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Muscle Saab with V8
Santa Barbara,CA. DN Motors have as first Swedish newspaper testdriven the Saab 9-5 with a new designed V8 built out of aluminum.
A V8 in a Saab!
That could be true in a few years. GM,who owns Saab have developed an ultra compact V8 that doesn't use more space than a V6. Last week VD Peter Augustsson testdrove the special built 9-5 with the new engine.
I like the engine, it have an enormous torque and a nice sound to it. But you can reach high torque curves by other means too. With using turbo on an 4 cyl engine, we get the same values, he says.
DN Motor was there for the historical testdrive, that happened on a racetrack in Bakersfield,CA USA earlier last week. It was murderes hot in the dry desert air, about 40 degree C. And it was like a Sauna inside the car, which because of all the modifications was lacking A/C. On top of all this the engine overheated and the technicians had to have full heat on inside to keep the engine temp down.
Even DN Motor got a chance to drive for a couple of lapse, such a roar and low RPM torque have never been felt in a Saab or any other car coming from Sweden. The engine have a Volume of 4.2 L and is built entirely out of aluminum. Torque is 400 Nm.
Acceleration is breathtaking, but even Saab's turbo charged 4 cyl is quick from standstill. The biggest difference is the enormous excess of power already at low RPM.
This should fit good for the US market. Customers there wants big and strong engines, GM's Rick Wagoner explaind to DN Motors.
But we haven't made any decisions yet.
The engine is develpoed by GM, USA. And is made for the so called Epsilon family, a technical platform that includes 9-3 and Opel Vectra. Epsilon is the biggest development made to keep the same arcitechure for a wide variety of cars built for different parts of the world. The plan is to keep the design and production costs down and at the same time speed up product development. Epsilon includes 7 models and 13 different body styles. The yearly production could be as high as 1.7 million units when all the different models are up and running. The potential for the new V8 is therefore big, GM says. But if it's ever gonna be installed in a 9-3 or a modified 9-5 is up in the air for now.
Peter Augustsson is split in his decision.
An engine like this is not high up on my wishlist. I rather priorities the development of fine 4 cyl gas and diesel engines. But if we would to get it, I wouldn't say no, he says after a couple of hard lapses on the racetrack.
The engine is extremly compact and lightweight, regarding Fritz Indra who have lead the development, it doesn't take more gasolin than a V6. And with the function DOD ( Displacement On Demand ) one cylinder bank can be turned off when not needed.
That lowers the gas consumption with about 10%, Fritz Indra tells DN Motors.
Saab's models that is sold in US comes mostly with the V6, but in Europe, very few are asking for it.
In USA it's very important with many horsepowers and big engines, preferrably 8 cylinders. But we are able to compete pretty good with our turbo engines. The amount of 9-5 with V6 engines is about 25%, which means about 6000-7000 cars, calculated on the volume produced right now, says Peter Augustsson.
The head of GM looked with satisfaction but also carefulness after the big launch of the 9-3 this summer. It have received very good remarks in all markets,even Germany, where it is a cruel competition. Germany builds some of the best cars in the world in the premium class, he says.
In 2005, the 9-3 is coming out in 4 different models. Next year a convertible, station wagon and a crosscountry/stationwagon looking car is on the line. The goal is to sell over 200.000 cars yearly. Today the production is 135.000 to 140.000 cars a year.
How a V8 fits into our plans we don't know yet. So far it's only a rolling test bench anyway, says Peter Augustsson.
posted by 66.229.128...
, Fri, 23 Aug 2002 02:37:23
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