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Viva Cams

13K views 30 replies 9 participants last post by  jondevieonS40 
#1 ·
Those of you who have them. What do they do in real life. Higher redline? More low end torque? What?

what was involved in putting it in? Just a simple swap or was there tuning and whatnot involved.

thank
 
#2 ·
Those of you who have them. What do they do in real life. Higher redline? More low end torque? What?

what was involved in putting it in? Just a simple swap or was there tuning and whatnot involved.

thank
I'm guessing you are referring to ENEM 264/9.6 cams with partnumber "35-79-010" sold by Viva.

In my opinion those are the best cams available on the market for T5 engine. The cams provide higher valve lift and longer duration (keep the valves open for longer time) thus enabling the higher flow through the cylinder which results in app. 15 HP of power gain from app. 3500 RPM upwards with tuned engine with stock turbo. With K16 turbo you can expect app. 30-35 HP of gain in power throughout the same RPM range.

ENEM cams are installed as a simple swap, only 2 oil VVT rings need to be taken from stock cams. Adjustment in tune is not necessary unless you want to adjust torque curve. Idle remains calm and tick-over sound is pretty much unchanged.

In short, with K16 turbo these cams are a must have and with stock turbo and Stage 3 tune they are highly recommendable.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Hope You Install those from Down Under - Kova - Soon.
I'd say a used set of Cams wouldn't need as much Break_In , but the Bucket Followers - still need to be Mated Up .

Some Things are Different :
Break_In is Very Important : Proper assembly Lube , Proper Running _In : 15-20 Min. at High Variable RPM 2500 - 3500 and then - specially on Billets Cams
a Very Good Oil made with the Extra Slippery Additive Pack . I say it that way as in Reality one could Run : 15W_30 Diesel Oil with 4-5 Oz. of Marvel or
Motorcycle Oil 4 Stroke 10W 40 - Type with Out Friction Modifies .
Sure there are plenty of Race Oils out there for this Purpose ( Those maybe Hard to get ) .
Manufactures say use a Mineral Base for the First 5000_10,000 Plus miles .

Special Tools are Needed , so Not any shop Will or is able to do these Cams.
I have the Install Instructions - If anyone needs those . I'll PM them Over .

I'll Add that Viva's Cams are easier to get Hold of in the USA .

There are some other Cams being Tested - Jury is out on those . I'll list just for Comparison .
Newmans :pH1- Focus-R5/260/370 : Intake - Exhaust : Duration 268/280 _ 9.3mm

 
#4 ·
i dont know how much difference in lift the t5 valvetrain can handle? my racecar background has been honda(roadrace) and supra(drag). does the camshaft manufacturer recommended stronger valve springs to prevent float. also are cams made to have a max power at a certain rpm?

i have a 2.4i so these questions are more to benefit the turbo guys interested in the cams.
 
#7 ·
i dont know how much difference in lift the t5 valvetrain can handle? my racecar background has been honda(roadrace) and supra(drag). does the camshaft manufacturer recommended stronger valve springs to prevent float. also are cams made to have a max power at a certain rpm?

i have a 2.4i so these questions are more to benefit the turbo guys interested in the cams.
This particular ENEM cams can be run with stock valve springs. They provide enough flow to up to 8000 RPM, so you can expect peak power to shift somewhere between 6000 and 6500 with K16 turbo and Autotech tune. Currently, my peak pwoer comes at 5700 RPM and limiter is set to 7500 RPM.
Lift of 9.6 which these cams provide is near the borderline where you would require piston pocketing to avoid valves touching the pistons.

Newman cams aren't exactly known for top production quality, so I wouldn't recommend them. The same goes for CatCams. As always you get what you pay for..
 
#5 · (Edited)
Anymore Lift then : PH1 Fast Rd. Cam or ENEM road Cam and You have to Install a Valve Train Kit of Springs and Bucket Followers .
Also If You Plan on Spinning Motor more then 7200 rpm - I'll say 6800 rpm - now that includes Higher Boost .


Both the PH1 & ENEM have been in 21-24 psi T5 motors to 7200 rpm's on a RS Focus Hybrid K16 has Pocket Cut Pistons go to 7800 rpm. +
 
#6 ·
Unless you're going K16+ I don't see a benefit in a higher redline.

Moar torques though. I could live with moar torques.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I could easily show the Opposite , but all one has to do is to look Up Cam Failures and see what Fails and Why .
Billet Cams need to have a 2nd Heat Treating and 3rd Nitriding - done to allow those to Survive - Better yet a Parkerized Coating to Help during Break In .
Special Chilled - Iron is so Hard no Extra Process are needed - this Lowers the Cost .
They don't look as Pretty , but a Chilled Iron Cam will Last - 100,000 Plus Performance Miles .

Say an Owner has 130,000 miles on His Motor , He might need to check the Clearances and have those adjusted with New or Thicker followers .0005 .
A Billet Cam at 130,000 miles might need replacing as the Cams Hardness only goes so Deep .020 is a lot . ( that said If very good Base Material is Used ) They will Hold Up .
Especially in over head Engines -as this style motor - uses Very Light Springs and Mild Cams - ( Compared to a V8 Roller Lifter or Solid Lifter ) .

