That Saab Sound

There are a lot of things I love about Saabs.  You're probably tired of hearing about it by now. For that I apologize.  I tend to be a bit of a specific-interest writer, catering more towards the whole "old European Car" demographic than the "hey, there's a new Audi press release out!" demographic.  As far as what it is in particular I love about Saabs, it's a bit difficult to really nail it down because, frankly, there are a lot of things.  But one of the big things is how these cars sound.

(Ed's note: I began work on this article a while before my Saab's gearbox bought the farm and I gave up on the whole concept of daily driving an archaic European sports coupe for the time being.  For that "Saab" story (har har), just click here.)

Now, to be specific, I'm talking about Saabs with the Triumph-derived B and H motors, which means everything from the 1969 Saab 99 up to the 2008 Saab 9-5 Aero (yes, I'm serious, Saab really did use derivatives of this engine for that long.)  And while it changed quite a lot over it's lifespan, there's still a large amount of parts interchangeability with these cars, so I consider them to be somewhat one in the same.  And with a little bit of exhaust work, they sound absolutely amazing.

I've compiled a collection of YouTube videos to show you what I'm talking about.  I call it That Saab Sound.  Maybe "an ode to the turbo slant four" is better.  Anyhow, take a listen and see if you agree.  We'll start with one you're probably quite familiar with - my car.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSuU0PUGQgg

As far as Saab motors go, my car has what's called the third-generation turbo engine.  The original 99 Turbo used the B-motor with a single-cam 8 valve head.  The '81 900 Turbo received the H motor, which replaced the jackshaft-driven water pump with a belt-driven pump off the crank pulley, and the distributor was driven off the cam rather than geared off the crank for simplicity and reduced parasitic losses.  My car has the twin-cam 16v head that came online in '86, as well as the APC system which controls maximum boost pressure according to fuel octane, knock sensor readings, and other parameters.  In this video, the car has a few simple modifications - an open intake off the MAF sensor, a gutted catalytic converter (since replaced with a 200-cell high flow cat) and a Flowmaster muffler on the stock 2.5" piping. Up next will be a new (non-rotted) downpipe and either straight pipes from the catalyst rearward, or a small glass-pack muffler if the straight pipe is too annoying.  Still, the staccato off-beat rumble of a Saab turbo is pretty nice.  But if that's not loud enough for you, how about this?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvu-hNYJBlE

When the description says "straight pipe," this guy's not kidding.  It's 3" (up from 2.5") from the downpipe back, no catalytic converter, and no muffler to speak of.  It's a 1990 but it's still the same exact engine as my car (16v 2.0L Turbo) with Bosch LH-Jet 2.4 injection instead of 2.2.  I'd probably get tired of a setup like this after a week or so, but my god, it sounds good.  Just listen to that thing when he gets into boost!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pks9G8-Kino

Moving forward a bit on the Saab Engine timeline, this is a mid-90's 9000 Aero 5-door (not stock, haha) on an autocross course.  This video could also be properly entitled "the effective traction limits of a front-wheel-drive chassis."  The 9000 Aero used what Saab called the B234, which was a stroked-out H motor (2.3L instead of 2) with direct ignition, Trionic integrated engine management and boost control, balance shafts, and a much more modern Mitsubishi Heavy Industries TD04-15H-LT turbocharger in place of the laggy old-school Garret T3 turbochargers used on older 900 and 9000 Turbos.  They were seriously rapid cars even stock, and as you can see this one just has too much power to put down on an autocross (Gymkhana to you Europeans) course.  Still, mmm... that sound.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cp4b6BVKRs

How about some big-turbo action?  This is an "NG" 900 (meaning it's actually an Opel Astra underneath, being a 1994-1998 model with the transverse motor) but still has a Saab motor, in this case a B204L.  This one's not stock either, the main ingredient being the Holset HX35 turbocharger off of a Dodge Cummins 5.9L 24v turbo-diesel truck engine.  For those not familiar, an HX35 is approximately the size of Rhode Island.  It's a popular turbo setup for Saabs as most use exhaust manifolds flanged for Garrett T3's or T25's, and the HX35 uses a T3 flange, so with some compressor re-clocking it'll bolt right on and easily make more boost than the internals or transmission can hope to handle.  This one's making an alarming 392bhp at 18psi of boost... or about 200whp more than my car on the same psi.  Here's another video of the same car doing a second gear pull.  I'd really like to have a car with the main limitation being violent roll-on wheelspin.  One day...

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUb8d-c9vKY

Many people are surely familiar with the Saab 9-3 Viggen, the hot-rod hatch the company made between 1999-2001.  They used the B235R, which was a further development of the big-turbo B234 used in the 9000 Aero.  This one's using a Garrett GT30 turbocharger and tuned to run on E85 (ethanol) which has a much higher effective octane rating than regular petroleum gas.  412whp and 422lb-ft wtq is not too shabby for a 2.3L Saab running on corn juice.  This pull was made with the exhaust exiting at the downpipe, which is why it sounds remarkably like a PowerStroke diesel when it's pulling into the GenuineSaab parking lot.  Absolutely nasty car.  Would love to take a spin in that...

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRQqD07TM6E

Sadly, later Saabs switched over to GM-derived engines - in fact the switch began in the mid 90's with the V6 powered NG900 and 9000, and the 9-5 SE had a GM Europe V6 with a single turbo strapped to it.  The modern 9-3's use a derivative of the EcoTec 4-cylinder family, and the new Turbo V6 is also a derivative of GM's aluminum "high feature" twin-cam V6 family.  While they are far more modern engines, they really don't have the distinctive, slightly crazy sound that old Saab turbos did.  More proof that time continues to march onward...