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Saab is now launching an entirely new engine concept named SVC, which stands for Saab Variable Compression. Owing to the SVC engine's unique design, it offers performance on a par with units twice its size but with the fuel consumption of a small engine. The SVC engine is a five-cylinder 1.6 litre unit producing 225 bhp, and it delivers no less than 305 Nm of torque.

What is unique about the SVC engine is that it features variable compression. In other words, the ratio between the piston's displacement volume and the volume of the combustion chamber is not constant, as it is in a conventional engine. Instead, the SVC registers current needs and decides how much the mixture of fuel and air is to be compressed in the cylinder prior to ignition. The upper part, the mono-head, can be inclined up to four degrees to achieve optimum compression, which means that the engine always works at its most efficient level.