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Saab Variable Compression Engine Concept Wins Award

28 November 2000

Saab Variable Compression Engine Concept Wins 'Best of What's New' Award

     Popular Science Magazine Names the SVC Engine Concept to its Annual
    'Best of What's New' List Honoring Product and Technology Developments

    NORCROSS, Ga., Nov. 28 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.
    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.
    This year, the "Best of What's New" award will extend beyond the pages of
Popular Science to computer users on the World Wide Web at http://www.popsci.com . In
turn, viewers will crown one of the 100 winners with the Readers' Choice
Award, to be announced on January 5, 2001.