Holden sacrifices V8 power for economy

[Reaper]

Holden has knocked 10kW of power off its V8 Commodore in an effort to save some fuel.

GM Holden has cut the power of some of its V8 Commodores to save more fuel.

The decrease - the first time in decades that a new V8 Commodore has come out with less power - is the result of adding engine-management technology that saves up to a litre of fuel every 100km.

Hot on the heels of its decision to cut V6 engine output on low-end Commodores by 5kW to save fuel, Holden has sliced 10kW from the power of its V8 Commodores fitted with an automatic gearbox to accommodate the Active Fuel Management technology.

The system, also known as cylinder deactivation or displacement-on-demand, monitors the engine's load and can shut down four of the eight cylinders for more economical driving at cruising speeds.

Holden sacrifices V8 power for economy - drive.com.au

Reaper

[TVR-190]

There is no fail image big enough for what they have done.

[Johnsy]

wonder if HSV will follow suit.... im glad i got mine last year then....

[Reaper]

wonder if HSV will follow suit.... im glad i got mine last year then....

I don't think so. IIRC the 6.2 doesn't have provision for cyl deactivation hardware.

Reaper

[minux]

erm, i dont get it, don't people buy the V8 for power lol?

If people buy a v8 and whine about economy well they are ********s.

[Johnsy]

erm, i dont get it, don't people buy the V8 for power lol?

If people buy a v8 and whine about economy well they are ********s.

I agree... go buy a 4 cyl if petrol is a concern... i love burning tanks of 98 !!

[davway]

look at it another way.
they are making V8s less thirsty and the fuel consious public, who may not have considered buying a V8, now just might.
People seem to get hung up on how many litres per hundred an engine uses - those sort of people will automatically hear the words V8 and think gas guzzler (just like the bloody 5 cyl Hummer that does 15l/100km - big friggen deal - seriously sick of hearing how its a gas guzzler when infact it isnt that bad).
anyway, if Holden can bring some new customers to the V8 segment, i dont see how that is a bad thing.
10kw - thats real hard to get back isnt it.

[Mick1988]

This only applies to cars with Auto transmissions fitted though. The manual versions still have the same power as before and if you're the sort of person to worry about 10kw then it's likely you'll want a manual anyway.

[NickVR]

A mafless tune and OTR will save you more than 1ltr/100km and give you more KWs.

[davway]

A mafless tune and OTR will save you more than 1ltr/100km and give you more KWs.

and also void your warranty too.

[Cursed CX8]

i wonder if you could tune the Deactivation out of the stock tune. I know there is hardware involved with the shaving, but if you could remove the signals from the sensor, then you could deactivate the system...yes?

[Sphinx]

sure it won't take long for tuners to figure out how to disable AFM.

[Cursed CX8]

Possible even use it to their advantage, Im not sure how yet, but adding extra weight to an engine has gotta do something. I wonder if holden will do a AFM model and a normal model. Like crysler did

[50LTRv8]

1 Litre of fuel every 100KM?, why even bother, the average tank gets say around 500KM (gave or take), so your saving around 5 Litres which comes to the grand total of $8 at $1.60 a litre.

[Reaper]

1 Litre of fuel every 100KM?, why even bother, the average tank gets say around 500KM (gave or take), so your saving around 5 Litres which comes to the grand total of $8 at $1.60 a litre.

That is a combined city/highway run. The word is that on a flat or slightly inclided freeway your fuel consumption is nearly halved. The marketing advantage of 1 l/100 is quite large too. I'm with you though - the savings for most average drivers will be bugger all. For most drivers the cost difference between a V6/V8 in fuel is very low over a year anyway.

Possible even use it to their advantage, Im not sure how yet, but adding extra weight to an engine has gotta do something. I wonder if holden will do a AFM model and a normal model. Like crysler did

On the V6??? Don't think so. I understand they are currently testing direct injection which will save in the order of 10% fuel (with a power gain) for the V6 motors.

Reaper

[davey g-force]

I'm just glad I got my auto before the AFM came out!

I know that 10KW is not much, but neither is 1L/100km!! Seriously, Holden could have made it more economical by 1L/100km just by de-tuning the engine a bit. And they could probably do that by sacrificing less than 10kw. This is just a marketing stunt.

[savage1987]

The word is that on a flat or slightly inclided freeway your fuel consumption is nearly halved.

That's where the real fuel savings are to be had, highway cruising.

I don't think it's a dumb idea, as said it's only on autos it seems, people can get over it. Still plenty of power really.

[savage1987]

I wonder what actual hardware is necessary for this sort of system...

[MikesCalais]

if they cut the power for the next model, but then just bring it back up for the model after that... cant they just... oh I dunno, not cut the power?

I mean surely they'll have to eventually increase the power again, so why cut it in the first place? I just dont think it'll be too good for the eventual resale price... I dunno, just thinking out loud

[Commydoor]

Its not just cutting the fuel consumption. 2 racers at a set of lights. Lights go green and off they go. Then the deactivation cuts in 4 cyls go down and the driver loses and gets larfed at. This is a serious issue ppl's that cant be let happen.

[Johnsy]

Its not just cutting the fuel consumption. 2 racers at a set of lights. Lights go green and off they go. Then the deactivation cuts in 4 cyls go down and the driver loses and gets larfed at. This is a serious issue ppl's that cant be let happen.

not condoning street racing, but if both drivers put there foot to the floor the deactivation wouldn't kick in under full throttle it's the complete opposite to how it works...

[Cursed CX8]

On the V6??? Don't think so. I understand they are currently testing direct injection which will save in the order of 10% fuel (with a power gain) for the V6 motors.

Reaper

no not the v6. I was just wondering if holden would have an option for deactivation, same as some other companies. The Direct injection if about 10 years too late...

[immortality]

i really can't see how reducing 10kw from peak power is going to save you fuel. when driving around day to day and even considering about trying for economy your never even going to get anywhere near to any of the fuel map where you have lost the extra power so this is a pure marketing exersize. the whole point of being able to dis-able 4 cylinders is to save fuel when cruising so there is no point de-tuning the engine also

[greenfoam]

Yeah there's something weird going on with the power level drop for whatever reason I sure it's seperate to the deactivation. But I'm qondering is it the same 4 cyl that deactivates all the time? because your going to end up with 4 clyinders that last 500,000ks and 4 that last 700,000 , if it's random which set of 4 it uses you would get 600,000 from the whole motor for example, that would be better

[Reaper]

Yeah there's something weird going on with the power level drop for whatever reason I sure it's seperate to the deactivation. But I'm qondering is it the same 4 cyl that deactivates all the time? because your going to end up with 4 clyinders that last 500,000ks and 4 that last 700,000 , if it's random which set of 4 it uses you would get 600,000 from the whole motor for example, that would be better

My understanding is that they vary the pattern. Not random but the cycle has been chosen to make the engine stay as smooth as possible. It is not a simple matter of every 2nd cyl firing.

Reaper