I have a 03 evo 8 with a GT35R and I am up for the 60K timing belt service. I have been researching this for a quite a while now. I am concerned about which cams to go with for the following reasons:

1. I do not have the money to replace the motor or head or repair the head if the cams are too harsh on the valve train: Is there a solution to this problem?
2. 1 am building the car for more time attack or auto cross, so I want good idle and no stalling.
3. I want good midrange for time attack or autocross.
4. I want the most power I can get out of it without making it a drag only car.
5. I want it to be a good all around car for whatever type of racing I end up doing.

These are the cams I am considering:
GSC2 274: these have better midrange than Kelford with most power? Quality issue? Why do they keep changing them?
Kelford 272: these are not as harsh on the valvetrain with good idle?
Forced Performance 4R: expensive and not harsh on valvetrain?
Forced Performance 5R: expensive and might not work with my goals?
Tomei 272: I heard these were good for time attack?
JUN 272: similar to Bucshur Racing 272, but I did not like BR statement
PLEASE NOTE: We really do not recommend to use these cams with the stock shortblock for your added safety. Its possible that the valves could hit the pistons. It all depends on your valve spring combination and RPM.

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

new s2's. a lot of the others will lose response and spool and the kelford 272's dont perform as well and i have heard a lot of issues with false knock.

i have the gsc s2's and theyre great i also have a 35r and my powerband is perfect

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...-cam-test.html

outdated.

Do you have cam gears installed in case you want to adjust the powerband? I found that most do not use cam gears for fear of them braking. However, if you want to time attack or autocross; I wonder if it would be helpful so your not stuck with a certain powerband?

It's funny you should mention this. I just put in Kelford 272's along with a bunch of other stuff, and I am having problems with false knock. I haven't heard that it was common with the Kelfords though. Maybe I will put the stockers back in just to see what happens.

get hks 280s....you can use them on stock springs/retainers as long as you keep a 7k rev limit

GSC s2's FTW.

Great power potential and power band!

Kelfords. /endthread

Throw in some SuperTech dual valve springs while you're in there for some added insurance if you're concerned about the valvetrain.

Have you look into the new HKS Cams? 274/10.8mm lift and 278/11mm lift, you shouldn't list JUN 272, this is not good for autox, strong midrange setup.

I'm running the Comp 280+ cams and talking to FP, these were basically the first iteration of the FP4R cams. They make GREAT midrange power and very good top end considering how little total duration they have. With the cams alone, the car lost nothing on spool up and picked up a good deal of power every where else.

They have pretty aggressive ramp rates though and do make for a noisy valvetrain.

The FP4R cams pack a little more duration and lift then the comp 280s. If I change cams, I'll be going to the FP4Rs.

Didn't see Brian Crower cams on your list: so far i've read that they are a great bang for the buck and their 272's do not require any further changes to the valve train.

You may say outdated but it's worth a look. What is your plan for redline? Don't go off of the highest power if you don't want to rev that high. I don't plan to go over 7.5 so I'll be goin with either the kelford or gsc s2's.