Friday, November 28, 2008

How to Save Gas through Cylinder Deactivation

Cylinder deactivation puts off the unneeded cylinders while you drive the car and thus reduce the fuel consumed by the car. This technology is safely applied to the V6 and V8 engines so that the engines use half of the cylinders while you drive your car. With this technology the fuel efficiency of your car increases and your car give greater mileage for the same amount of the diesel.

This technology was first used by General Motors in 1980s. The attempt was unsuccessful as the computer technology was not that advanced at that time. Today, it is used widely in vehicles to improve the fuel efficiency. In most of the automobiles the sensors are used which convey the message to the engine to deactivate the unused cylinders.

The technology makes the vehicle to work on less number of cylinders under light conditions like the one while driving on the highway. The extra cylinders are shut down but they are readily available on demand. This is under the computer control in your car which ensures that the power is available when needed.

The cylinder deactivation thus provides with greater flexibility to the cars improving the fuel efficiency. It is the part of the tool kit which is widely used in the automobile industry. It includes hybrid engine, the start stop technology and variable valve timing. The start-stop technology turns off the engine when the vehicle stops.

The vehicles come with improved hydraulic valve lifters, hybrid engines and improved engine tuning enable the vehicle to smoothly transform from the position of cylinder deactivation to the position of using all cylinders when the power is needed most.

The system in Honda comes as Variable Cylinder Management (VCM).This is applied for the first time in Accord with V6 engine. The technology enables the driver to speed the car on three, four or six cylinders. The usage depends on the driving conditions.

The technology was first introduced by General motors in mid sized SUVs such as Chevrolet TrailBlazer in 2005 model. This cylinder deactivation technology will be available in sixteen vehicles in 2008. It was in use in sports vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans. But recently the technology is extended to the passenger vehicles.

The technology turns off the unused cylinders when the car is moving at a set constant speed on a nearly flat surface of the highway. The technology is a way by which the car can be made to run extra miles with the small amount of diesel in the fuel tank thus giving you the improved mileage.

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