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Do you want more torque? You have to increase compression. With a knock sensor covering your tail, you ought to shoot for around 11 or so to 1. Find some cams with around 290 degress doration and 10.5mm lift. Add headers and min 2.5 inch exhaust. Now you can do some tuning and actually get some results. According to a guy I got some development parts from in Sweden named Gunnar Forssberg in Sodertalje, you'll never get more than around 175hp in a NA SAAB 16 if you keep the stock intake manifold. Thats where the bottleneck is, specifically the runners coming off the plenumn.
The guys on this board who have turbos are not the ones to listen to when you have a Normaly Aspirated motor, and _they_ would be much better off not listening to the various geniuses who are advising them to spend money porting and polishing and changing cams and all this endless dump valve nonsense. I am going to try and post someplace some nice, graphis photos of what is waiting for evry one of you performance minded fellows that build these supposedly killer motors with the OEM cast Mahle pistons.
It will not be pretty, but it is very typical.
The block, crank, rods and bolts, are all good for in excess of 330hp, but the thing you'll need is at a minimum forged flat top pistons, with valve reliefs or slightly domed pistons to get the compression up. Try and remember, the engine management system only MANAGES what is asked of it; it is still the rate and duration of valve opening, and the degree the piston squeeze things before it pops which detirmines the power charactaristics of a motor. In NA motors it still what some of us who have done this sort of thing for 20-30 years call CCC:Compression,Camshaft,Carburation (or now injector flow in cc/min or pulse width, but you get the idea.)
And all you guys who may read this who have turbo cars and may feel all het up cause they may think I suggesting that they have pissed away huge amount of money needlessly, and at the same time missed the heart of the modification which must be done to have a safe and reliable motor, don't get het up at me. You got bad advice. The Saab 16 valve motor is in all important measureable respects nearly identical to Ford YBB series Cosworth motors in the Sierra and Escort Cosworth cars 1986-1996, yet the stock Cossie HP was 205 in the first models and 225 in the last, and everybody chips them to at least 275hp, and thats Stage 1. All the standard internal bits are good to close to 380-390hp except the headgasket
which should be changed at the 320 mark more or less. So, boys, how did they do it? you should note that the Cossies all years used Garrett T3 turbos with the turbine shaft, center section and compressor wheels being virtually identical to SAABs T3. How's theirs (and mine) soooo reliable and the SAAB borderline at best?
Anyway Doogie, if you actually are going to try and make some fun power, ask around and make some notes and contact me if you want. The last time I did a NA SAAB 16v it was dynoed at 212 or 215hp but that was with separate runners on the intake side. Where are you at?
, Sun, 28 Jan 2001 21:28:44
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