Cam For NA 945 - A or B?

A is a better driver, but B is better than nothing. B has more overlap, so you'll need to get the revs up before you get "on the cam". T is a utter waste with an automatic.

With an A or B, get an adjustable timing gear and advance 4 degrees at the crank. All the bottom end torque you'd get from an M or T, but the engine will breathe until redline.

In my '91 745, I've run M, T, A, B and finally a B234.

-Ryan

I have tryed a lot of Volvo stock cam. With a manual trans i rekommend a VX, and with a auto the T cam.

GeneralBurrito said:

The B cam is just a bit better than the A cam on almost every area. I'd just go with the B cam if you can get one for a good price, and if your engine accepts it.

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Clarification: The B is just a bit better than the A cam at high rpm. B has more duration so a weaker bottom end and worse emissions. Considering they?re both factory camshafts, they are both fine and the differences are small. In an automatic car I would absolutely pick an A cam if I had a choice between the two. If it was B vs M cam, it would be the B cam for sure!

mrnabisco said:

Interesting about a "T" cam in an auto NA... I was mainly wondering about cam choice with the auto tranny, and trying to get good power/torque inside the auto RPM range.

Reed, how is climbing hills with the "A" cam?

I have come to like the auto tranny in ways, but what I find frustrating is going up hills and not really being able to match rpms and gear to get a good "pull". Uphill the auto tranny always seems to be in either too low or too high a gear. ??? With a strong motor (V15 or VX cam) and 5-speed I could climb hills much better.

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T cam is a great budget choice for any stock, automatic equipped car. It has lower duration than the M so it increases your dynamic compression ratio and gives the engine more torque. It ALSO has more intake lift than the M cam!

Climbing hills with the A cam is better that the M cam. The A has basically no downside what so ever, when advanced a couple degrees and only gives up a tiny bit off idle otherwise.

The V15 NA cam was good in my stock auto 244 as well, but did give up some low end. I would have loved it advanced 2-4 degrees though, even with the auto!

oldschoolvolvo said:

I don't have any personal experience w/ T cam + n/a, but here is some reading:
https://forums.tbforums.com/showthread.php?t=305342
https://forums.tbforums.com/showthread.php?t=198184

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The Info saying the T is worse than the M is wrong... T is a faster cam than the M, for sure. It just feels boring because the power and is soooooopo flat. I dropped .3s in the 1/4 mile in a ?stock? 87, auto 244. Only ?mods? were the hot air intake was open to the front of the car, the ignition timing was advanced(16-18? Can?t remember) and i played with camshaft timing(RETARDED 4 degrees). Oh, tighter valve clearances too(.013??), in order to maximize the minimal duration and lift. 17.3 to a 17.6 with similar mods and the M cam. In this setup, the T cam pulled ok to 5000rpm and my fastest time was set holding it in 1st gear to at least 5500 rpm.

The T IS worth running in any car that is stock, automatic and used under 3000rpm most of the time. In my situation, the car would launch from a stop faster than most of traffic and get up to speed surprisingly quick without ever going over 3000rpm. Guess what, higher dynamic compression and more ignition advance also help gas mileage...

mrnabisco said:

Wanting to swap a cam into my NA 94 945 auto.

I put an IPD VX in another automatic 945 I have and it seems OK. Can feel a difference, but not the same as running a manual tranny (where you can control the rpm more).

Thinking of an "A" cam or "B" cam for the other 945.

Anybody run either the "A" or "B" in a 940 automatic? Impressions?

Thanks for any input.

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Cams don't "make moare torque", Engine volume x compression--dynamic compression---= torque>

I've been avoiding this place because of administrative misbehavior going unpunished for years but this 'what cam" thing drives me nucking futs..
Dreaming one limp-dick OEM emissions cam is going to do anything worth a damn and having those dreams reinforced by well meaning members.....fu fu fu fawk.

You want to do something that when you're done you're going to really smile and smile every time you drive your car?

Then pull the head--so simple it is not even funny---and mill the head 1mm/ .040" to 1.4mm or .056-060"

Then get a cam INTENDED to be a fun cam.

