much more to be gained by shaving a pound or two off the crank or flywheel.

Yes it's cheaper not to make hollow cores, but it gives you something to write about in the sales brochure. It obviously is good marketing, we're talking about it

 

but there's two of them...

 

lol, right.... my mistake.

 

It's true, hollow cored camshafts won't give you a whole lot in performance (but there is some gains), but you have to keep in mind that the weight savings for the Helix hollow cored is not just at the core but on the lobes also.

Helix uses a billet camshaft whereas the HKS unit is a cast unit. As with aluminum wheels, with camshafts using chilled cast usually means it's heavier in general.

Mitsubishi also uses a cast camshaft, but if you look at the Mitsubishi casting it is actually far superior to that of the HKS casting technology - just as the Mitsubishi turbine housing is cast far superior to some of the aftermarket ones out there. Yet according to Mitsubishi the cast cams came in a bit too heavy to their liking so they took some weight not only from the middle of the cam but also the outter edges (look at the drill holes).

Basically here's the way I see it if you are running Helix cams:

*Weight - 3lbs each with bigger lobes as opposed to HKS 4.2 lbs each (3lbs is stock weight).
*Performance - More aggressive ramp, but pretty much same performance as HKS 272s
*Durability - Higher Rockwell hardness than HKS means longer lasting cam
*Price - half the price of HKS

Personally I think it's a no brainer. The real valvetrain savings are using the Helix "ultra-light" cam gears. At less than 1lbs each with all that rotational mass savings, those are the winners. $399 Helix cams + gears - Not sure why anyone would pay $900+ for HKS cams / gears.

Cheers,

Gary
Gruppe-S

 

I am having the Helix cams installed on my car on the 17th and I am getting a dyno tune. I will post my results.

 

So GSC cams or Helix??? I am still in a tossup as to install the GSC's or return them and get the Helix's??

 

If you already have the GSC's you probably just want to stay with them! You won't see a huge difference in performance that would justify returning cams you already have.

Cheers,

Gary
Gruppe-S

 

360-380 lol

 

LOL U R really funning

 

Anyone else have any dyno graphs of the Helix 272's or a comparison?

 

I am still wondering WHY the price of the Helix's are so much less than the GSC's, HKS's and so forth.

If the Helix's are built at the same quality levels, are lighter due to being hollow (which apparently costs more than casting), and will last longer, why are they so much less in price?

 

they make one billion at a time.

 

That would make sense to a degree, depending on how their cost function is equated--but remember that the profit function has a peak, so making a billion of them doesn't fly. There will be an exact amount of items to be manufactured (and assumingly sold) to maximize profits....if you just make a bunch eventually you will peak and profits will start to decrease again.

So for Gruppe S, is it indeed a low variable cost (along with minimal fixed costs) that are enabling these to be sold so inexpensively? There is no discernable difference between these and the more "popular" cams?

 

What is this? an economics lesson?

 

I got dyno'd with the Helix cams on my old setup. I had the POS 20G-8 6 blade turbo. My car at 21psi without alky and with a boost leak put down 343whp. Now, this is where I like the turbo let me down. At 27psi my car only put down 359whp with alky. I will be getting another tune soon with my stock IX turbo and Ebay FMIC. With my butt dyno my car pulls alot harder now.