Saab's innovation

[IVO']

While reading this months edition of Car magazine, one article caught my attention more than any.
It was a new engine technology developed by Saab which allows a flexible compression ratio in a 1.6 litre engine.
Varying the ratio lower allows the 1.6 litre engine to peak at 225BHP while widening the ration band increases effeciency to allow 38mpg(I think?).
Just how reliable the engine will be remains to be seen but you have to hand it to Saab for trying to do something different..

[Chancer]

225bhp from a 1.6 engine :eek:, and I thought that the Honda 1.6 Vti engine was good, but this one sounds like a right stomper! And for such a highly powered engine the 38mpg figure is quite impressive. IMHO, engines like these with small cc capacity but high BHP power, have to be a good thing for the Irish motorist. The lower the cc of the engine the lower the rate of VRT charged on the car, and also there will be a lower road tax. A 1.4 version of this engine would indeed be a big blow to the Irish exchequer, but a blast for the Irish motorist :) . I wonder will the government ever decide to change the VRT/TAX system to work on BHP?

[Tony]

On paper I'd agree that is does indeed sound impressive. However, it remains to be seen if such an engine can be produced economically, and that it will be refined enough to be acceptable by the motorist. I suppose that if it does make it into production then we’ll be seeing it introduced into Opel cars too, since they now own Saab. And then of course Opel are sharing platforms with Fiat, so I wouldn’t be surprised to seem them in Fiat’s also.

[IVO']

I'll get some of the text of the article to explain how it works and post it here tommorrow - Maybe someone else on the page has a copy handy and could post the necessary info here?...(read it sittin' on the jacks yesterday evening!)....It allows the head to tilt creating a smaller combustive area - hence the horse power figure rises - during more mundane driving the engine behaves like a normal 1.6 litre.
I believe 2003 is the year earmarked by Saab for introduction into their own models -
Wonder how the Girls in PMPA Limerick would handle Insurance for one of those!


[This message has been edited by IVO' (edited 16 May 2000).]

[This message has been edited by IVO' (edited 16 May 2000).]

[PaulKanters]

Sorry Tony, but Opel doesn't own Saab at all: General Motors does!
True, Opel is part of the General Motors conglomerate, but they sure as h*ll don't own Saab... ;)

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring!
welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
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[Tony]

Ups, you're right there Paul! GM has a fascination to be known differently in different countries/areas. Most people in Ireland would simply call them Opel (in mainland Europe too?). In Australia they're known as Holden. Of course in the UK they have to be different and be called Vauxhall and have plants to build the right hand drive versions, making it appear to be a British car built by a British company. This concept appears to work too.

[WhipLash]

It's interesting to see that the projected BHP figure of 225 is over the previously agreed 200BHP threshold for FWD cars. I wonder will Saab be able to power a FWD car without compromising its handling, or would you say RWD would be the only way to successfully use that much power? If that were the case it would exclude the majority of cars from using such an engine, except in a lower BHP format of course.

[Justin]

Autocar (I think) reported that Saab were going to benefit from Subaru's 4wd technology after the purchase of Subaru by GM. That could be the answer - Saab really need something to tame their more powerful models

[BeCos]

"And then of course Opel are sharing platforms with Fiat"....did I miss something somewhere!!!! Fill me in?? :confused:

[This message has been edited by BeCos (edited 18 May 2000).]

[WhipLash]

Becos, GM and Fiat have formed an alliance to exchange platforms etc. The full story can be found in our news archive section. Go to the News Section (http://www.eforecourt.com/news/newsall.htm) , scroll down and choose the Archive link at the bottom of the page.

- Whip.

[Anders]

Saab hasn't had much luck with powerful fwd cars to date, so anything from Subaru should surely help. Maybe it's because of the Opel platforms they are forced to use, but their Viggen cars tend to suffer very badly from torque steer and other fun stuff.

I'm surprised there are any decent engineers left in Saab. I believe they have been very unhappy with the components they have been handed down from GM. Not exactly the most ideal working environment.

[WhipLash]

Apparantly GM executives have announced GM’s intentions to take over South Korea’s Daewoo Motors.

When will it all end? :confused:

[IVO']

To get back to the topic, the engine head is tilted towards the crankshaft bringing pistons and valves closer together.Hence the compression ratio is reduced..

[ivo]

I had to resurrect this topic as Autoexpress has reported a sneak preview drive of what SAAB is calling its SVC engine.
Makes you wonder how Insurance companies and VRT will classify 1.6 litre engine cars or even 1.0/1.4 litre engine cars that can intelligently turn up the power output when needs be?.
Surely, this would be the ideal family car.....capable of over 30 mpg yet able to change it's spots when required?

[Junior]

It sounds like my dream car a 1.6 with huge power when needed ... but can u see me or any other self respecting GTi performance spanner head knocking around in a Saab ?

[ivo]

Other manufacturers are bound to pick up on the technology and produce similar engines - Toyota's VVTi is basically similar to VTEC isnt it?

[WhipLash]

This indeed has to be one of the best enhancements to engine technology since the turbo was invented.

This story is actually covered in the Times today. Apparently the technology won't be introduced until another four years or so. I'd say by that time VRT and Road TAX might have shifted to use the cars BHP rather then CC, but I hope not.

Don't forget that General Motors now own Saab, so there's the distinct possibility that this breakthrough technology will be used in Opels too.

[WhipLash]

Originally posted by ivo
Other manufacturers are bound to pick up on the technology and produce similar engines - Toyota's VVTi is basically similar to VTEC isnt it?


Well they say that the new engine already beats the new American emission levels set for 2005 by 10%. I'm sure that further development of the engine could produce even better levels, and other manufacturers will certainly sit up and take notice.

Its also interesting to point out that the technology doesn't only depend on petrol, but will work for diesel and other fuels too.

[ivo]

Yip Whip,

A 1.6 litre SVC in an Opel VX220 would be a interesting combination.?...
The combination of light frame and variable BHP engine would surely blast this car like a rocket ...when pushed?

[WhipLash]

We now have an article about Saab's SVC engine technology in our news section (http://eforecourt.com/news).

There's a small yet nifty animation of the engine there!