Want to upgrade the cams in my 96 vr6 gti. What's smog legal? What's the best product/price? Any suggestions? Want it to be mild so its still streetable (daily driver). Anyone have hook ups? Post links? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Anything that you do to your engine (expect carb parts) is illegal.

I passed smog with 268 witch is kinda big lift for street but not to bad, i would suggest autotech 262, they are cheap too

likely none are smog legal in the sense that they are CARB approved. However since you can't see them it still passes visual, so as long as it passes the sniffer you are fine. I haven't heard of any VR^'s not passing smog due to a cam.

I had DSR 256s in my old VR and liked them a lot. TQ and HP was improved throughout the range with an emphasis in mid range meaning great on the street. Some big/aggressive cams make more top end HP, but do so at the cost of mid range.

I thought there was a guy call like Cam Dr. in the area that was well known for making good cam knockoffs.

passed with flying colors with my Autotech 262's. could have definitely gone bigger if i wanted.

The Autotech 262 seems to be a good match. I would really love the extra mid range power. Also could I get away with these cams without having to do springs, etc?

yup. i have stock springs on mine and have accidentally over-revved it a couple of times with no problems.

So where is the cheapest place to get the 262?

Also what would the advantages be if i did springs?

i got mine from MJM at at the time they were the cheapest. not sure if they're cheaper anywhere else right now.

and heavy duty springs will just make sure your valves don't float if you were to rev the piss out of it. but a 262 is mild enough to where it would be pretty hard to do that. we're talking like 7500+rpm. you're likely to throw a rod at that speed.

The bolts for the engine cover are an sob. Where the hell do you find that tool at? Its a star pattern with like 13 to 14 grooves...