Was reading about this in the Pilot forum. Apparently the VCM in older models of the Pilot, Odyssey and up to the 17 Ridgeline have issues with spark plug fouling, oil consumption and motor mount breakage. Anyone heard of this or dealt with it? There is a non-Honda fix out there you can buy. Hope it doesn't crop up with our new PPs.
I had a ‘17 pilot and people say they could feel the vcm kicking in. I never felt it. I did not use a VCM muzzler on my pilot and I won’t on my passport.
I put the muzzler on our ‘14 Pilot soon after we got it. Hadn’t even occurred to me that the Passport might have the VCM as well. But I haven’t noticed any of the symptoms of it that the Pilot displayed when it kicked in. But that’s a big reason I’ve never pressed the Econ button.
I have owned two other Hondas with a V6 and VCM. I do a lot of driving on the highway in cruise control. In the 2010 Accord, the constant VCM engage / disengage process was bothersome. Even a mild headwind would send it for a loop, it would lurch forward like a strong gear shift every time it disengaged, and you could feel it in the gas pedal and the steering wheel. It really just wasn't ready for prime time. At the time, there was no VCM suppress solution to stop it. In the 17 Ridgeline, it was also bothersome, because at times of mild grade hill climbs on the highway - the vehicle can't decide which mode it should be in, so it stays in reduced cylinder mode too long, loses too much speed, and then when it finally disengages, it frequently has to do a hard downshift to re-gain the set cruise speed. I installed the VCM suppress solution and the RL has been a dream to drive ever since (this is what a car SHOULD drive like, and with no hit to gas mileage, BTW). After driving the passport for a week, I actually had to research to see if the vehicle uses VCM technology. Honda has definitely improved the implementation, because I don't even notice it in this car.