Why would this be a bad idea???
Discussion
A few days ago, my car managed to blow a plug out of the head, taking the coil pack with it. I therefore spent a couple of days pootling around with just 7 cylinders firing whilst waiting for the replacement coil pack to arrive.
Other than an unusual but not unpleasant exhaust note (think b
d offspring of a V8 and a Scooby) and a bit of vibration from having an odd number of cylinders firing. This got me thinking....
If I'm going on a long, dull motorway journey where I don't need all the power, what would stop me from unplugging the coils and injectors on one or even two cylinders per bank? I'd still have no problem cruising at motorway speed, and would hopefully save a lot of fuel. Take it a step further, and why not wire it up to be able to switch the cylinders on and off from inside the car whilst driving?
Now obviously there has to be something daft about this, or presumably all manufacturers of large capacity engines would fit such a system as standard, but what exactly is the catch???
Other than an unusual but not unpleasant exhaust note (think b
d offspring of a V8 and a Scooby) and a bit of vibration from having an odd number of cylinders firing. This got me thinking....If I'm going on a long, dull motorway journey where I don't need all the power, what would stop me from unplugging the coils and injectors on one or even two cylinders per bank? I'd still have no problem cruising at motorway speed, and would hopefully save a lot of fuel. Take it a step further, and why not wire it up to be able to switch the cylinders on and off from inside the car whilst driving?
Now obviously there has to be something daft about this, or presumably all manufacturers of large capacity engines would fit such a system as standard, but what exactly is the catch???
Defcon5 said:
It would still inject the fuel, but it would just be wasted.
Some modern engines now have this technology.
That was my original thought, but there are two connections on each cylinder. According to my mechanic, one is for the coil pack, and the other is for the injector. He specifically unplugged this to make sure it wouldn't be injecting fuel in and causing bore wash, whatever that is!Some modern engines now have this technology.
m44kts said:
There was a kid who used to drive round and round Newcastle city centre in a mk4 Golf 1.4 with a coil pack unplugged, apprently, he thought it sounded like a 'scooby'
Don't Chrysler's Hemi engines drop to 4 cyl when pootling about?
I have to be honest and say I know exactly what he means! Don't Chrysler's Hemi engines drop to 4 cyl when pootling about?
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Seriously??? U Sure?
Not saying 'lier' just hadn't heard that one...
Don't quote me on it....Oh, you just did Not saying 'lier' just hadn't heard that one...
It might be my mind playing tricks on me, (new baby related sleep deprivation is probably to blame) I thought I heard Brundle mention it last weekend at some point in the commentary, but google fails to back me up!
Prepares to 
littleandy0410 said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Seriously??? U Sure?
Not saying 'lier' just hadn't heard that one...
Don't quote me on it....Oh, you just did Not saying 'lier' just hadn't heard that one...
It might be my mind playing tricks on me, (new baby related sleep deprivation is probably to blame) I thought I heard Brundle mention it last weekend at some point in the commentary, but google fails to back me up!
Prepares to There's actually some controversy around the subject as it forms the basis of the blown diffuser concept from last year. This year, some teams have complained that cutting to as few as 3 cylinders in the corners allows the driver better control under traction, before the power kicks in.
Seems like a decent idea, but I wouldn't make my engine run on less cylinders than it had on purpose unless it was designed to do so.
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