High lift and short duration makes low end torque and high vacuum. Don't believe all the mustang go fast crap. The higher vacuum produced by the high lift and short duration relative to a race cam draws far more air into the cylinder at low rpm that say a cam of equal lift but longer duration and overlap. A really high lift short duration camshaft will idle dead smooth at 400-500 RPM will have a very high vacuum signal and will make tons of torque right off idle. At the other end of the spectrum a long duration camshaft with a lot of overlap will idle rough at 2000 rpm be a dog right off idle but will make a ton of HP at high rpm where the short duration small overlap cam will be done. The trick is picking a cam in the middle of the two that will actually fit your driving needs.
I run this cam in my 393 - comp cams 35-324-8. There are some (including the mustang tuner that tuned my EFI) that will tell you that cam wont even run a 393. So I just didn't tell him. its .544/.544 lift with 216/224 duration at .05". It is all done at 5000 RPM, but after watching my tach for years with a worn 302 I new 5000 would be fine. I have set the governor in my auto to shift WOT at 4800. That 100 MPH in third gear before it shifts to OD. Don't know about you but 396 ft-lbs of torque is plenty to get an early bronco going don the road in a hurry and it is enough torque to pick the front end off the ground. It idles dead smooth at 500 rpm and makes torque as soon as you tip in the throttle.
The big change in modern engines is the roller cam that allows very high lift at the valves without the excessive duration and overlap that used to be required with a flat tappet. You could grind a cam like my comp cam but as a flat tappet cam it wouldn't last 50,000 miles. roller cams and pollution controls have made the old long duration cams with overlap completely unnecessary in a vehicle like an EB. Very little overlap results from short duration and little over lap results in fewer unburned hydrocarbons. Basically a very street able roller cam will make more torque and HP, run cleaner and get better gas (it will also produce a high vacuum signal) that the old flat tappet grinds could without going to a lot of overlap. You are heading in the right direction. A cam that has a good strong vacuum signal is generally a better street and off road cam.
DO you really want a cam that makes HP beyond 5000 RPM. If so why?
If your torque curve is such that loads of torque are made due to the high valve lift (causing a high vacuum signal which in turn draws in more air) that will be much more drive able. The big surprise for me was 14 MPG on 93 octane fuel at 70 MPH.
High vacuum signal that is caused by a restricted intake is to be avoided at all costs. A high vacuum signal that is caused by the camshafts design and the fact that the throttle has to be closed to control the engine is a good think for the street and off road, as long as the camshafts design (duration is long enough) to support your top end or WOT requirements.
