No, I totally understand. Just wasn't sure of the terminology. But now that I actually think about it, yea the lobes are part of the cam shaft.Originally posted by: cr4zymofo
No, he meant the shaft (the lobes are machined with the shaft, you can't really "swap" the lobes, but you can grind it), and people do swap out cams for higher performance cams. They do gain performance when doing so, but gives up fuel economy. VTEC would give you that performance at certain RPM range, and also give you better fuel economy when it's not utilized, so it's almost like swapping out cams on the fly, if you can imagine that.Originally posted by: SampSon
You mean cam lobes don't you, not the shaft?Originally posted by: Thegonagle Oh, so much mis-understanding about VTec. And I don't care any more. Suffice to say, because it's akin to having two camshafts to switch between on the fly, they can tune one for good low-end torque and/or efficiency, and one for maximum performance. That's why the V-Tec versions can have more high-end horsepower plus better low-end torque, yet give up nothing in the way of fuel efficiency as opposed to the standard versions. People who really understand engines and see in their heads how V-Tec works are able to appreciate what a fvcking ingenious system it really is, even compared to other VVT systems. (Ever heard of someone swapping the camshaft for one with different performance characteristics? That's what V-Tec does automatically as you drive.)
Big Duh on my part. Just woke up.