Displacement on demand
Let me say something about the "displacement on demand" engine.
I bought the 1981 Fleetwood BECAUSE of this feature. Back in the day it was called the V-864 and it was a technological marvel for its day. The engine would operate as a V8 at all times until cruising speeds were attained. As proper torques allowed, the valvetrain would shut the valves to 2 or 4 cylinders to save fuel.
I drove this car 330,000 miles without incident!!! Throughout this time I heard all sorts of bad press about this engine. The truth is that most people can not think for themselves... they will repeat any little thing they hear as fact. Somebody talked up Hondas and now there are millions of broken down Hondas on the road. The same people that bought those for the "great mileage" are now driving 12mpg SUV's... go figure... and don't even get me started about the minivans with the luggage on the roof
Anyway, even though the V864 was scrapped in favor of the HT4100 in 1982 (except in limos) the concept has been used in the Northstar engine for years now. This same technology is used to force open valves for air cooling of cylinders in the event of coolant loss.
The way that I am reading the current press is that the new V12 and V16 engine will run continuously on half of the cylinders and then activate the extra ones when called for.
Comments?