I would say Billet Cams do too : Method of Production are Balanced Better . ( That said ; None of these Cam Producers ) Go out of Their way to
100% Balance the Cam .
 
#9 ·
ENEM cams are of OEM quality. Ask Nick from SAR to send you the pictures of his ENEM cams and compare it with your Newman cams.

OEM cams and ENEM cams are balanced otherwise cam bearings would fail very soon when running on 7500 RPM. ;)

Anyway, not to hurt your feelings I will only post a link to this thread to illustrate what, beside other things, I mean with "poor manufacturing quality" of CatCams.
http://audisrs.com/archive/lol@catc...-the-manufacturing-quality__o_t__t_17096.html
 
#10 · (Edited)
Cat Cams - are at the Bottom for Sure .
One of the C30 - Guys has taken His Cams out - Waiting to see Actual Pic's of OE - Cams .

None of the Manufactures Balance Their Cams , They simple Believe that a Spun Item on a Spun Center = Balanced . ( This is Not the Case )
Cam Lobes have a Different Lead in Ramp then a Following Ram , those are also - Clocked at Different Degrees .

Just take 5 cly. X 360 Degrees = What ?
Now look at 268 Degrees X 5 cly = 1340 Degree . ( This give an Idea of How the Weight is being Thrown is all )

Cams are only Traveling half Speed , so say 4000 RPM's Max and mostly 3200 rpm's - that said there is Room for Improvement - Is all I stating .

Basic Cam - Theory can be seen 1-5 Video's :



Cams in a Motor Spinning up to 14000 Rpm's - listen Hard You'll be able to Hear when the Motor approaches 7000 rpm's . Around 1:32-1:35

 
#13 · (Edited)
The Newmans : weren't Cleaned as good as they should have been . ( Cleaning won't Hurt Function )

I'd like to see more Photo's for - Visual Inspection of the ENEM's .

A True Comparison is Needed in Measurements also , including Surface Finish .

Design of the Lobes and How those Lobes - Ride on the Followers is even more Important .
 
#14 · (Edited)
I'd like to see more Photo's for - Visual Inspection .

A True Comparison is Needed in Measurements also , including Surface Finish .

Design of the Lobes and How those Lobes - Ride on the Followers is even more Important .
Good questions indeed.. But next time I suggest you ask yourself those questions before buying a part, not after.. ;)

ENEM has been manufacturing cams for Volvo (and for many other cars) for many years. And yes, they are making them from Swedish steel. Remember Bofors guns? :D
 
#15 · (Edited)
OEM cams and ENEM cams are balanced otherwise cam bearings would fail very soon when running on 7500 RPM
Your Making Statements - that - Hold No Water or Oil !

They are only so , so when it comes to balancing .

Your Photo looking at the Width of the Cam lobe is only Half as Wide
!


( My Photo is at 2X-3X )

I have gone out on the Limb and Tested many Vendor - Products - for this Forum .

I will be doing another Honest Appraisal .

If You'll provide other Detailed Images Please , We will be able to a True ( No Vendor - BS ) - Comparison !

ps: You are able to provide Detailed Photos' aren't You ?
as I provided the Worst looking ones .
 
#16 ·
If you are looking at the lack of a polished (or even clean-looking) finish between cam lobes as a sign of low quality, I have a fact you may be interested to learn.

In steel, everyone knows a polished surface reduces stress risers and is stronger and resists fatigue better.

In iron, this is not the case due to the grain structure of iron. Polishing iron to reduce stress risers does nothing for fatigue. Better off to leave it "as cast" or "as ground" to save cost. (Of course, you should polish the lobes to reduce wear. Obviously.)
 
#18 · (Edited)
If you are looking at the lack of a polished (or even clean-looking) finish between cam lobes as a sign of low quality, I have a fact you may be interested to learn.

In steel, everyone knows a polished surface reduces stress risers and is stronger and resists fatigue better.

In iron, this is not the case due to the grain structure of iron. Polishing iron to reduce stress risers does nothing for fatigue. Better off to leave it "as cast" or "as ground" to save cost. (Of course, you should polish the lobes to reduce wear. Obviously.)
No, I'm not looking at that. I'm trying to make Dan understand that main reason for cam "imbalances" is coming from the less then perfect material used from raw casting of camshaft blanks, that's why I was mentioning Swedish steel and precision involved in making Bofors back then in 1934.

Each blank have "center registers" marks on both end (from which the base circle is formed), but unfortunately these rarely matches the center of the mass. So, when center of the mass is not the same as center of the rotation the result is unbalanced cam which may cause vibration so the valve will not follow the lobe path. Those vibrations can (and frequently do) cause the cam to brake. You will rarely see that happen with OEM cams, also with ENEM cams, and that's why I said the ENEM cams are of OEM quality - which cannot be said for the most of the aftermarket parts.
 
#17 ·
I don't have more detailed pictures.

