A wider LSA (like the 115 in the 2nd cam you show) can tame duration quite a bit and smooth out lumpier cam, the KB C-118 is like that.
I dont know much about Carmen's cams, or the variation available although I cant imagine both those cams were marketed under the same part number. However, I have seen wild variance from spec to real life, I had a TA 25 cam that had a lot of differences. I see both cams seem to be single pattern, and I personally believe a dual pattern cam for anything driven on the street (especially through manifolds) is the way to go.
I like Walt's suggestions from Comp, Joe and Bob had a particularly sweet 218/230 cam they spec'd from therm.. I had great success with Camcraft too - they have a lobe series with great hydraulic intensity, the grinds were always right on or even a little generous and I liked their overall operation. I did have to fight with them a little and specify what I wanted ground, they come from a circle track mentality and fall back on what works there as a default.
Short version:
- dont be afraid to keep intake duration short, it builds dynamic compression. For a street car at 10:1, 218/222 seems to be the sweet spot as verified by the Desktop dyno, which Walt is pretty well versed in if you want to model different cams against each other.
- Dont be afraid to go long on exhaust duration. Camcraft felt anything over 230 was overloading the port, but even with manifolds and a good exhaust I havent seen it (yet)
-Split patterns work - I've seen a marked difference in my 455, going from 235/235 to a 233/246 cam made a full second difference in the Quarter.
- Use the desktop dyno to understand how changes in LSA and intake centerline affect HP and TQ. the numbers you come up with wont be real world, but are a great indicator of are you helping or hurting, and how one cam stacks up against another in your current combo.
- Buicks are easy to overcam. If your looking for a Cruise night sound, OK. If your looking for actual performance, dont be afraid to go conservative... going from that 233/246 to a 218/230 cam actually bought me a theoretical 10 HP in a 455 (I'll verify soon!)
- Be mindful of Dynamic Compression, and the effects of your cam choices on it. Small spec changes have big impacts on what type of gas you can use, and what your low RPM performance looks like.,
Everybody has opinions, and these are mine coming from the perspective of a street strip stocker kind of guy...Good luck!