Running on 3 cylinders is something honda offers in their honda odyssey to help with highway mpg.

The basics were explained to me and it seems it's all computer controlled without a modification to the motor.

I'm wondering if I can program my 2000 TL to do the same?

 

I'm going to lean toward......

 

why?? TL gets get milleage

 

Say I could go from 30mpg highway to 35mpg. It would be worth a little bit of money to improve my highway.

 

get a different car.

 

Why do you bother posting this?

 

Yea but for 5mpg more is it worth it? Currently if Iam crusing at 75 to 80mph I get about 32 to 35mpg. Thats with intake and headers. I also use Royal Purple motor oil. I know before any of this I was getting about 28 on the hwy.

I was never a fan of the VCM will it cause more engine wear on one side than other?

 

I don't think it's possible with a simple ECU mod.
The only thing you can do with an ECU mod is turning off 3 spark plugs, all the while the valves still operate and fuel still being dumped into the cylinders.

You would need a way to mechanically close up the 3 unused cylinders, which you can't without a new set of cam.

 

Its NOT just ecu controlled, there is more to it than that. Our motors weren't designed for it. The cost of trying to add it would be FAR more than you would ever save.

 

Hmmm, ok if it's not just ECU controled then I see.

However I wonder why more cars aren't using this technology?

 

Probably due to cost and complexity.

 

 

This will go mainstream when all cylinders are independently controlled, i.e., no cam shafts.

 

buy a new car with it- been in use on V8 motors for years now on GM cars
shuts off valves- fuel supply ignition- really trick
BUY the extended warranty on it~

 

Thought it might make a cool project. I really want to drive this TL until it dies.

 

let me get this straight, you want to do this so you can get 5mpg more?

go buy a honda fit, TL might be out of your league.

 

Out of my league... what a joke.

Just because I have an interest in burning less gas doesn't mean the car is out of my league.

You obviously have little knowledge of the value of money. A 10% gas savings over 200,000 miles is huge.

 

At what cost? When the cost outweighs the savings, or takes 7-10 years to recoup it usually inst worth it. All it takes is one accident 1 year in and Bam, loss of $$

 

Kris, congrats on becoming a MM, well deserved raise .

 

^ hey never noticed that...

I agree, it is very well deserved from what I have read.

 

Thanks!!

 

good job kris

 

I've looked into the cylinder management systems from Chrysler and GM and they use a mechanism similar to how vtec works to disable the cam lobes or valves on shut down cylinders so that you dont get the parasitic loses from compression. I dunno if this is how honda does, im sure its similar, but I may be way off.

And yeah, props to Kris for making it up ladder!

Ok I just checked wikipedia i was off by alot

 

the new accord v6 gots the vcm. which shuts off 3 cylinders while cruising.

 

A friend of mine has the new Accord with VCM and with mixed driving gets 22mpg. I get 25. I have changed my driving style dramatically. I havent done an all highway drive in a while, so I'm not sure what it would get.

Basically I accelerate slowly allowing the car to shift at or before 3k, and I never cruise over 2k which is 72mph in 5th gear.

Keeping your car and tires maintained with an adjusted driving style will save you more in gas than you think. You don't have to go spending money on miracle products or trying to integrate VCM on your TL.

 

why dont you use your cruise control over 2k?

 

GM experimented with variable cylinders back in the late 70's and early 80's on Cadillac, if I remember. It was an electrically done system that performed horribly. Reliability was terrible and the project was scrapped.

As Rob-2 indicated, he thought it was just ECM mods, which I think we can agree is just the start and much more is involved. Probably not easily implemented on a 2nd gen, but then again, neither is a 6 Sp MT.

My NSX gets better gas mileage than my TL, but for a variety of reasons, I drive the TL much more. If I could wrap the fuel rail with cow magnets and get 25% better fuel economy like in the old days, I'd buy a cow and disembowel her. :wink: But that is not practical.

Miner

 

^ Where can I get those cow magnets?

 

I ran simple numbers based on 200,000 highway
At 30mpg, 6667gal @ $3/gal =$20,000 in gas

At 35mpg, 5714 @$3/gal = $17,142 in gas

If you consider gas is already more then $3/gal and will likely rise the 5mpg increase works out to be alot of money.

However, it would appear it's not doable. Simply by the design of the motor.

 

JC Whitney, of course.

Miner

 

Well I dont think he should be put down for thinking about it . Costwise it may not be practical but Ive done man things to my car many said wasnt possible or practical but its my time and my money. Enough said.

 

Are you always on the highway? Will you always achieve 35mpg? Most likely no, so those numbers arent accurate. As stated above, and everywhere else on the net, there are other gas saving techniques that will yield you better mileage on AVERAGE.

-Well maintained motor/trans/fuel system
-Well maintained tires (balance, tread, pressure)
-Well maintained exterior (panel fit/finish, even a clean waxed car glides through the air better)

 

And by those calculations you would have to do ALL hwy. what is the likely hood of that? Also with your calculations that would be just under 3k in savings, it would take more that that to try to make the motor deactivate so the savings wouldnt be any.

 

Kris,

I think rob-2s example was just that, and as he pointed, the conversion does not appear to be economically feasible.
I have a buddy who want's to make a hybrid out of a C-5 Corvette, just becuase. Now that is crazy.
Miner

 

thats not crazy, its pathetic. who in their right mind would want to turn a corvette into a hybrid?

 

Yea considering they get 30 mpg on the hwy

 

hahaha corvette a hybrid, why have a corvete then, get a prius and be on your merry way lol

 

i personally think all hybrids are completely useless, i hate them with a passion.

 

and buy your gas guzzlers while you still can, all the companies are thinking about going with smaller engines in their cars in the future. i read somewhere that the vette by 2012 or someshit will have a 4.7L v8, TO SAVE GAS. :|

 

You need to keep reading.