[Will]

If someone says "I ran 'X' cam and it ran fine" you have to realize that this is only one single data point. What does that person consider "running fine?" Did they try any other cams? Did they do any dyno or track testing?

Most guys build an engine, decide on a cam and as long as it makes the rear tires smoke and sounds good at idle, they're happy. they'll tell you the cam in their engine is great, even if the engine would make 50 more HP with a different cam. How would they know?

I ran an XE274 in a 9.2:1 400 with stock ports (just matched to the gasket, nothing more), headers, 2.5" exhaust, 3000 stall "tight" converter, 3.23 gears, 27" tires, and it ran mid 13s @ 101-102. I got best times shifting around 5000-5200 RPM. No idea if the carb was tuned optimally. Probably a lot of tuning I could've done to get a little better times out of it.

Would it have run better/faster with another cam? Maybe. If all I wanted was a decent running street engine with some attitude, it fit the bill just fine.

I wish I could've tried a few different cams in that combo. Also wish I could've put a wideband on it to see what the carb was doing.