The
Saab Variable Compression (SVC) engine concept has been honored by Popular Science
magazine with a "Best of What’s New" award for automotive technology.
The editors of the world’s largest science and technology magazine selected
the SVC concept to be among 100 "Best of What’s New" items — placing
it on the annual list of new products and technology developments.
The SVC engine concept is a radical new design that enables fuel consumption
to be drastically cut while increasing engine performance per liter of engine
displacement. The SVC uses energy in fuel far more efficiently than today’s
conventional automotive engines through a combination of reduced engine displacement,
high supercharging pressure, and a unique system for varying the compression
ratio.
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The SVC concept reduces the fuel consumption of a conventional naturally aspirated
engine by up to 30 percent while at the same time providing impressive performance.
The five-cylinder SVC engine developed by Saab has a displacement of 1.6 liters
and is as fuel-efficient under normal conditions as a conventional 1.6-liter
engine, but can deliver power comparable to a highly tuned 3.0-liter engine
when needed. The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are reduced proportionately
to the fuel consumption, while the CO, HC and NOx emissions will enable the
SVC engine to meet all current and proposed future emissions regulations.
