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kelford stg1 vs. 06-08 Tsx cams

30K views 54 replies 22 participants last post by  Mamao 
#1 ·
I was wondering if someone could help chime in and compare the Kelford stg1 cams vs. 06-08 TSX camshafts.
I am leaning towards the kelford stg1. upgrading my valve train is NOT an option.

Thanx 8th Gen
 
#3 ·
I would like helping comparing the two cams specs, im not looking for any actual trials conducted.

2008 TSX K24a2
Intake Lobes
PRI: 33.42mm
SEC: 33.42mm
VTEC: 35.52mm

Exhaust Lobes
PRI: 33.09mm
SEC: 33.09mm
VTEC: 35.09mm

Kelford Stage 1 cams
Int, 272/274 @ 0.1mm, 202/210 @ 1.00mm 7.55/8.30mm Valve lift

Exh, 272/276 @ 0.1mm, 202/212 @ 1.00mm, 7.55/7.55mm Valve lift
 
#6 ·
The Tsx numbers are just caliper measurements of the lobes. You can't use them to compare. The Stg 1 numbers you posted must be the lower lobes only and are about the same as OEM k20z3. If you are interested in cams that do not require valvetrain upgade RedFG2 just dynoed @ 231hp with GoPower drop in cams.
 
#7 ·
Cool thanx for the info. I want to go with go power but 895 for drop ins seems a little much. I will definetly consider this option though. As far as I know, no one has anything negative to say about Go Power. Maybe I should just say F it and wait til I have the dough for the GP drop in cams. I guess you gotta pay to play in this field.
 
#8 · (Edited)
imo tsx cams are a good option at less than 1/3 of the price of go-pwr drop ins

i wouldn't pay $900 for cams and not have upgraded valvetrain, but thats just me. you could try to find a set of used stage 1 or drop in cams. theres a set of toruku cams on k20a right now for $400.

edit>>> http://www.k20a.org/forum/showthread.php?t=70693&highlight=toruku im sure you could talk him down a little bit too
 
#9 ·
I sold that guy those Toruku cams. They are brand new.They will work on the k20z3, but they have 12.5 mm lift. That is pushing it without valvetrain upgrade on a k20z3. The lower lobes on the Toruku are about the same as stock. Toruku is out of business. TSX is definately the best bang for the buck especially if you can get them used.
 
#12 ·
There is a writeup in Import tuner right now on the Kelford stage 1 cams and rrc manifold. It made an additional 30plus horsepower i forget the actual but they said the cam is drop in and makes good power. RRC manifold impressed the hell out of me to the point its my next purchase.
 
#19 ·
I wish they would have done the RRC then cams (or vice-versa) to compare gains with each mod. From the last "test" of the Kelford Cams (albeit stage 2) the gains were "bad" (they never posted the results). So, I would say take these gains with a grain of salt.

Best regards,

Rulo
 
#22 ·
They did do that. The article isn't online yet, but go pick up the mag. They did the RRC untuned; RRC tuned; then RRC / kelford drop ins untuned; last RRC/kelford cams tuned

It turned up being like 18whp tuned from the cams after the RRC was put it. The RRC gained a pretty good amount as well.
 
#20 · (Edited)
The Kelford 179-A have primary and secondary lobes that are slightly larger than the TSX cams and are designed for basic bolt-ons and stock compression ratio. However the cams will require tuning and the only "drop-in" part is that the stock valvetrain and timing chain components will work with them. After reading the Import Tuner article, the cams actually lost power past baseline once they were installed. After tuning, they made more power than the RRC manifold tune.

Also, I don't know if ruloSI and I are thinking of the same person, but the person who did the stage 2 cams and had the thread locked here on 8th Civic (still is open at K20a.org [here's the thread]) didn't have the proper setup for what his cams were designed for (the 179-B). Those cams are for extensively build motors. That includes higher compression ratios (probably at least 12.0:1 on stock displacement), increased displacement, head work, free flowing intakes and exhaust among other things.

Can't rule out a set of cams if they weren't put in the right setup. Plus, Import Tuner is the only place I've seen that actually has a damn dyno chart on any Kelford cams, so I say eff all this hearsay.
 
#23 ·
^ Truth.

I'm surprised Kelford hasn't been offering their stuff to more community members to try. Prior to their cams release, I expressed interest in testing their stage 1 cams as a shop here in SD was offered to give a couple sets to their customers to demonstrate them. The shop however was an Evo only shop so they had no use for them and I was informed about this after Kelford's trial period. They said they felt confident enough that people will buy them but they've been out for a while and there seems to be few users out there.

Honestly, I've done so much research on cams and talked a bunch of shops and manufactures and I feel like these are probably one of the top 3 for the price and even though I'm done modding my car, I just might switch to these despite having some already.
 
#29 ·
Please note I'm doing my best to go off memory, the results were from April.
1) Baseline was IHE, with Hondata Flash Pro... 210hp
2) Installing RRC then baseline... 185hp
3) Erick had to tune for the lost HP and easily found it, a 40hp turn around, so you cannot just simply bolt on the manifold and expect any type of gains... 225hp
4) Last step was to tune the cams. What we found was the cams like to be revved. For every 100 RPM increments the engine and cams were liking it.
8500 RPM 239
8600 RPM 242
8700 RPM 243.7
Unfortunately we were limited to rev due to the motor pretty much being stock.

Like mentioned in my previous post it made more sense to do the tuning with the manifold first. It would have been an unfair advantage to test the cams first and then the manifold. The manifold may have yielded more than average gains to a motor that has stock cams.

I will keep everyone posted when I do go back for more tuning with a few new simple bolt-ons including a slightly larger exhaust. Hopefully we can find some more torque some where in the motor.

Hugh
 
#30 ·
Originally there was a hot air intake on there, which may have yielded a little more torque and maybe a little more hp, but of course that is with the hood open with the intake receiving both a mixture of hot and fresh air. But it was hot as hell that week and we wanted to simulate the tuning closer to actually driving conditions. Although it maybe have been less volume in air, it wasn't hot air and would have more consistency in the test besides your avg heat soak from dynoing. I'm trying to max out the stock intake system to see what it can do first and later if I'm bored I will test it my set up with a CAI.
I have yet to see a ported RBC manifold make more power than an RRC. But that is just from what I have seen in my experience.

Hugh
 
#35 ·
i agree. i was the first one to go out on a whim and get TSX cams with very little information about them. getting a cam swap dyno tuned is beneficial not only for yourself, but it can provide useful info to others here on the forum.

someone should go for it and post results. i always like the feeling of having something unique that produces great results.
 
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