Hey guys, I cant decide whether to dish out the extra dough for the supertech valve springs and retainers for my hks 280cams or sell the 280s and go with 272s with stock valves and springs.
Ive got a 35R kit sitting and waiting and I want to do it right. I dont want to overdoit either (and save $$$!) for a car with a stock block. I wont have the dough to build the engine for a while

Ive already got the hks 280cams sitting in my room

 

The good news is that none of the HKS cams (264-280) require a valvespring upgrade. The bad news is the reason why is because they trade power in exchange for that convenience.

 

That is very interesting, I did not know that.

What's my best bet? 500-550whp is goal

 

With pump fuel (e.g. 93 octane) and HKS 280s, the lower end of that range can be attained with sharp tuning.

 

Yes, valve springs would be needed with a cam with a higher lift but not the increased duration of 280 degrees over 272 degrees (or 264, etc.). I would look at the S2s and beehive springs personally. Although I have had HKS 272s for years and really like them. But if I had available all the options out there now back then wouldve went a bit more aggressive.

 

Will I be safe with the HKS 280s and cam gears at that power? Obviously I dont want to worry..

Simply put, what would you guys choose?

 

Since you're trying to save cash, stick with the HKS 280s. I've been running them with a 50 trim for over three years now without any issues. TedB used to run a set as well. It is a good cam, especially if you don't want to upgrade the valvetrain. I would set the cam gears to +2i/0e.

FYI - I will have my old set of HKS 280s for sale shortly, as I am upgrading to a higher lift cam to take advantage of the built valvetrain on my Evo.

l8r)

 

so wait... the hks 280 cams are fine on the stock valvetrain? If so just stick with them... im sad i didnt know that... i got 272s for that reason

 

Exactly.
Ideally, Id like to run the 280s without the valvetrain. If its 100% doable and safe at 500whp Im game. If I had more $ to play with id upgrade it.
Thanks for the help!

 

id think for 500 whp you might run into valve float on the stock springs if you run high boost.

 

As long as you don't push it higher than the stock rev-limit (~7800 RPM), they should be fine. The only reason I upgraded my valvetrain when I went to the HKS 280s was that I built the engine at the same time, and I rev it out to 9000 RPM.

l8r)

 

yeah i was told 10k redline with the upgrade, but IS IT worth it...
I also dont want to lose any possible power at the higher rpms

 

9k and 10k damn. super motors. i cant amagine wanting to shift past my powerband. around 7k my motor stops making power. seems kinda like abuse after that. lol. btw im running upgraded springs and retainers cuz im using high lift tomei cams. when i ran hks 264I/272E i had stock valvetrain. worked great, i was only boosting 24psi back then.

 

It's not just about losing power at higher RPM. A higher lift cam will make more power across most of the powerband. Also, just because you have an upgraded valvetrain, doesn't mean you can rev your stock block to 10000 RPM, it'll take a fully built block to do that.

The way I see it, your decision boils down to this:
a. Go cheap for now and stick with the HKS 280 cams
b. Spend more $$$ and prepare for a built block in the future by going to something like a GSC S2 cam with a built valvetrain now, realizing that until you do get your internals built, you'll need to keep the revs in the 8000 RPM range.

l8r)

 

Option A. As long as its frikkin safe on the block!

They will be going in very very soon, i dont want to mess up.