Seems that you hear a lot of buzz in the auto world about how many overhead cams something has. I hear a *LOT* of the buying public, the ones that I would essentially label as 'sheep' (no offense to them, though), talking about overhead camshafts as a 'performance' feature. These would be the same that think you can simply dump 92 octane-rated fuel into a factory-tuned passenger car and increase its horsepower. Folks that buy Slick 50 or K&N filters, or "tornado" themed air intakes.... They're good people, Stuart, but they just don't know....
Since every rumor or pile of bullshit usually has a shred of truth to it, I've often contemplated this, but I cannot see any *real* benefit of putting the cam on top of the engine vs putting it in the valley or near the crankshaft, other than you might be able to eliminate some parts and simplify the valvetrain a bit (Once again, 'simpler' can sometimes mean 'more reliable'). Perhaps there's something I'm overlooking (like my disc vs. drum brake question).
Or is it that overhead cams are more or less an 'enabling' technology, but people who are ignorant misinterpret their role? Instead of one cam down low to run the whole valvetrain, you can put two on each head to split up the load of compressing springs. This is a stronger arrangement, and thus facilitates things like 4-valves per cylinder (which *does* have a performance benefit).
Or is it all just hype?
Discuss!
-phaeton