Skunk2 Drop-in-cams Review

So this is my first post on the site and figured I’d throw up a review for the Skunk2 DIC. Before I got my hands on them and installed them I spent HOURS trying to get information on them and found next to nothing.
2006 Civic Si
K&N Hot Air Intake
K-Tuned “Race” header
Full Race Catback
Skunk2 Drop In Cams
Flashpro tuned by Steve @ E-Tunez
Starting off on the install, i’m Pretty familiar with Honda’s K series engines at this point and found the install to be pretty easy when using the Honda camshaft alignment tool. Not necessary by any means but much easier. I decided to run a K-Tuned TCT just for peace of mind due to my engine having pretty high mileage (170,000) at the time. Idle quality does have a noticeable change, doesn’t make driving any more difficult.
Driving around normally the car seems to have some more grunt on the low end which has been noticed by other K20 drivers, still not a torquey motor by any means but a little easier to get up to speed like a normal human being. Intake noise at lower rpms has become much louder with a distinct growl to it. Compared to running stock cams with a vitviper tune the smooth vtec crossover is almost entirely gone, whether this is tune related or just how these cams like to operate is unknown to me. My vtec crossover is set at 5,000 rpms and is far from subtle, it now has a much louder crack sound to it and has more in common with the K20A2 rather than the Z3. It does seem to make more power on the low cams than stock from the butt dyno, but the power really starts to come on violently above 6,000. Also these cams seem to REALLY dislike operating below 2,000 rpms, although my Si never liked low rpm crawling anyway it’s something I feel should be noted. I’d say these cams are worth it from a fun point of view from how it changes the personality and sound of the engine rather than the hp/tq gains. Hopefully this helps someone on the fence about a camshaft upgrade. The ability to run the stock valvetrain is nice since the idea of going from just a camshaft change to taking the cylinder head off and doing springs and retainers is a pretty big difference in time and price.