Who was first to shut down cylinders not in use?

I saw a Honda commercial this weekend toting their "innovative" design
of shutting down up to 3 of the 6 cylinders in a particular engine
when they're not needed. I could be imagining things, but I could
have sworn I saw this long ago, Mercedes or BMW perhaps? Maybe it was
just a concept in a Popular Science, but I could swear it was in a
production car. Anyone know when and with whom this technology
started?

On 2008-11-24, > wrote:
> I saw a Honda commercial this weekend toting their "innovative" design
> of shutting down up to 3 of the 6 cylinders in a particular engine
> when they're not needed. I could be imagining things, but I could
> have sworn I saw this long ago, Mercedes or BMW perhaps? Maybe it was
> just a concept in a Popular Science, but I could swear it was in a
> production car. Anyone know when and with whom this technology
> started?

earliest implementation I know of was the late70s or early 80s GM
V4,V6,V8 system.

On Nov 24, 4:50*pm, Brent P >
wrote:
> On 2008-11-24, > wrote:
>
> > I saw a Honda commercial this weekend toting their "innovative" design
> > of shutting down up to 3 of the 6 cylinders in a particular engine
> > when they're not needed. *I could be imagining things, but I could
> > have sworn I saw this long ago, Mercedes or BMW perhaps? *Maybe it was
> > just a concept in a Popular Science, but I could swear it was in a
> > production car. *Anyone know when and with whom this technology
> > started?
>
> earliest implementation I know of was the late70s or early 80s GM
> V4,V6,V8 system.

That's even older than I was thinking. So much for Honda's
"innovation". With cars, anyway, they do come up with some cool stuff
for bikes. The last noteworthy thing I knew of them doing with a car
was VTEC, and that probably wasn't their idea either. Any memories of
the specifics on that GM van, model or anything I could use to look up
the details? A quick search produced 0.0 useful results.

I did find this from Edmunds:
DaimlerChrysler was the first company to install modern cylinder-
deactivation technology, using it in 2001 and 2002 V12 Mercedes-Benz
models. Today, the company's Multi-Displacement System improves fuel
economy by up to 20 percent in the powerful Hemi-powered Chrysler
300C, Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum and Jeep Grand Cherokee

That is about the time frame I was thinking, and the Mercedes thing
hits too, I thought it was them or BMW. I'd still be interested to
hear anything about GM doing something similar almost 20 years sooner.

On Nov 24, 5:03*pm, " > wrote:
> On Nov 24, 4:50*pm, Brent P >
> wrote:
>
> > On 2008-11-24, > wrote:
>
> > > I saw a Honda commercial this weekend toting their "innovative" design
> > > of shutting down up to 3 of the 6 cylinders in a particular engine
> > > when they're not needed. *I could be imagining things, but I could
> > > have sworn I saw this long ago, Mercedes or BMW perhaps? *Maybe it was
> > > just a concept in a Popular Science, but I could swear it was in a
> > > production car. *Anyone know when and with whom this technology
> > > started?
>
> > earliest implementation I know of was the late70s or early 80s GM
> > V4,V6,V8 system.
>
> That's even older than I was thinking. *So much for Honda's
> "innovation". *With cars, anyway, they do come up with some cool stuff
> for bikes. *The last noteworthy thing I knew of them doing with a car
> was VTEC, and that probably wasn't their idea either. *Any memories of
> the specifics on that GM van, model or anything I could use to look up
> the details? *A quick search produced 0.0 useful results.
>
> I did find this from Edmunds:
> DaimlerChrysler was the first company to install modern cylinder-
> deactivation technology, using it in 2001 and 2002 V12 Mercedes-Benz
> models. Today, the company's Multi-Displacement System improves fuel
> economy by up to 20 percent in the powerful Hemi-powered Chrysler
> 300C, Dodge Charger, Dodge Magnum and Jeep Grand Cherokee
>
> That is about the time frame I was thinking, and the Mercedes thing
> hits too, I thought it was them or BMW. *I'd still be interested to
> hear anything about GM doing something similar almost 20 years sooner.

And according to a buddy of mine, Fiat did the VVT thing first, so
VTEC wasn't their idea either. Go figure.

