Aside from the electronic cam in the New Chevy Eco engine function in which 4 of the 8 cylinders shut down to conserve fuel when at cruising speed, would it be possible to program and or modify the 05-08 f150 engine to mimic this same function? Either with programming to disable spark in the cylinders or a modification to disable the cylinders when wanted (ex. toggle switch) and of course still function properly?

 

a chevy tech told me that chevrolet uses solenoids in the engine to control pressure to the hydraulic lifters. they stop fuel flow and block oil flow to the lifters of the cylinders they want to shut down to prevent compression. ford doesnt have that luxury but they also dont seem to need it when they can get the same(or close) fuel mileage while running on all 8 cylinders. even if you did program a way to shut down cylinders it will shake like hell and get much worse fuel mileage if you dont find a way to keep compression out of the cylinders. its not as easy as you think.

 

Yep, unless you can cause the extra cylinders to have little to no compression or drag the engine will not run well. Also, the skip timing will have no improvement on fuel efficiency because the injectors will still fire. I've heard it works well for spooling up turbos faster though...but that isn't going to help your fuel economy.

 

thanks for the insight...... aside from the Eco engine mod, which programmer would offer the best mpg? I do know that the mpg increase usually isn't seen by most users because most people end up hauling a$$ everywhere to appreciate the increase in power... but aside from the power increase, which brand would you recommend primarily for the mpg increase?

 

Go check out Power Hungry Performance for programmers.

You wont see a huge jump, maybe one or two mpg but it is heavily dependent on the driver.