A single cylinder SI engine with a VVA system is modeled by the coupling of a commercial 1D simulation package and an additional combustion model and validated by comparison with experimental data. A number of simulations are carried out to investigate the effects of five different VVA systems on the performance and fuel efficiency of the baseline engine. Finally, the simulation model is applied to an extensive computational study to map out the strategies to operate the engines with dual CVVT and dual CVVT-2 step VVL systems in a fuel-efficient manner.