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A/B cam HP increase - bone stone B230F ?

DET17

Reformed SAABaholic
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Location
NW Georgia
A/B cam HP increase - bone stocker B230F ?

I've been drilling the many, many cam threads here, but none seem to answer this Q.

My 89 245, is a bone stocker with AW70 autobox (shifting well, however with recent IPD flush and new filter)....guessing right around 200K miles, since just restored my odometer with the IPD gear kit.

So how many ponies is this cheapo cam swap really worth? I've found the cam specs link here, and I gather my stocker has the M cam (9.5 I lift, 242* duration). The A/B specs are damn near same, with 10.5 I lift, 254* duration). BTW, are these duration specs absolute, or measured at 0.050" lift like USA cam specs (or some mm lift) where "real flow" begins ???

Got to change my timing belt/tensioner soon, so I'm gonna be half way or better to a cam swap anyway. These A/B cams seem to be for sale almost weekly for $50.....so If I'm going to gain some seat of the pants improvement, I will probably go for it. If the AW70 will nullify any gains and/or kill my mileage, then I might leave the snail cam in place.

Thanks in advance, cam wizards.
 
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It's more that the cam different than the M will shift the power band and make the the car a lot more fun to drive. The engine will actually rev over 3000 rpm. It makes the car faster since it makes more power at the end of the gear. I do not think they will significantly change the peak power numbers.

So yes, swap out the M cam.
 
I swapped M cam to A cam a month ago and man!!! It`s a change, when M cam hit 3000rpm the engine started to die, now with A cam is`t a whole different story revs to 4500 easy and more...just keeps going...so you won`t miss the M cam...about 10hp increase is possible.
 
I change few weeks ago the "M" cam to a "A" cam + a Dale's gear. I try it straight up and +2 deg. Results are:the powerband is from 2500 to 6000 rpm @ 0 and from 2300 to 5800/6000 rpm @ +2. The powergain is aproximatly 10/15 hp. With my setup, it's a good improvment. :)
 
I change few weeks ago the "M" cam to a "A" cam + a Dale's gear. I try it straight up and +2 deg. Results are:the powerband is from 2500 to 6000 rpm @ 0 and from 2300 to 5800/6000 rpm @ +2. The powergain is aproximatly 10/15 hp. With my setup, it's a good improvment. :)

I would need Dale`s gear to advance my cam...soon...
 
yeah i really liked the A cam in my B230F. Revs past 3500 rpm (up to 5000 rpm roughly on my setup). Can touch rev limiter but that is of no use though.
Torque with the A cam is very good. Maybe from 800-1200-1500 rpm a bit less but after that it is much better. With a bit more ignition advance you will gain more torque than you lost.
 
Not to hijack the thread but I was considering to buy a B cam for my stock b230f, But it is likely that I'm going to +t it in the near future. Would I still want to buy a B cam or wait and buy a T cam when I do the +t?
 
A or B will work with a +T. The T cam is not a performance cam, so I would advise against the T cam.
 
Both the A and B cam have been used in turbo engines by Volvo as well as the n/a engines. With the n/a engines you will get about a 10hp increase but the main difference is that you get an engine that revs more freely. Has a wide powerband while still easily passing emissions.

My suggestion would be to pay the extra money for a street performance cam like the enem V15 or one of the other available cams from RSI, Knox Motorsports, and IPD.
 
Both the A and B cam have been used in turbo engines by Volvo as well as the n/a engines. With the n/a engines you will get about a 10hp increase but the main difference is that you get an engine that revs more freely. Has a wide powerband while still easily passing emissions.

My suggestion would be to pay the extra money for a street performance cam like the enem V15 or one of the other available cams from RSI, Knox Motorsports, and IPD.

You're right, but for 50$... "A" cam is a good choice...!;-)
 
While nearly all of the available factory cams will offer a noticable performance gain over the M cam, they're still factory cams and therefore arent really a 'peformance' cam - this includes the VX and VX3 camshafts.

If you want something inexpensive and dont really plan on doing too much more to the car, the A or B cams are a great alternative to the M cam that came in your B230F and I'd guess that it'd be worth perhaps 5hp but the gains would be in moving the area where in makes power into a more sensible range.

As the others have said, there are aftermarket options out there if you want a performance focused camshaft.

I have an article with specs of all the factory cams that I can email across if you'd like. Just drop me a PM.
 
Thanks Ash for the article and factory cam details.

I just purchased a B cam from a fellow TB'er, so once she is received I'll give you the stamped part# for your article, and recorded here for posterity. Also planning to ship my pulley to Avalanche to get it drilled for degreeing options. I'm reading that these A/B cams would probably run best in the NA configuration with some slight advance, maybe 2* or 4*....

BTW, no one has answered my early Q about the duration of factory cams. Are these duration angles quoted as absolute, or some baseline lift where "real flow" begins? The good old boys building US cams have used th 0.050 INCH standard forever, to nullify the various ramps used by the plethora of cam makers.

Please advise, thanks!


While nearly all of the available factory cams will offer a noticable performance gain over the M cam, they're still factory cams and therefore arent really a 'peformance' cam - this includes the VX and VX3 camshafts.

If you want something inexpensive and dont really plan on doing too much more to the car, the A or B cams are a great alternative to the M cam that came in your B230F and I'd guess that it'd be worth perhaps 5hp but the gains would be in moving the area where in makes power into a more sensible range.

As the others have said, there are aftermarket options out there if you want a performance focused camshaft.

I have an article with specs of all the factory cams that I can email across if you'd like. Just drop me a PM.
 
BTW, no one has answered my early Q about the duration of factory cams. Are these duration angles quoted as absolute, or some baseline lift where "real flow" begins? The good old boys building US cams have used th 0.050 INCH standard forever, to nullify the various ramps used by the plethora of cam makers.
If only every swedish cam maker did the same... :-( Almost each of the aftermarket camshaft producers for Volvos measure in different ways, some at .000", .020", .022"? There was a camshaft page that some old timer had put together but it looks like the link is down now. It listed which ones were measured where.
 
hey all, new to this board (1st post) but I've been reading the threads like a muthaf-er lol. Anyway, I couldn't find where anyone had specifically addressed the positives/negatives of using the T cam in a N/A B230F.. I just acquired a rustfree EuroDelivery 1990 245 that has the M cam. I'm interested in increasing lowend and midrange power specifically..(say 2000 to about 5000 tops)..has anyone done this? I hear/read that the T cam is also a "bottom feeder" like the M, but with more up top than the M..
 
hey all, new to this board (1st post) but I've been reading the threads like a muthaf-er lol. Anyway, I couldn't find where anyone had specifically addressed the positives/negatives of using the T cam in a N/A B230F.. I just acquired a rustfree EuroDelivery 1990 245 that has the M cam. I'm interested in increasing lowend and midrange power specifically..(say 2000 to about 5000 tops)..has anyone done this? I hear/read that the T cam is also a "bottom feeder" like the M, but with more up top than the M..

Just get a B or A. T and M suck.
 
I couldn't find where anyone had specifically addressed the positives/negatives of using the T cam in a N/A

Your question answered.

what about T cam in an n/a? would it cause an increase in torque at an expense of hp?

I've tried a T cam in a N/A B200E and it sucks! absolutely no power from 2500 rpm up.....it's just the lack of overlap that makes it a bad cam for a N/A car.

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showpost.php?p=1615714&postcount=13

Avoid the T cam unless you plan on pulling tree stumps.
 
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