Quote:
Originally Posted by wdfifteen
The Saab system seems so simple. I assume it hasn't been adopted is that moving all that mass gives a slow response time.
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from C&D
Back at the turn of the 21st century, Saab revealed a supercharged 1.6-liter inline-five engine with a hinged two-piece block. The engine lowered its compression ratio from 14.0:1 to 8.0:1 by pivoting the top of the block, including the cylinders and the head, around a beefy hinge on the intake side. A set of mini connecting rods riding on an eccentric shaft on the exhaust side did the lifting. Since the crankshaft position is fixed, tilting the block’s top changed the combustion-chamber volume and thus the compression ratio. Saab claimed 225 horsepower and a fuel-economy bump of 30 percent over an engine with similar output. Development costs and Saab’s redheaded-stepchild status within GM meant the capital and interest weren’t there to bring the technology to production.