CATALYST PROTECTION DURING MISFIRE

A vehicle includes an internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder bank, an exhaust system having a catalyst, and an engine control system with a controller configured to perform an operation to protect the catalyst during a cylinder misfire event. The operation includes monitoring and counting a number of cylinder misfires on each cylinder bank, determining if the cylinder misfire count exceeds a predetermined threshold count, and when the cylinder misfire count exceeds the predetermined threshold count in a particular cylinder bank, subsequently (i) setting a reduced engine torque limit and (ii) operating the particular cylinder bank in a stoichiometric fuel/air ratio, to thereby facilitate preventing excessively high temperatures at the catalyst due to the misfire event.