2) By supercharging the intake air and forcing more air into the engine, Smith notes, more fuel can be injected and burned efficiently. he engine then delivers more power for every piston strike, which results in higher torque and horsepower output.
By supercharging the engine only at greater throttle openings when extra power isreally needed, Smith says, the fuel economy of a small engine can be combined with thegreater performance of a big engine.
3) By varying the amount by which the fuel/air mixture is compressed in the cylinder before it is ignited, the SVC determines how efficiently the engine canutilize the energy in the fuel.
Smith says that, "The energy in the fuel will be better utilized if the compression ratio is as high as possible. But if the compression ratio is too high, the fuel will pre-ignite, causing knocking, which could damage the engine.
"In a conventional engine, the maximum compression ratio that the engine canwithstand is therefore set by the conditions in the cylinder at high load, when the fuel and air consumptions are at maximum levels."
But in a conventional engine the compression ratio remains the same when the engine is running at low load, such as when the car is travelling on the highway at constant speed.