1.8 rockers work as good as stock, maybe. I put 1.8s on a NIC and saw no gains, and the customer wanted the 1.8's because he was planning on putting some custom heads with some crazy huge springs on eventually, and wanted to break the idea in. Bonus was we didnt see any major issues with float up to 6300, but we were only running ~9psi of boost.
A VS cam with 1.8s would for sure make no more, and possibly less power due to valvefloat issues over stock.
I would never see a reason not to run a xpz if you were putting a cam in. Cutting down valve guide seal seats costs ~$50 and thats all you need to put the best performing cam out there in a 3800.
