afternoon guys.. wow !, this thread grew !!
ok, lets sorta sum up what we know of the 172 vvt and then look at cams in general.. ps Chavvy, I like yer thinking dood !!
Ok, the cam on the 172, as Ben rightly said, is already a fast road to Rally spec...
Put it in a normal non vvt head (Same volume and port size, shape, valve size etc) and it would either produce the same power exactly as the 172 but with a tractor idle .. or, you could alter the timing to obtain some compramise better idle but lose out on through the range power.
All the vvt does is, at idle, it retards the cam timing to obtain a good idle, as soon as you apply gas, it advances to its normal range - on or off.. no variation...
It also allows the cam to be retarded on overun to aid emissions..
Lift is constant, vvt does not, and cannot in this design, alter lift.
Mc, you are also correct in that it should effect power if not activated... it doesnt seem to.. although it needs to be tested on the rollers to see the actual results.
This is probably due to the little amount of advance that occurs, and the fact that, yes, it is probably shifting the power range but still remaining eminently drivable. more than likely screwing emissions though...
the 172 runs little overlap, as is common with many modern, emissions conscious engines, and the use of overlap is not a guranteed power trick, unless, you have suitable inlet and exhaust that can act as an extractor.. the gas velocity at high rpm will certainly do this to some extent. and, the 172 has a nicely designed induction and exhaust.
If your nova is 16v, then you can alter the amount of overlap by the cam phasing, not possible on a single cam without regrinding..
As for the use of vvt with longer duration / more overlap cams, yes, it would certainly be beneficial.
as for the setup of cams for, say, 1/4 miling, it is certainly possible in some applications to alter timing to move the power band, but you need a rolling road and time, and lotsa dosh to do it correctly.
Joe.