It might sound like the Camcon got its name from a futuristic sci-fi flick, but this product has nothing to do with hostile planets or epic battles. So what does it do, then? It's the first affordable non-standalone control unit for Toyota and Honda's variable valve timing systems. It works with both VVTi and VTEC systems by allowing users to easily adjust timing, air/fuel ratios and cam crossover points. And you thought the Toyota and Honda camps couldn't reconcile their differences.
Our test bed is a bone-stock (with the exception of a Power Enterprise Air Impulse II intake system) 2001 Toyota Celica GT-S running on 91-octane gas. Strapped down on XS Engineering's Dynojet dynamometer and fitted with a highly recommended wideband air/fuel ratio meter, such as the unit by NTK, the GT-S laid down a baseline run of 143.6 hp and 107.2 lb-ft of torque. Our tester ran surprisingly rich, with air/fuel ratios right around 10.8:1.
The compact Camcon unit has a simple three-button layout featuring a digital display. About as large as the average turbo timer, it can fit into any number of locations in the dash. The Camcon gives you the flexibility to adjust cam phasing by +/- 20 degrees in 500-rpm increments or VTEC crossover points in 100-rpm increments. Air flow can be leaned out by as much as 10 percent and richened by as much as 20 percent in 500-rpm increments.
It's important to understand how each valve timing system works. VTEC (variable valve timing and lift electronic control) uses camshafts with two sets of lobes. At the specified crossover point, the VTEC solenoid switches the cam from a primary low-lift (how far a valve opens) short-duration (how long a valve opens) lobe to a secondary high-lift long-duration lobe. While VTEC has two cam profiles, VVTi maintains the same cam profile and alters only when the valves open and close in relation to ignition timing. Also, instead of a mechanical system VVTi uses hydraulics.
Keep in mind Toyota's stock computer already has a cam phasing program, which isn't initially set to zero degrees; we're just making changes relative to the stock program. After the baseline run, we changed the cam timing to -15 degrees throughout the powerband, knowing we would lose horsepower but prove a point. From 3000 to 5200 rpm as much as 7 hp were lost; slight gains were seen in the 5300 to 6300 rpm range, but a monstrous 20 hp were lost toward red line. We progressively tested cam phasing at -10, -5, +5, +10 and +15 degrees, noting where power was gained and lost.