So during a meet here in Cali, we had a big debate whether the next power mod should be cams or a turbo kit. What could you guys add... any suggestions?

Evo IX Cams - Cosworth + titanium valves / springs / retainers = $1700+tune

GT3076 turbo kit = ~$3500 - $4000

But for the money spent vs. power made i voted for the turbo kit. This is assuming that the previous mods would be equal to stage 1 (turboback exhaust, boost controller, intake, fuel pump).

On my particular car here is my mod list.

EVO IX GSR GG
- Greddy Ti CB
- RRE HFC
- Tanabe Downpipe
- Walbro 255lph
- HKS EVC VI boost controller
- Apexi intake
- ARC FMIC

Exterior
- JDM rear bumper
- JDM tail lights
- JDM headlights w/ OEM HID + FOGs
- Volk CE28n 17x9 +35

Tuned via ecuflash.

 

what kind of numbers are you laying down with your current setup?

 

Cams will only aid in making even more power AFTER the turbo and they make a great amount of power on the stocker too. I think You should get a nice set of cams and then look for a turbo setup.

 

Yeah, first of all, it shouldn't cost near that much for cams + tune. Secondly, on the turbo upgrade, you'll need the cams anyway. Not much sense in upgrading the turbo without a cam upgrade.

You use the argument of power per dollar, but when you have an ARC FMIC on the stock turbo and a bunch of JDM cosmetics, that argument goes right out the window.

Get cams, alky, then a bigger turbo.

 

personally i would recommend and did cams first... when you do cams do the headstuds too, if your not in a rush and you wanna build your car up i'd recommend cams first then turbo.

i don't think i'd do the turbo without cams and all other bolt ons first

 

since i'm in cali, we have the 91 **** water, so i'm only laying about ~320whp...

Forgot to add... with cams, it seems like most people have been advising to wait for more numbers to be shown before going with a particular brand. Also, other venders would be coming out with their particular grind of cams.

To be honest...regardless if cams or a turbo kit is chosen, the end goal would be met - faster car. we need cams to allow the turbo to breath better, and w/o a turbo upgrade, we max the stocker out...

 

... and i was hoping to beat warr to that one

 

I agree with Warr. Get cams, headstuds, and an alky kit before the turbo upgrade and you'll be *very* happy!

 

also, it's an easier decision for evo 8 owners to go with cams, since there is a lot of proven numbers.... much harder for us 9 owners to choose cams...

 

My personal opinion is to max out the stocker, ie cams, manifold, o2 housing, alch/meth and then do the turbo...I mean a decent meth kit and cams is roughly 1000 ish and thats the cost of a small turbo upgrade (ie 20g) and you should gain 15-20 whp from the cams and maybe 30 ish whp from the alch where as a small budget turbo is probably going to net you 30 whp alone and you'll need injectors on top of that...

 

I highly doubt you'll max the stocker by just throwing on cams especially when its on "91 **** water"

 

Cams! max. out the stocker first IMO.

 

I went with cams before I went big turbo. Then I went big turbo with meth. Worked great for me.

 

anyways you will notice more with cams + meth than you would with a turbo kit so i dont' totally understand your money to power ratio

 

Cams...

as others said max the stock turbo first and then move on to bigger turbo...

Valvetrain is not necessary if you keep 7.8K rev limit... i don't understand with people keep saying that cossie cams cost 1000 plus install...

personally i got cams, studs, all installation and custom dyno tune around that amount!