im still with mc these engine have plenty of smooth torque off idle even with the 220-224 dur cams, true the 112 lobe sep is a smoother curve the 114 is even smoother still. thats why i think the 480 lift 222dur @ .050 114 lobe sep cam works so well in 401s. but with an amc i hate when i run out of power at 4000 rpm. these motors do exceptionly well with a peak torque being produced at 3500-4000 rpm and a curve from 1500-5000 (5500) vs peak at 2000-2500 with a curve from idle to 4000 because the curve and power level you are more in the middle of the power than at the peak when driving.
IMHO i like having the extra umph when i want or need it just a few more rpms and a set of secondaries away vs cruising down the highway at 2800-3200 rpm and knowing that downshifting or kicking down a gear and knowing my motor wont peter out at 3500-4000 rpm like the smaller cams like to do. my 260 comp cam is too small in my 401 wshen passing someone the thing pulls hard to 3500 rpm about there though you can feel it flatten out and by 4k its still pulling but noticibly not as hard. then 4500-4800 when you wish it was still pulling well so you didnt have to drop into another gear to maintain speed the speed you are at. 82 wagg makes good points but all my amcs aside from this abortion have been geared with 3.73s-4.56s with 33's and 35's cruise down the highway between 2500-3000 rpm in direct and have cams that keep em open to 5500 rpm and the motors do just as well as what my buddies who run smaller cams do.
Funny they always wonder why on donner summit ect i pull away more so than they can when we are both running 401s in our waggys.
Gearing and cam selection are key.
82waggy had some great info in this thread as well there was some other debates about camshafts in 401's and intake carb combos that yeilded different results.
http://www.bulltear.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5924&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
