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Originally Posted by Psycho Chicken
I can't see much of a point, the piston on the power stroke has to work twice as hard. You're still running compression strokes, which rob power. Unless there's some sort of VTEC type cam lobe that bleeds compression out the exhaust or something? Even still, friction would be high.
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As I understand it, the 'inactive' cylinders act more like a spring. You've got to use energy to compress it, but you get that energy back on the expansion part of the stroke, so you're just left with friction losses only.
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Originally Posted by 4Vman
If a car requires 100kw's to maintain a constant speed does it matter how many cylinders it uses to make that 100kw's? Remember fuel has a caloretic value thats constant. eg: more power needs more fuel.
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I'd doubt you need that much power to maintain a constant speed. Most of the time, you're on part throttle and using only a small fraction of your engine's potential. The only times your engine's really working hard is under heavy acceleration, travelling near Vmax or during a dyno test.