Creampuff?

[smashman]

I've seen the term "creampuff" used here on the baord a few times. What is a creampuff?

 

[Neil - UK]

2000 year onwards, different cams making the car easier to drive or something like that, I'm sure someone will pop up with the technical issues

 

[SoCal Rebell]

The 2000's and later had cast pistons and a milder cam to pass emissions, thus dubbed a "creampuff".

 

[LETHAL GTS]

The milder cam reduced the HP, but the cast pistons increased the HP.
Bottom line HP is the same.
That's my read on it!

 

[KenH]

The newer cars use a cam with the same lift and duration as the earlier years, but the valve overlap is reduced from 66 to 60 degrees. This took some of the lumpiness out of the idle to reduced NGR (Neutral gear rattle) and improved emissions. The greater overlap of the earlier cams probably explains part of why the earlier cars respond better to exhaust mods (plus they also had poorer flowing exhaust manifolds to begin with, so there was more to gain). This change cam change made the newer cars 'creamy smooth' compared to the earlier ones.

Coincidentally, the pistons went from forged to cast as well. The cast ones are lighter and actually free up a little HP in theory, but don't have the toughness to take more than about 5-6PSI in boosted applications since the ring lands are much closer to the top of the piston. Generally not an issue unless you are considering a high boost application.

--- Ken