Will cylinder deactivation cause my engine long-term damage?

My wife has a VW Golf which goes into Eco mode and runs on two cylinders for better economy. My problem is that in Eco mode i can hear the engine note change and feel extra vibration. I do not doubt we are getting better mpg, but is this feature doing long term engine damage?

Asked on 16 April 2024 by D J Nash

Answered by David Ross
Cylinder deactivation is a technology that has been around for some years and can improve fuel consumption under light engine loads. The change of engine note is entirely normal and extra vibration is inevitable as the engine is running on one fewer cylinder. There is no reason to believe that it will cause long-term damage to engine, but you can disable the system by using a different drive mode or increase the throttle input.
Tags:
Similar questions
Does the DCC option on a VW Golf Match enable the suspension to be made either softer or firmer? The VW website implies this is the case, but my local dealer - who is trying to sell me a car without DCC...
I drive a 2002 VW Golf Estate 130 bhp TDI which passed its MoT last month, but I will be looking for a to replace it with a similar-sized car in the next year or two as it has done almost 300k miles. I...
We own a VW Golf Mk7 1.5 TSI 2020. Please can you tell me how often the cambelt should be changed? I have had a bewildering array of answers to this from every 4 years/40K miles to never.
Related models
Very comfortable and refined. Range of strong, quiet and efficient engines. Classy image.