Hi
Ive had my spanking, original, mint little Rs Turbo for around 3 weeks, and unfortunately the first thing Ive learnt about these cars is that the standard cam isnt very good! The car broke down (well started firing really badly) and on inspection it turns out that the cam is worn down so bad that the follower had lost contact and dropped out of place. Had a temporary fix done for 100 notes, and that lasted 4 miles, so I now need a new cam. Rather than standard, Ive decided I might go for a performance cam.

The car is a daily drive at present, so Im looking for a cam that will increase low to mid power without compromising driveability and tick over too much. Im not that interested in lots of power at 6000rpm cos I wont be up there that much!!

Piper have told me that they have discontinued their cams due to a problem with finding a decent follower:
"We have tested over 20 engine sets of followers from all over the world and as yet have not found a solution to this issue , we've had them last anything from 30 seconds up to 1000 miles but unfortunately to put it bluntly, there is a lot of cheap and nasty crappy followers out there."

So I contacted Kent, who reccomended I fit the CVH34 kit. I spoke to Burton Power about this kit, and they say that the CVH35 would be more suitable. Can anyone tell me more about these cams, and pass on their experience of them?

Im planning to go to the 165 chip at least in the near future, so any cam must be compatible with this chip..
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Scott.

 

post in the rs turbo section might get more ans i would like to know the ans too

 

I've got a standard 1.6 EFi cam in mine, - and it works a treat. I ordered it from the local motor factors, and it came with new followers for abouit Ł120.

I thought I'd get a cheap one because I had heard that even the expensive ones didn't last that long, but its been in for over 10,000 miles and I had it rolling roaded at 199bhp a couple of months back.

I'll be selling a 165bhp Superchip in the near future if you need one...

 

cams can be hit n miss some times, make sure you have good oil pressure cos the cvh engine is known to hav bad oil ways that can ware out a cam in mins, the std cam is good with a chip

 

If I keep the car then Ill definately want the 165 chip in it

 

Do you know anywhere on the internet I could buy a standard cam kit from by any chance?
I do want to bang a performance cam in it, but it would be more sensible for me to stick a standard one back in it until I decide if I want to keep it!!!

 

i've tried all but newman cams, all are quite shite, piper and kent last a few thouand miles before replacing due to worn lobes.
i went to motorfactors for my last kit and is still working well, Ł70 job done, efi spec cam, basic. doesn't have the pull of the kent cvh35 and no where nea the lag then rip your engine open of the piper 285t2, but it'll do for now till i try the newman cam, but that will need solid lifters etc, so circa Ł300 (which i have set aside for a rainy day lol)

 

I think Ill go standard for now then, and wait and see how you get on with the Newman!!!!

Cant believe how little time these performance cams last in this car! Im not a mechanic, but Ive never known a car to go through cams like the Rs T does!

Youve just saved me hundreds of pounds I was going to get the Kents, but now Im gonna leave it and settle for the car running on standards

Cheers pal!
Scott.

 

Can you remember which motorfactors you bought your cam and followers from? A bit of google searching and I cant find any standard cam suppliers!

 

hello mate, I used a kent cvh34 in my old stroker engine, was fantastic for low down grunt, it is emphasised around torque keeping the power in the mid range as opposed to higher revs which is why I chose for my application. The profile is faultless and it was develped by Ahmed Bayjoo, the cam material however is/was not, the first cvh34 got chewed up less than 1000 miles after building which spewed swarf everywhere. Not what you want when you've just put an engine back together. Kent said it was down to poor engine oil circulation but bear in mind I had just spent near a grand on the head at CHD (who installed the cam as well) and the oil pressure was fine indicated by a in car gauge. Never the less they sent a brand new one in the post the following week. (bit suspicous they keeled over so easy as it cost over Ł240.00, indicating this has happened before)

The standard ford cam is also a good option as they dont seem to chew up as easy, this time however I have gone for a newmans phase 4 courtessy of Sitech. When my kent cam went I looked on the forums and I wasnt alone, but I have yet to find someone have this problem with a newmans cam. Plus they come with solid lifters as standard so no issues with hydraulics not filling with oil and failing.

Give Si or Nick a bell as they can explain the ins n outs better than me.
(sitech 01796481495)

I will do a comprehensive guide into setting up the solids soon for anyone who is interested.

Hope this helps mate

Raj

 

p.s. of you want to get standard oem parts such as the standard cam and followers her is one of the motor factors companies I use, they are very well priced and offer both manufacturer recommended parts and patterened parts:

http://www.autoinsider.co.uk/local/c...s/ai_38195.php

Eurocar parts are very good too but are limited on actual engine parts, more for servicing and wear n tear items.

Cheers

 

The standard cam is actually quite good in performance and profile. The only reason to change is if it wears down like yours. All the performance cams (except Newmans) are just as prone to breaking down as a motofactors standard cam, only it hurts more your wallet.
The one thing that is for sure with the cvh engine is, that never change the cam&followers "just to be sure" or because of "slight ticking noise". I'd rather have a cam that has covered 50000k and survived it, than have a new cam that can break down during the first tank of fuel.
The Newman cam kits are of a higher quality, and they machine their own followers from a stronger material. If I would consider a performance cam, Newman would be the only candidate. Or actually the other candidate after the popular Zetec conversion that I went for.

 

Thanks for all the info
Im going to try and find a standard OEM cam for the car and original followers. Its a completely original car, it kinda makes sense to keep it that way

Scott

 

I just rang up my local car spares place and asked them to order me a cam and lifters, - it turned up the next day with the followersm cam lube etc. You must make sure you run it in properly - by keeping the revs at about 3k for approx 20 minutes with the car stationary on the drive. I suspect a lot of people don't do this which would explain why so many wear out.

I put an XR2i cam in mine rather than an RS Turbo one as I believe it has a better profile, - standard turbo ones are quite mild.

 

I had a new cam fitted in my old rs turbo at scs peterborough a few years ago and that cos Ł120 then.

 

As far as I'm aware the xr2 and fez turbo have the same heads and cams.