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Fuel economy is a major driver in the development of new passenger car engines. One requirement for a good fuel economy is to achieve a low level of mechanical friction. The valvetrain can contribute a substantial part to this mechanical friction, especially at low speeds where fuel economy is most important. As a result of this, friction optimized engines often have a roller follower type valvetrain design despite its disadvantages versus bucket tappet concepts in other aspects. This paper presents a study on modern amorphous carbon coatings at the cam / tappet interface aimed to investigate the potential for bucket tappet valvetrains to overcome the friction disadvantage. The work presented is divided into 1) a pin-on-disk pre-study to identify coatings with the most promising properties and 2) a cylinder head friction study to validate the findings in the realistic environment. The paper demonstrates that the coatings have a substantial potential for friction and wear reduction.