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, Thu, 28 Jul 2005 04:49:44
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You've noticed that Sabbs are heavy cars for their size....always were. In Europe where petrol has always been expensive compared to what we pay in the States, fuel efficiency has always been a factor. Although Saab was not the first to put turbos in their cars (GM did it in '62 on the Corvair and Buick Special/Skylark if you checked the right option box), they did "mass" produce it in the late '70s. The U.S. was always Saab's largest foreigh market and 2.0 litre engines without any kick would not have sold well here. Turbos allow higher performance when needed and resort to typical 4 cylinder efficiency at most other times. The efficiency is not quite like a Japanese econobox since those cars are lighter and use 1.6 or 1.8 litre engines.
Not all turbos require 93 octane, but Saabs seem to need it. With the knock sensors in Saab's engine management, you could use lower octane, however, your fuel efficiency will take a downturn. Higher octane detonates faster than lower octane, thus, you burn the fuel quicker and there is less unburnt fuel left so the sensors wouldn't come into play in retarding the timing. Is it worth it to use lower octane? My guess is no. You can mix 93 and 89 giving you ~91 if you must, but I wouldn't do that in the warm/hot weather.
Its seems the American market does not fully embrace 4 cylinder cars (that's probably changing now that petrol is heading to $3/gallon), 6s are the rage like V8s were when I was growing up. Saab experimented with this in the late '90s with the 2.3 V6 and the Vauxhall V6 in the early 9-5s. that didn't last did it?
My first car was a 4200 lb '69 Buick with a 430 cid motor - fastest car I've ever owned. It got me 12 - 13 MPG and 16 highway. The 3600 lb '02 Aero gets 20 around town and 32 highway. It does not have the torque of the Buick, but its still a slingshot and handles significantly better.
I'm defending the use of small effieiency engines of today and would not opt for a large engine in any vehicle, but God, I miss my Wildcat!
posted by 198.240.13...
, Thu, 28 Jul 2005 04:49:44
, Thu, 28 Jul 2005 09:35:04, Thu, 28 Jul 2005 12:51:59
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