Video Review & Installation

Hey, everybody. I'm Justin from americanmuscle.com, and this is going to be my detailed overview of the Comp CR Series camshafts available for your 2015 and newer five-liter powered Mustang GT. In this overview, I'm going to talk about some of the specs of the CR Series camshafts, who these might appeal to, and what kind of benefits you can expect when bolting them up. Now, I will also talk briefly about the installation. We're not going to do a step by step here, because it will be lengthy. But in a nutshell, this is not going to be for the faint of heart. So a solid three out of three wrenches on the difficulty scale, with more detail coming up later on. The CR Series camshafts from Comp should appeal to the supercharged S550 GT owners out there looking to increase their performance by going with an aftermarket camshaft from a trusted name like Comp. Now, by dropping these guys in, you're effectively going to be raising your power between 1,900 and 7,300 RPMs, thanks to the longer duration and increased cam load separation. These do not require the use of any aftermarket valve springs or cam phasers, essentially making them a drop-and-go option. Now, these cams take what Comp did with the very popular XFI Series cams for the '11 to '14 Coyote, and just made them better all around. You're talking fast to ramp, more lift, and more area under the curb, while still being very streetable. You're not going to be getting a crazy idle here with these camshafts. Sorry, guys. I know some of you are looking for that. But at the same time, again, they can be used with your factory springs and components. Now, Comp does offer five different variations of the CR Series camshafts. This is very important. I want you guys to buy the right camshaft for your application, so listen up. They do offer three NA or naturally aspirated versions of their CR Series cams, and two forced induction application camshafts. The cams that we have here in this video, these are essentially going to be a Stage 1 blower cam and, according to Comp, will be a massive upgrade over the factory camshafts, picking up both horsepower and torque for supercharged applications. Of course, the million-dollar question is, "Just how much power can I expect when installing these onto my GT?" Honestly, guys, I'm not going to give you an exact answer, because I can't. There are a ton of variables at play here. Blower setup, boost levels, existing modifications, tune, Dyno, all of these factors will ultimately change the final number you guys are putting down once these are installed. But here's some food for thought for you. The Comp CR Stage 3 cams for the naturally aspirated application picked up 50 horsepower, 10-foot pounds of torque at the crank. I have no reason to doubt these will pick up just as much, if not more power, with a forced induction application. But let's take a closer look at the specs here with these CR Series cams. Your first indication that these are in fact a blower cam are the specs, more specifically that duration. You're looking at 231/237 respectively at .050. Now, this is what you want. You want a lot of duration. You want that intake valve to stay open as long as possible, so you can cram a lot of fuel and a lot of air in there to make big power. Lift is .516/.514 respectively. All the CR Series camshafts will share the same amount of lift here, so just keep that in mind. With these particular cams here, you're looking at a lobe separation of 130 degrees. Now, that big lobe separation is also key for a blower application, because it's going to help maintain some of that low RPM power and torque. Sometimes what can happen when you're running a big cam with a lot of overlap is that you're going to bleed off some of the boost in the lower RPM range, hurting your power output. That's definitely not the case here with the CR Series camshafts. Your one drawback... Well, there might be a couple of drawbacks of not having a ton of overlap. But the one biggie that a lot of guys might not like is that you're not going to be really getting that huge, choppy idle, that old-school hot rod idle that a lot of us are after. That's just simply not going to happen with these cams. This kit obviously does include four camshafts, as you can see here on the table, and like all the rest of the Comp stuff, has been precision-machined right here in the good old USA. Now, I do also want to point out, guys, these are a drop in and go cam for everybody out there. However, it is my job to tell you that Comp does recommend upgraded valve springs for certain applications. Now, these include very high-RPM applications, or guys who might be running a ton of boost and are worried about floating a valve. I will say, though, this shouldn't be a concern for most of you owners out there. Now, even though you don't need to make any internal modifications to run the CR Series camshafts from Comp, may I strongly suggest just getting your car tuned to maximize performance of these camshafts when installed, just through cam timing and other small tweaks. Now, this probably comes as a "no, duh," moment here for a lot of guys out there, especially when you're considering buying an $1,800 set of camshafts for your blown application. But nevertheless, it is something to consider into the final cost. As for that installation, well, like I pointed out at the top of the video, this one will certainly not be for everyone. So I'm going a full three out of three wrenches on my difficulty scale. We call it four hours on the site, but I wouldn't be surprised if it took you a little bit longer, depending on your expertise and depending on if you're installing some other parts at the same time, which I will talk about in a second. I will say, this isn't the most difficult job in the world, but there is some small and tedious work that is involved here that will make things a little bit more difficult. I'm talking about removing the front engine cover, removing the timing chains, just making sure everything is at top dead-center first, of course, reinstalling everything, reinstalling those chains, the guides, and of course making sure your cam timing is 100% correct. Now, getting back to those other parts you might install at this time. This is a great time to check out or maybe install a set of aftermarket oil pump gears, maybe a set of aftermarket chain guides, or even an aftermarket chain sprocket, as these can sometimes be the weak link in the 2015 and newer Coyote GT. Now, you can find a number of different options in the aftermarket and even on the site here for your consideration. Wrapping things up here, guys. Obviously, the CR Series camshafts from Comp won't be for everyone based on the premium price tag and that tedious install. However, if you're looking to take your blown application to levels previously unseen before and unlocking some big power in between the 1,900 and 7,300 RPM range, these guys certainly won't hurt. So that is my review of the Comp CR Series cams, which you can grab right here at americanmuscle.com.