Displacement on Demand (DOD) or Active Fuel Management(AFM), how it is referred to now-a-days, may in fact save the high performance vehicle. Given the new EPA standards and Congressional Bills aimed at killing any and all enjoyment one might want out of an automobile, AFM is the presently the best technology being used today to combat Congress's want to have us all riding our bicycles to work.

       Active Fuel Management, as instituted by General Motors, shuts down cylinder while driving at steady speeds to damped the effects of fuel consuption. In a nutshell, the hydraulic lifters at the heart of the valvetrain are deprived of oil through electronically controlled sylenoids, thus not allowing the valves in the combustion chamber to open. (At the same time, the fuel injectors to those cylinders are shut down.)

          My G8 is equipped with such technology and the boys down at Tune Time Performance in Toms River, NJ have been toying with the engine control module(ECM) to maximize the capabilities of AFM and we have seen some extraordinary results. From the factory, a 6% change in throttle position reactivates at 8-cylinders. We changed that to 14% and on the highway, I have seen gains of over 5 mpg!! I was as happy as could be getting 27.5 mpg out of a 380 horsepower, 4,200-lb slug. Imagine seeing over 30 mpg with a 500-horsepower Corvette. I don't see why that couldn't be done.