o.t. saving gas

[Groomlakearea51]

I remember the one back in the 70's where you replaced your cam with a special one that only ran 4 out of the 8 cylinders. More involved, but by the time it was over you had basically rebuilt the engine and it was worse than just keeping your foot light on the pedal with the 8 cylinders. Also Olds and cadillac experimented in the late 70's with an "on demand" 8 cylinders", but otherwise the engine ran on 4 cylinders. All of them were pretty much disasters..... Them were the days, what with gas at $1.75 a gallon and we were panicking!!!

[Jay481985]

mercedes benz used it and it worked well on the v12 just that people buying v12s did not care for the better gas mileage.....

They did use it on the chrysler 300c V8 version and it works.

[Islander]

Also Olds and cadillac experimented in the late 70's with an "on demand" 8 cylinders", but otherwise the engine ran on 4 cylinders. All of them were pretty much disasters..... Them were the days, what with gas at $1.75 a gallon and we were panicking!!!

The problem with the Cadillac "4-6-8" engine was that it didn't have intake valve actuators on enough cylinders, so when it was running in the 4 or 6 cylinder modes, it had an unbalanced firing order, resulting in vibration and other problems.

All reports indicate that the new Chrysler take on the concept has addressed those problems, resulting in a smooth-running economical engine.

[CECAA850]

The Chrysler engine is light years ahead of the Cadillac's. The advances in computer controls have made that possible. Back in the 4-6-8's day everything was run off vacuum and vacuum accuators. Engine management controls were in their infancy. Now everything is electronic. The Chryslers computer will turn off 4 cylinders by stopping oil pressure to 4 sets of lifters and "killing" those 4 holes. You can't feel it when it happens. The only way you can tell if something is happening is if you put a loud exhaust on a truck (with a Hemi) and it kicks in. It sounds like crap. With a stock muffler, it's undetectable.

[Guest srobak]

GM is using a variable cylinder engine again in their trucks to knock the 5.3L down to 4 cyls when cruising. They claim up to 20mpg, but a friend who bought one a few months ago is claiming 24. Pretty impressive for a full size Xcab Sierra.

[CECAA850]

IMO GM has always done better than Dodge or Ford in the fuel economy arena.

[greg928gts]

For Greg.

Thanks! But I was thinking of the one on the front page of the product website. I can't figure out how to copy the photo.

Greg

[iwillwalk]

Consumer Reports does evaluations on these products from time to time and so far none of them do what they claim. Low pressure fuel injection computer controlled was the last major breakthrough. And 5 weight oil. Also going to a dry sump will give you more horsepower by keeping oil off the crank. Vehicle weight is another biggy. Eliminating one of the piston rings also helped. Turbo's help if you reduce the size of the engine. I sent a letter to Chrysler a long time ago suggesting they go to a 500-750cc V8 for the puddle jumper cars but they did not listen to me. This would have given them a ball-busting really kool I love my vehicle that gets 50 mpg. (with dual mufflers) They did listen to me about the Viper however, except no hemi in it. I was always tempted to try gas in a diesel.

JJK

I was always tempted to try gas in a diesel.

are you serious?

i've seen people do it in france all the time after a while i just had to laugh

[bodcaw boy]

what do you guys think of these?

http://hydrogenkitscam.topconsumerproductreviews.com/

anybody ever tried one of these?

take care,

roy

[Jay481985]

what do you guys think of these?

http://hydrogenkitscam.topconsumerproductreviews.com/

anybody ever tried one of these?

take care,

roy

oh roy you of all people should know how much energy it takes to break the bond of water

[Guest " "]

What was that spinning propellor thing on tv a couple years ago you were supposed to put in your airbox or throttle body or somesuch to increase mileage...

http://www.turbonator.com/

[Guest " "]

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/FEG/drive.shtml

also, I would add, always plan your routes so you only drive down hill. going down hill uses less fuel than going up hill. no chage for that fuel savings tip.

[BEC]

Here is another free tip. Never drive into a headwind. We had to
drive our 1-ton Diesel truck to Oklahoma city yesterday right after the
storm came through here. That is almost due west for about 300 miles.
The trip was into the 20 to 30 MPH wind that was behind the storm. We
make that trip often and usually get 17 to 18 MPG. Yesterday got 15.7
because of the wind.

Bob

[JJkizak]

BEC:

You should have drafted one of those big *** trucks.

JJK