On 2008-11-24, > wrote:
> On Nov 24, 4:50*pm, Brent P >
> wrote:
>> On 2008-11-24, > wrote:
>>
>> > I saw a Honda commercial this weekend toting their "innovative" design
>> > of shutting down up to 3 of the 6 cylinders in a particular engine
>> > when they're not needed. *I could be imagining things, but I could
>> > have sworn I saw this long ago, Mercedes or BMW perhaps? *Maybe it was
>> > just a concept in a Popular Science, but I could swear it was in a
>> > production car. *Anyone know when and with whom this technology
>> > started?
>>
>> earliest implementation I know of was the late70s or early 80s GM
>> V4,V6,V8 system.
>
> That's even older than I was thinking. So much for Honda's
> "innovation". With cars, anyway, they do come up with some cool stuff
> for bikes. The last noteworthy thing I knew of them doing with a car
> was VTEC, and that probably wasn't their idea either. Any memories of
> the specifics on that GM van, model or anything I could use to look up
> the details? A quick search produced 0.0 useful results.

I had the term wrong, it was V-8-6-4

Turned this up:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/20...658524,00.html
1981 Cadillac Fleetwood V-8-6-4

> On Nov 24, 5:03*pm, " >
> > That is about the time frame I was thinking, and the Mercedes thing
> > hits too, I thought it was them or BMW. *I'd still be interested to
> > hear anything about GM doing something similar almost 20 years sooner.

Wiki's (of course) got an article on Variable displacement engines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_displacement
Within that article is a link to another article on the variable '80s
Cadillac V8-6-4:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadilla...368_and_V8-6-4

Good for getting the basic ideas and problems of the Cadillac
engine...

On Nov 24, 4:50*pm, Brent P >
wrote:
> On 2008-11-24, > wrote:
>
> earliest implementation I know of was the late70s or early 80s GM
> V4,V6,V8 system.

"V-8-6-4"
http://www.time.comtimespecials2007a...658524,00.html
-----

- gpsman

wrote:
> I saw a Honda commercial this weekend toting their "innovative" design
> of shutting down up to 3 of the 6 cylinders in a particular engine
> when they're not needed. I could be imagining things, but I could
> have sworn I saw this long ago, Mercedes or BMW perhaps? Maybe it was
> just a concept in a Popular Science, but I could swear it was in a
> production car. Anyone know when and with whom this technology
> started?

Cadillac in the early 1980's is the first example I can think of; but
they won't remind you of it because it wasn't particularly successful
back then.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On Nov 24, 11:35*pm, Nate Nagel > wrote:
> wrote:
> > I saw a Honda commercial this weekend toting their "innovative" design
> > of shutting down up to 3 of the 6 cylinders in a particular engine
> > when they're not needed. *I could be imagining things, but I could
> > have sworn I saw this long ago, Mercedes or BMW perhaps? *Maybe it was
> > just a concept in a Popular Science, but I could swear it was in a
> > production car. *Anyone know when and with whom this technology
> > started?
>
> Cadillac in the early 1980's is the first example I can think of; but
> they won't remind you of it because it wasn't particularly successful
> back then.
>
> nate
>
> --
> replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel

This is pushing it a bit, but I had occasion to run a SeaBee 100 kw
generator of WW2 vintage. Thats about 140 HP, I figure.
There were no batteries on this beast - not even aa starting "motor.".

Here's how it worked.

1) Pull lever to lift valves off their seats,
2) pull starting cord on lawnmower size engine to start that.
3) engage starting engine to pinion to get engine rolling over and
slowly building up speed.
4) pull lever to allow valves on half the cylinders to opeate as they
should and engne start fireing.
5) disengage "lawnmower" engine
6) when engine is running as fast as it can, allow valves on remaining
cylinders to operate.

Thus I started a 140 HP engine by pulling a cord.!

On Nov 25, 1:15*pm, Studemania > wrote:
>
> This is pushing it a bit, but I had occasion to run a SeaBee 100 kw
> generator of WW2 vintage. Thats about 140 HP, I figure.
> There were no batteries on this beast - not even aa starting "motor.".
>
> Thus I started a 140 HP engine by pulling a cord.!

In the US that's a "pony motor".

Unrelated to the old "hit & miss" flywheel spinners.
-----

- gpsman