would be no, DOHC is better. but unless you're taking it really far (this is just IMO) it doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the KA series engines.

you see the biggest advantage of DOHC is more valves, allowing the engine to breath better at high RPM. there just isn't a lot of time for the valves to be open to allow air to flow. thats why higher lift/longer duration cams help at high RPM, and why having more valves and thus a larger channel for air to flow through helps as well. however, the KA has a really long stroke, and just doesn't run well at high RPM anyway. it gets the job done at low RPM(really well I might add), with lots of torque, when the valves aren't opening and closing too fast to let it breath.

most of the power gains from the later model DOHC KAs are actually from a higher compression ratio, not the valves anyway. which means the higher compression DOHC is actually "less" suitable for turbo in stock form(it's 9.5 to 1 in some cases!). thing is, neither engine has pistons up to any kind of serious boost, so you have to change them out to run more than a few PSI, and then you would just get proper compression pistons for turbo on either engine. So for this special case, I'd say neither has an advantage.

[breadbox]

I will say don't discount the SOHC. Its a great motor, especially if you take time to build it. But if you don't want to, then make sure its reliable and throw a turbo on and boost low and you will have tons of fun and torque.

[s14derrick]

i think the dohc is better from the factory for boost. but the sohc is better for an n/a build. something about highter compression from factory

[ILoveMyRHS13]

I love my single cam, personally. The reason people choose the DOHC's to build is because parts are more readily available. If you can find the parts, SOHC's can be pretty nasty. A local guy is building a 400whp SOHC right now.

[zsmizzy]

alright. thanks everyone for the info.