Then you'll feel you've done something worthwhile.

klr142 said:

Clarification: The B is just a bit better than the A cam at high rpm. B has more duration so a weaker bottom end and worse emissions. Considering they?re both factory camshafts, they are both fine and the differences are small. In an automatic car I would absolutely pick an A cam if I had a choice between the two. If it was B vs M cam, it would be the B cam for sure!

T cam is a great budget choice for any stock, automatic equipped car. It has lower duration than the M so it increases your dynamic compression ratio and gives the engine more torque. It ALSO has more intake lift than the M cam!

Climbing hills with the A cam is better that the M cam. The A has basically no downside what so ever, when advanced a couple degrees and only gives up a tiny bit off idle otherwise.

The V15 NA cam was good in my stock auto 244 as well, but did give up some low end. I would have loved it advanced 2-4 degrees though, even with the auto!

The Info saying the T is worse than the M is wrong... T is a faster cam than the M, for sure. It just feels boring because the power and is soooooopo flat. I dropped .3s in the 1/4 mile in a ?stock? 87, auto 244. Only ?mods? were the hot air intake was open to the front of the car, the ignition timing was advanced(16-18? Can?t remember) and i played with camshaft timing(RETARDED 4 degrees). Oh, tighter valve clearances too(.013??), in order to maximize the minimal duration and lift. 17.3 to a 17.6 with similar mods and the M cam. In this setup, the T cam pulled ok to 5000rpm and my fastest time was set holding it in 1st gear to at least 5500 rpm.

The T IS worth running in any car that is stock, automatic and used under 3000rpm most of the time. In my situation, the car would launch from a stop faster than most of traffic and get up to speed surprisingly quick without ever going over 3000rpm. Guess what, higher dynamic compression and more ignition advance also help gas mileage...

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, forgot it was for an auto. Does an A make a difference over a B in an auto? I was thinking about in manuals.

John V said:

Cams don't "make moare torque", Engine volume x compression--dynamic compression---= torque>

I've been avoiding this place because of administrative misbehavior going unpunished for years but this 'what cam" thing drives me nucking futs..
Dreaming one limp-dick OEM emissions cam is going to do anything worth a damn and having those dreams reinforced by well meaning members.....fu fu fu fawk.

You want to do something that when you're done you're going to really smile and smile every time you drive your car?

Then pull the head--so simple it is not even funny---and mill the head 1mm/ .040" to 1.4mm or .056-060"

Then get a cam INTENDED to be a fun cam.

Then you'll feel you've done something worthwhile.

Click to expand...

Hi John!

Yes, everyone should know you need more compression to make more torque. In the T cam’s situation, IT DOES make more dynamic compression. That means it’ll make more torque in a stock engine where no one has the skills, tools, time or money to pull the head off.

Not everyone is willing to pull the head. Why fight that?

Yes, that is the best way to get more torque(and power if accompanied by a larger camshaft). However, I t’s not the ONLY way and is NOT EVEN AN OPTION for some people.

Some people DO have to pass emissions testing... Not everyone is building a race motor(not that shaving .040-.060” off the head makes anything a race motor!).

If you’re stuck with not pulling the head for ANY reason, putting a less crap camshaft than an M in your engine WILL produce more HP and make it more fun to drive. Will it be as fun as shaving the head and putting in a larger aftermarket camshaft? NO! But will it be an improvement over stock that is much easier attained? YES!

I don’t get why KGTrimning (SWEDISH Volvo aftermarket company) sells COPIES of the factory K cam as a PERFORMANCE/FUN upgrade that is even hotter than some of their other PERFORMANCE/FUN camshafts. “KG004” has more aggressive specs than the KG001, for example.

You can have over 160hp relatively easily with a K camshaft, and that makes for a broad, torquey, fun powerband. Yes, that is with the head shaved, but still, you don’t NEED an aftermarket camshaft that may give up more performance at low rpm.

Everyone should be matching what they’re doing with their head, valves, compression ratio, intake and exhaust for optimal results at all rpm, but for a cheap, easy upgrade, slap a better factory camshaft in your M cam equipped car and have more fun.