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Automobile Quarterly liked the Turbo back in '79.... Posted by Camm [Email]  (#191) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Camm) on Fri, 1 Feb 2002 22:29:46
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A few years ago, while visiting with Saab’s congenial staff in Trollhattan, we asked chief engineer Henrik Gustavsson what all his people spent their time doing. It hardly seemed like a full-time job endlessly to refine the same basic and already sophisticated 96 and 99 series cars. Gustavsson smiled and suggested that there seemed to be enough projects to keep everybody busy. The Saab 900 is the very latest thing from Sweden’s manufacturer of advanced and individualistic automobiles, and its seemingly endless string of clever features occupied, according to the company, “untold manhours from concept to finished product.” So Gustavsson was right.
Working in modest wooden buildings a world away from Detroit’s flashy corporate design centers, Saab engineers and designers have once again produced an auto-mobile chock-full of novelty and attention to detail. Its front seat cushions tilt up and down and are heated automatically in cold weather. Its delightful and easy-to-read dashboard is an ergonomic tour de force. A unique filter purifies all air entering the passenger compartment. The rust-proofed body is even more rugged than before. In Turbo guise, the 900 will gently press you back into the seat while emitting a muted jet-like whine that sends the tach needle soaring to the redline. All this in a car that takes to snow like a reindeer, can be pounded with abandon over rough roads and turns in an easy 22 mpg.
Saab refers to the 900 as “the culmination of the most ambitious development ever undertaken” by its car division. That development was necessitated initially by increasingly stringent U.S. regulations which will demand the ability to withstand a 30 mph frontal impact, and also by the possibility of airbags should the NHTSA and your insurance company succeed in their schemes to require those devices. Thus the new Saab is entirely redesigned from the front seats forward, is 8.4 inches longer than the 99 and possesses two inches more wheelbase at 99.4 inches. Part of the extra overall length of 187.6 inches is taken up by the latest version of Saab’s “self-repairing” bumpers, the first to meet the 5 mph requirement and still among the very best.The extra length is used too for a much-improved cooling system and the engine now rests on new mounts designed to absorb vibration and insure that the powerplant cannot be displaced back into the passenger compartment in a front-end collision. The handsome new hood is designed to remain in place and act as an energy absorbing member in event of a crash, as is the complete frontal structure of the car.
Saab engineers attempted to keep the weight of the 900 at about the same level as the 99 by using aluminum instead of steel in certain areas of the front end. The 900 series cars range in weight from 2660 to 2890 pounds depending on model and equipment, compared to 2550 to 2750 for the various 99’s. Neither was this small increase in weight gained at the expense of rear windows that don’t roll down a Ia General Motors or by using so-called mini-spare tires to replace the more practical full-size variety.
Inside the 900, the driver is confronted by a lovely matte-black instrument panel made of molded foam over an energy absorbing metal frame, the latest thinking from a company whose safety conscious interiors date back to the early Fifties. Thick padding below dash level serves to protect the legs and the design already meets proposed 1984 regulations. The instruments are housed in a glarefree compartment and are of the most legible white on black design with big orange needles. At night, they are illuminated by indirect green light. In this panel, printed circuitry replaces the traditional wiring harness. All instruments and controls for lights, wipers and heater are perfectly located, no fumbling about or having to tilt one’s head to see something.
The ventilation system was designed to include a unique filter developed with the help of medical experts. Tests at the University of LinkOping revealed the filter absorbed fully 100 percent of pollen, among other pollutants. At the moment, the filter is integrated into the ventilation system only on non-air-conditioned cars. The air-conditioning was designed at Saab and there is nothing of the add-on, aftermarket flavor about it. All heating and ventilation controls in the 900 are vacuu
operated. While this is nothing new on domestic cars, it is apparently a novelty to some European drivers. We understand that the Swedish home market is fascinated by the little hiss emitted as one selects his choice of ventilation on the handy dial control.
Front suspension of the 900 will be familiar to 99 owners and, in fact, is not much different from that of the 96; it is still based on a pair of hefty wishbones and a coil spring mounted so as to insure it will remain straight and not be deflected, Of course, the suspension is refined and now has .8-Inch more travel and new front geometry with a repositioned steering rack. At the rear, the familiar tubular axle has been strengthened to increase roll stiffness and new trailing arms and Panhard rods are used.
As usual, Saab has retained big fifteen-inch wheels. Brakes are four wheel discs as on the 99, now with semi-metallic material used for the outside pads to increase life. The handbrake operates on the front wheels and could be of real value should both hydraulic systems somehow fail. But longtime Saab drivers may miss the occasional fun of a handbrake turn.
The 900’s engine remains unchanged from that of the 99, a 121 .5-cubic-inch overhead cam four that develops a healthy 115 hp in standard form, 135 hp turbocharged. Both engines are fitted with Bosch mechanical fuel injection which has proved more reliable than earlier electronic versions.
