Gas flow characteristics within the cylinder is important factors in impoving lean combustion stability. This paper shows the effects of various flow fields generated by a swirl control valve(SCV) on combustion process in a 4-valve spark ignition engine. An impulse swirl/tumble meter was used to elucidation the steady-state flow characteristics, and a rotating grating type LDV was developed to measure the mean velocity and tunbulence intensity in relation to the crank angle. These methodologies were applied to clarify the correlation between gas flow characteristics and combustion stability at a lean air fuel ratio. An analysis of the correlation revealed the gas flow conditions required to optimize a lean-burn system.