I also haven't got any idea how you would be able to make the "true comparison" just by looking at the pictures, but I wish you good luck with that method.
I made decision to purchase ENEM cams based on the experience and recommendation from my Sweden friend who used to work for Volvo, not by looking at the pictures of the cams.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Thanks George : attention to Details When We are pushing these Engines well past 100% of stock is Very Important .

Those do Look like they are Parkerized - Nice stuff .

Kova :

LOL - Kova Your Know I already Know this - So LOL Big Time on You : Your Will NOT see Cams Breaking - Period Today .
You will see Damaged Bearing Structure or Or Pitted Billet Cams Lobes - due to Improper Break-In , Improper Heat Treating , Improper Balancing .

( Mostly Improper Break-In )

An Improper Cam Balance or Excitement in the valve train will cause Valves to Float Earlier then there suppose to or cause Early Spring Fatigue . ( Either One is Not Good )

Profile of the Cam Lobe can be seen easily with a Straight Edge scale , Raduis , Finish other Items can all be Inspected Visually !

I already Know , that : ( Micro Matrix - Structure ) of the Chilled Iron is Superior in Holding On to Oil Film - as I already stated the slight Balancing gain doing a 100% Machined Blank - is
only slightly Better then OE - as OE use Cast Blanks ( Ha, I wonder why they do that ? ) .

I haven't seen any Photo's 100 % Billet Cams Yet Either now have We .

That said : ANY Good Motor Builder that is going to be Putting Forged Components into a Motor - even thou those Items are 100 % Inspected and Weighted and Checked
( Will Have the Assembly ) or Crank or Cam - BALANCED - We are Pushing these Motors to almost - Twice the HP of a Turbo Motor - Not a stock motor.
Attention to Detail is what I'm saying - If

Kova what's to throw Up My Photo's for a Comparison - Lets - Rock & Roll !

What are the ENEM's steel ?
How thick is it's Hardness ?
It it Parkerizied ?

No One has said - I haven't seen any Proof on Enem website to any type of Manufacturing ?
 
#22 · (Edited)
LOL - Kova Your Know I already Know this - So LOL Big Time on You : Your Will NOT see Cams Breaking - Period Today .
Really?

In that case you may want to look what Google has offered when I entered "newman camshaft broken".. :D

http://www.750formula.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=189





Sure, that cam got broken in transport, but just look at the quality of the material:



Good luck with Newman cams, Dan..

P.S. story of this poro guy is also interesting: http://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/31896-newman-cams-a-cautionary-tale/
 
#21 ·
I can also add that ENEM is being producing camshafts for more then 30 years. Unlike most of the companies that are developing their camshaft profiles by means of software only ENEM is actually using flow bench to test and fine tune the design of each of their camshafts. Btw, when comparing ENEM with Newman, beside raw digital photos one should also take into account the fact that ENEM was and still is building custom race engines.
 
#23 ·
I Not in either Camp - I'm Now Here to - Compare Gee _ Thanks . LOL :facepalm::beer::D

If these Cams Need attention it will be - Shouted Out .

Yes, most do and Newman say they go way back to the Early Days , also with Fords & Cosworths .
That is - Vendor - BS

I'm not here for Manufacture - BS is what I should have said . :beer:
 
#24 · (Edited)
#26 ·
If these Companies would Actually put forth - their Specification We'd have something to Go On - Again these Manufacturing Companyies
want to - BS everybody !
That is true for most of them, but some of them are actually still making good OEM quality aftermarket products. Of course, they are not exactly the cheapest ones you will find on the market, but I'm sure you can tell them apart if looking hard enough to the HD photos of their products.. :D
 
#27 · (Edited)
Stock Unit is 170 HP - same Motor - same -Internals .

No I won't be pushing it that Far , but will have Cooler Running Turbo at 385 Hp. :D:beer:

Good Luck on Your Break-In
 
#28 ·
No I won't be pushing it that Far , but will have Cooler Running Turbo at 385 Hp. :D:beer:
You will? Because up to now I can only tell you were good at producing high post count numbers but don't really remember seeing your tuning achievements, so it is really time that you start to produce some serious HP numbers to backup your post count numbers.. ;)
 
#29 · (Edited)
LOL , You Crazy - today : I built a lot more then You have , with just My left Hand ! ( No Pushing I go My Own Pace ) .

The 2008 Picture We are told is when Newman got New Machines and had some Teething problems with Guys - Learning to Run them .

Just Like - when I run 500 ft from the other end of a Plant because I heard a Sound , a Sound like - Heavy Loaded Cutting of Material , but You wouldn't know what that sounds like .
The 15 Yr. Veteran Machinist would have to explain to Me what the Hell that was , Like a New Tool being loaded and Missed the Touch Off - so it It Drove into the Material to Far to Fast !
Kind a like Failure You shown from the New Machines being Implemented !

Even thou - He could make the Part look Good it may very well Not be Good ! ( I decide ) No Body Else - I throw it out or I Keep It _ all Depends on
How it was being made and what Operation was being Done _ On Sound _ I didn't even have to See It !

Send all Your Photo's !
 
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