The 900 engines carry an improved water pump and an alternator of much-increased capacity. The engine is even more accessible than before in terms of servicing—required at 5000 mile intervals—and still has the advantage of being turned back to front so the clutch is easy to replace, being at the very front of the car. Turbo engines are fitted with a pressure relief valve so that excess exhaust gases will bypass the impeller, and the Turbo’s exhaust valves are sodium-filled. Since Saab’s rally cars develop some 220 hp these days, it is safe to assume that even the 900 Turbo remains rather understressed.
Each Saab 900 is born in a spooky, apparently uninhabited new body plant on Troll Hill. There fork lifts automatically deposit semi-finished bodies onto magnetically-guided platforms which wend a seemingly erratic but precisely controlled path through the factory to computer-controlled robot proofed at various points in their manufacture, all cavities sprayed with anti-corrosive oil, the entire chassis undercoated, the body itself phosphated and dipped in primer, the completed cars are individually checked on a chassis dyno.
ROAD IMPRESSIONS
What does all this add up to? Does the 900 meet the demanding goals imposed by its designers and engineers? We spent a couple of weeks last winter with a 900 Turbo to find out. The test car was a metallic green five-door, an unusual-looking but eminently practical device since the doors are light and conveniently-sized and, with the rear seat folded down, there is an astounding fifty-three cubic feet of luggage capacity. Saab tells us that the rear quarter windows were included to enhance visibility and avoid an appearance of possible heaviness had the panels remained solid.
The interior layout will not be unfamiliar to experienced Saab drivers. The ignition switch is still located in a little console between the front seats—out of harm’s way. Should you have any trouble finding it in the dark, there’s a handy little switch down there that puts on the dome light. The range of seat adjustments is such that nearly anyone should be able to find a comfortable driving position and the seats are just firm enough to provide real comfort for long stretches at the wheel. There is also slightly more room for rear seat passengers than in the 99. For the driver, visibility is excellent in every direction including out over the lengthened hood. Electrically adjustable sideview mirrors are standard equipment.
The turbocharged engine of the test car started promptly whether hot or cold and, most impressively, suffered none of the stalling or hesitation afflicting so many cars today. The engine’s main advantage over the standard unit is in the mid-rpm range where it gives one something like the impression of a well-tuned “cammy” sports car. Zero to sixty times should be in the high nine-second bracket. We observed an easy indicated 107 mph, this on a slight upgrade in gale force winds which had little effect on the aerodynamic Saab. The car’s gear ratios, incidentally, are very well chosen and the shift linkage is light and precise with short throws. The clutch is light and smooth.
The 900 Turbo and the GLE models are all equipped as standard with power steering. The unit is a good one, leaving plenty of feedback from the tires while greatly easing slow speed maneuvering and parking, the latter an honestly difficult problem for some would-be owners in previous years. The 900, like most front wheel drive cars and all Saabs, possesses directional stability that really needs to be experienced to be appreciated. Despite a slightly longer wheelbase, the car—equipped with Michelin TRX tires—felt at least as responsive as previous 99 EMS versions. It handled with slight understeer and coped with all road surfaces with ease. There is no reason to doubt that the 900, could become a successful rally machine. Fuel consumption ranged from 20 to 23 mpg in moderate, cold weather driving. The Turbo requires premium no lead fuel. Non-turbo 49-state models require premium.
What’s wrong with the 900? Nothing basic. The test car, however, possessed a disturbing resonant growl when decelerating at about 1400 rpm and the power steering emitted an occasional hiss when the wheel was turned from center. Neither annoyance has any place in the plush velour interior of such a car. Finally, despite the obvious efforts to assure quality, two of the doors were afflicted with a most unSaab-like assortment of rattles and squeaks on rough roads, and the window winders needed too much muscle. Looking for a bit more icing on the cake, one might also hope for temperature and oil pressure gauges, at least on the Turbo and EMS.
When we went to press, prices for the 900 Saabs ranged from the $8198 GU three. door to $11,968 for the Turbo five-door which comes equipped as standard with air-conditioning and a very nice steel sunroof that creates little draft or noise. These prices are certainly competitive with various Volvos, Alfas, Audis and the BMW 3201 which offers less room and power at a minimum $1500 increase in base price. It is worth noting that even the non-turbo 900 makes a few more horsepower than any of these other cars—or a Porsche 924 for that matter—while the Turbo enjoys more than a 20 hp additional advantage. In fact, the Saab 900 is in a sort of class by itself, as Saab cars always have been. It is distinguished by its many features, superb performance in all conditions and overall balance. It is a complete and adult car, unafflicted by someone else’s conception of high style. Doubtless, it will stand the test of time. Whether you should buy one or not may depend not so much on the car itself but on whether a competent dealer exists in your area. This is a longstanding problem and it must be a very difficult one or Saab would have improved the situation by now. Nor is Saab alone among importers in having such difficulties. One need only think, for instance, of Fiat selling its new Strada through a dealer organization not known for satisfactory performance or Renault attempting to improve distribution and service by its agreement with shaky AMC. In some parts of the country, good service will pose no problem to a would-be Saab owner. If you’re in the market for a mid-priced car of distinction and value, and live near a reliable dealer, the Saab 900 is worthy of close consideration.
posted by 64.12.10...
, Fri, 1 Feb 2002 22:29:46 <-- Viewing This Message
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