1981 Cadillac Fleetwood

Not sure I'd buy that enthusiastic review of the infamous V8-6-4 engine.

https://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/5383510517.html

 

He says this about the V8-6-4:

"This feature provides a huge savings on gas and is more common in cars today."

It's common on vehicles today? I didn't know that. Which ones?

 

Chrysler, in the 5.7 l hemi cars.
The comment in the write up mentions part of the issue GM had with the early cylinder deactivation, it was clunky and not seamless plus it wasn't very reliable at the time, that's why GM dropped it ( How would you like to hop in your Caddy and try to accelerate with it stuck in 4 cyl. mode or have it constantly jumping back and forth between modes while trying to drive). Chrysler started using it in the 2005 + LX cars with better luck but it still can be a bit finicky. Also the fuel savings for the system were and are only 3-5 mpg avg not the 10 + mentioned in the ad.

 

So it's not correct to say it's "common" on cars today.

 

It is very very common in today's cars but actually it's a bit dated technology now... Not only Chrysler but GM, Honda, Audi, VW, Bently and Mercedes to name a few. As with the MPG change... From my personal experience in a 2011 Charger RT non AWD I was able to achieve with a custom tune 27-30 mpg on road trips but with engine light on it did drop to 17 to 20mpg and that's pretty standard for the deactivation to not work while the cars engine light is on even if it's an unrelated issue. 10 years ago I also owned an 81 Coupe Deville with this engine that was known for issues and never once had a problem with it... It had 40,000 or so when I drove it up to around 60,000 when sold but I dont recall the mpg as I was in high school and didn't care much and it was actually a great car to drive. My guess is you don't read much about newer cars...

 

If it were so great, Cadillac would have kept it beyond 1981.

 

Yes true and there's also a reason the technology exists in today's cars throughout other major car companies aside from GM. Although GM is no stranger to putting junk into heavy production especially within the past 15 years such as the 3.6 L VVT ( started in 2004) which has been stated by the manufacturer that it is normal for that engine to burn up to 1 quart of synthetic oil every 1000 miles. Just because something doesn't work well doesn't stop most automotive manufactures from producing it anyways because sometimes overtime they RR the issues rather than stop and start over. Everything has their good and bad but to learn what works and what doesn't mistakes happen in the process...just like the LT1 before the LS engines... Which most look at as GMs learning curve to eventually creating the best V8 engines in the U.S. Automotive Industry.

 

I remember reading a Car & Driver review of it when it was new back in must have been the early 80's and they counted something like several hundred if not more 8-6-4 changes on a standard test drive of maybe I'm guessing 50 miles. They were not impressed which is why I remember staying clear of that engine. Nice fender badge for the V8-6-4 though on some good looking cars like the 81 El Dorado mentioned below. I tried to google the original review but all I came up with was that it made the 50 worst cars of all time list back in 2007!

http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658533_1658524,00.html

Also a good article in Hemming's about the one year only engine with some good brochure pictures and great comments from past owners like:

"We had an ’81 Eldo with this system and it was an utter nightmare. Trading in a big ’77 Eldo for the ’81 with this engine was regrettable to say the least.
The ’81 would completely stop ALL cylinders while driving on the freeway, refuse to engage cylinders when passing or needing power to merge into traffic and would misfire to the point of making the car uncontrollable. It was sad because to this day I am still a Caddy fan but this deal back in ’81 left a mark."

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013/05/02/cars-of-futures-past-1981-cadillac-v-8-6-4/

 

the new Ghostbusters movie will feature an 80s Cadillac coach conversion - this Fleetwood would make an excellent movie car candidate (especially considering the "hail damage to the vinyl top", which really means "rust in the base of all the roof pillars")