Know that the lift numbers are not the only difference between the two cams. The valve events are radically different between the "low-lift" and "high-lift" versions.

Personally, after reading quite a few threads on here between the two and seeing some dyno graphs, I'm convinced the low-lift version is still the better performer.

 

so I've been doing a lot of reading getting prepped for the swap and one of my main questions is if i have to remove the ac condenser or if i can just move it out of the way enough. i have a 3'' body lift if that makes any difference

 

No, don't even have to move it.

 

well i thought i had made my mind up and i kept going back and forth trying to make my choice. Today i ordered the xr259hr, rods and springs. I know almost everyone was pushing for the xr265hr but in the end i thought that for me since i spend most of my time in the lower rpms, that i would be more satisfied with a cam that provided more torque in my regular driving range.

i have a servo in my trans right now and an external cooler, should i do the transgo stage 2 shift kit right away or do you think i can wait a while before getting it?

 

let us know how you like it.

 

Honestly, I feel you would be happy with either of them. Let us know how it performs!

 

You're going to like that cam, as I mentioned, it's a definite improvement over stock, and is totally stealthy. I drove mine for about 5 years on the stock torque converter too. You can hold off on the shift kit for a while, I never had one with mine, until my trans blew lol, but I ran the stock trans with 0 torque management for about 23k before it chucked.

Curious what springs you went with? Back when I got my cam, I was originally running Comp 915's (as per my pop's Comp rep's recommendation). I later swapped them out for the yellow LS6 springs that I'm currently running. If you went with Comp 918's, you may want to do some searching around here and on LS1Tech and see how many pics of broken 918's that you come up with...personally I'd never mess with them. LS6 springs are more than adequate for that cam, or if you want something that will allow for room to grow, I'd go with the PAC 1218's which have an excellent track record

 

There was a magazine article a couple years ago comparing 6.0L cams - varying from very smallish ones all the way up to a 224/230 cam. The 210/218 Vinci cam outdid all the other cams in HP and TQ up to 4800 rpms.

I have a 222/226 600 in my LQ9, and it's noticeably soggier cruising on the highway than the stock cam. Part of that may be my tuning, I don't know, although I've spent literally hours fine tuning it with a wideband. That being said, it still pulls hills fine. I did get a chance to drive a stock 4WD ecsb 5.3 3.73s, and it definitely feels peppier off 0-1500 rpms than my truck does with the 4l80e.

 

I remember that article...I think that it may have been Car Craft...

 

that's the cam i have in my LQ4. the engine and cam have only been in a few days and still running on the old 5.3's 89 octane tune. seems nice, good pull up top with no fall-off after 5k rpm like the stock cam, kind of a soft spot at lower rpms even with the 3.2k stall but hopefully that will be fixed with the new tune.