1992 Classic Saab 900 convertible
Saab 900, an automobile from Saab, was released in 1978. It was based on the Saab 99 chassis, but longer. The cW value was 0,34. An even longer "Finlandia" version called 900 CD was made at Valmet in Finland. The 900 CD is 20 cm longer than standard, by adding 10 cm to both front and rear doors, but it's only the rear space that is larger. Optional extras for the CD were leather interior, reading lights, rear blinds, footrests and a car telephone.
The 900 was produced in 2, 3, 4 and 5 door versions, with a low or high pressure turbocharger, and in a very successful convertible version.
Saab 900 could be ordered with different options. One highly sought-after is called Aero. It incorporated (depending on the market) the Aero body skirt, sport-springs and shock absorbers, 175hp 16-valve turbo engine, usually leather seats, A/C etc. All these could of course be ordereded independently.
Saab 900 experienced a face-lift in 1987 (August). The front of the car was re-styled, though the metal body parts were not changed, only the grille, headlights and bumpers; being a small car-factory Saab kept the basic undercarriage fairly unchanged until the end. At 1987 the Saab 900 had the same wheelbearings and brakes with the Saab 9000 and the hand brake affected the rear tyres from here on.
The Saab 900 Turbo is James Bond's vehicle of choice in many of the John Gardner Bond novels, beginning with "License Renewed". The 900 was dubbed, "Silver Beast" [1], it is Bond's private vehicle, and he had the real-life company Communication Control Systems, Ltd. (CCS) to fit it out. See also Erik Carlsson.
Engines
Some 900 versions are GL (later just 900 from 1985 onwards) (100 hp, single carburettor), GLs (108 hp, dual carburettors) or GLi (later just 900i from 1985 on) (118 hp, with fuel injection). Saab Ab introduced the turbocharger to everyday-vehicles in 1977 in its 99 Turbo with a motor called the B engine (based on the Triumph Slant-4 engine designed for SAAB by Triumph). This motor was also used in early 900 turbo models, which especially at the export markets made the Saab name a household brand.
The B-motor was further designed into a H engine, which was used until 1993. The H engine is very durable and due to fairly standardised engine management system, it can be easily tuned to 200-200 hp, and with further bolt-on modifications to a 250 hp range. Saab used Bosch mechanical K-Jetronic Continous Fuel Injection in the fuel injected and 8-valve turbocharged versions, and the Bosch LH 2.2 & 2.4 and Lucas Automotive electric fuel injection systems were used in the 16-valve turbo and N/A -versions.
The turbo variations were:
- 2.0 L B201 Turbo, 8-valve, 145 hp (108 kW)
- 2.0 L B201 with intercooler, 8-valve, 155 hp (116 kW)
- 2.0 L B202 light pressure 16-valve turbo, 141 hp (104 kW)
- 2.0 L B202 full pressure 16-valve turbo (w/o I/C, APC etc), 160 hp (119 kW)
- 2.0 L B204 full pressure 16-valve turbo, 175 hp (131 kW)
- 2.0 L B204 full pressure 16-valve turbo, special with factory "Red Box", 185 hp (138 kW)
- 2.5 L 54° V6
What made a real difference to the competitors especially in the early and mid 1980s was the development and use of Automatic Performance Control (APC). The system enabled to use as much pressure developed by turbo as possible without engine knocking. The system had a sensor (knock-sensor) attached to the motor block and knocking of any kind was present, the APC-system would decrease the charge pressure by opening a wastegate, a bypass to the exhaust. This enabled the use of various octane fuels and also made the use of turbo more safe for the engine.
At first, Saab used a Garrett Systems turbo, which was cooled by air and engine oil. From 1988 Saab began to use Mitsubishi TE-05 turbos, which were water-cooled and due to more modern design, were able to hold boost pressure better with better spool-up. Also, the water-cooling made these systems to be much more durable.
900 Enduro
A special version of the 900 Turbo was assembled by Saab Australia. It was called 900 Enduro [2] and only 12 cars were made. The package consisted of very flared fenders, added instruments (oil pressure, charging voltage and current drain) mounted where the radio usually was, improved suspension and big wheels and tyres. To increase performance the wastegate was set at 17 psi (1.2 bar). Water injection came standard.
Convertible
In the mid 1980s the president of Saab-Scania of America, Robert J. Sinclair , suggested a convertible version to increase sales. A first prototype was built by ASC, the American Sunroof Company (now American Specialty Cars).
The Trollhättan design department, headed by Björn Envall , based its version on the 3 door Coupé and the Finnish plant used a sturdier 2 door version, which also looked better and was selected for production. The initial production was not planned to be large but the orders kept coming in and a classic was born.
The new car was shown for the first time on the International Motor show (IAA) in Frankfurt in the autumn of 1983. The first prototype aroused enormous interest and in April 1984 Saab decided to put the car in production at Valmet. The production of the first 900 convertible started during spring of 1986.
The Saab Convertible usually had 16-valve turbocharged engine, but it was also offered in N/A-version in 2.1 liter (with fuel injection).
1994
Influenced by General Motors (GM), in 1994 a "New Generation" (NG) 900, based on the Opel Vectra chassis, was introduced. The cabriolet/convertible was still made on the 'classic' chassis for an additional year. The cW value was improved to 0,30. Variants included the S and (convertible) SE models - three-door model, five-door model and the convertible. The "top" version called "Saab 900 Viggen was also available - also called "the fastest Saab ever built".
There was also a Talladega version, after the endurance test on the Talladega racetrack.
This version of the 900 was equipped with 2.0 L, 2.3 L (naturally aspirated, low or pressure turbo) Saab 16V DOHC engines (B202, B232) and also 2.5 L displacement version of GM's European 54° V6 engine (3.0 l). Engine management was operated by Saab Direct Ignition (SDI) + Automatic Performance Control (APC) + Bosh LH Jetronic or Saab Trionic unit, althrough in 1996 the distributor operated ignition was re-introduced for 2.0 and 2.3 L naturally aspirated engines. The turbocharged variants powering the NG900 (B204) have always used Trionic.
As opposed to the "classic" Saab 900 it has a transversely mounted engine and a rear flipping hood.
1998
Saab made "over 1,500 improvements" to the NG900 in 1998, and re-badged it as a Saab 9-3.
External links
