Volvo 242 Turbo Vs Saab 900 Turbo Comparison by Motor
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distinctly historic overtone. Suddenly, it A legend, reinforced by conspicuous "It's because he wants to expand our seemedto be a hot wind from the bad old successon the rally circuit, was quickly market, and he figures if you've got a car days, blowing hard from the north. Vi- established: Saab, the rally weapon. that makes people want to flash their sions of long ships and guys running Saab, the woods car. Saab, the perfor- headlights you're only going to sell about around with battle axes. Sweden's only mance car for discerning individuals with 10,000to 15,000of them a year." automobile manufacturers locked into a taste for the bizarre. Which is precisely what Saab is mov- traditional fratricide. It's a legend that persists,and it doesn't ing-about 15,000 per annum. Against a To which we say [else. Yah shoor, bring as much joy to Saab marketing as backdrop of steadily mounting costs-not these two whistlers are competing in the you might think. Rather than having their a promising climate for expansion. same general price bracket. And they're car perceived as a peculiar piece of engi- Len Lonnegren, the Saab PR director, certainly comparable in terms of perfor- neering genius that's beyond the ken of sums it up very tidily: "It's becoming a mance-in fact, you're in for some sur- all but the true cognoscenti, the Saab cult car that's just for the people who can prises. But the idea of these two cars brain trust would rather have their prod- afford to buy It again. The old car, the 90 fighting to the death for the entire Swed- uct seen for what it is: a high-quality all- series car, was a cult car for people who ish pie encompassesonly a small percent- seasons European sedan with sporting could barely afford anything." age of what's going on here. And, like the character. Cult car or otherwise, though, this Saab Vikings of old, they're fully capable of But noooooo. Guys go out and buy is very much in the mold of the other 900 closing ranks against some outside foe. Saabs and, by golly, first thing you know series machines we've come to know and The identity of that foe should become they're talking about Eric Carlsson and respect over the years: taut, refined and apparent as this saga progresses. Stig Blomqvist and reading stories about supremely comfortable. The ignition key Press On Regardlessand the Safari. They is still on the floor and is likely to remain Saab 900 Turbo yust seem to get a little nuts, Sven. there. The front seats still have built-in Bob Sinclair, a former Volvo of Ameri- warmers. The rear seatbacksstill fold for- High Panjandrum ca exec who now heads Saab Scania of of the Cult America, is no stranger to cultism: His T he first Saabmade just about enough taste for Norton motorcycles persists in horsepower-25-with its 2-cylinder, the face of all Japanesesuperbike superi- 2-stroke engine to avoid being mistaken ority. But even he is amazed by the faith for a doorstop-but not much more. of Saab faithful. Which didn't seemto dampen the enthu- "We get stacksof mail, and they all say siasm of Swedish rallyists, who promptly pretty much the same thing," he says. began disfiguring the local woods with "That there's absolutely no other car in race-prepped Saab 92s. The new car the world they can live with. wasn't exactly eyeball-flattening in the "Carl Ally, the president of our adver- acceleration department, but it went tising agency (Ally and Gargano), says around corners pretty well and its stream- nothing makes him madder than when lined shape (a throwback to Saab's air- another Saab owner flashes his headlights craft heritage) seemed to carom off tree at him. He says,'This is an automobile; trunks with exceptional facility. this is not a love affair; this is a car!' 74 SEPTEMBER 1981 MOTOR TREND The power-assisted rack-and-pinion wouldn't stay mated to the crank drive achieves these gains without incurring steering doesn't offer quite the feel and splines, and the sunroof leaked during substantial engine retooling costs; the precision of the Saab, but the Volvo does the car wash test. We suspect the silver Bosch K-Jetronic-injected 2.1-liter OHC possess a commendably small curb-to- velour upholstery material isn't going to turbo four is identical to the normally as- curb turning circle-just over 32 feet- weather very well, particularly insofar as pirated version in every respect Save its making it remarkably maneuverable for stains are concerned, but only time will 7.5: I compressionratio (normal is 9.3: I). a car its size. tell on this score. To get proper airflow, the Volvo engi- Oqr test car didn't reflect Volvo's usual But the truly distinguishing feature of neers cleverly mated the air metering unit attention to quality control. An annoying this car is its new turbo motor, which from the V -6 engine's injection system, vibration cropped up in the left rear offers 20 more horsepower than the with tWo fuel jets shut off. Beyond that, it quarter during the test, the sunroof crank standard version: 127at 5,400rpm. Volvo was just a matter of plumbing in the Gar- ROAD TEST DATA Saab 900 Turbo ~ ~IFICATD\S ~ SPECIFICATIa\S GENERAL G.""," c~mnce 60 n GENERAL Lo,O" 1925" ~=~--;~-=VeN I ".. "" t I ho toO ~"',:Ma. load *'0'" wi Vehlclotype- _'-eng'" ~'-dOve Wid" 673" ~ro 2-000.coupe ~~~d~i~;;;~:::'3"'" Bo.oP"'O OptiON an loot co. AM!'"C<*8Hv_'te:eO ~~~h:b;;;;;;;;i.: t~7: (mandatooy) ,"co0."'1ed 114M1 CAPACITIES Fuel 158.". ,ype,..".,"". CooIlng_10..,. ENGINE "bacha~od. cost 'an TNnk 149 CU tt Typo !)k)ck. o,,",lnumheOd SUSPENSION ~-, ~~~~;;':"I~;;;~:5q::;. 5man beo- ~,ca,I_b,,"k, '",nk 137cu' _a_. 354,301In Foont " a-.mnum ""'$ mam SUSPENSION ~ .800chK.Je.-)2J,CUrIO,"mm) In (1.985co) Roo. :"::Agoo moo... =.::Panha", md "'"". coo..,.,.. 80.. .'Ooke on"-,",'ba ...,. \ Fuel ",10m ,..--- D".'oco~"1 'OS.cON,...';;'_. nJOcfton. Gantt TC03 STEERING Com "" ,""0 ftRbochooge. Fuel",- bOt 91 ..-Type Rackand ,.n"". ~~::- ST"RING -, Type R- --"--- / v~~c::::::::: ~:.= .:o~t :~::::~oc:.~~.~~;;;:;;~;;;m-;-' RecommendedEm"'o" coMol 91un- ; 3~--- : '.::.a.:.~;:' ..., BRAKES Vo... goo, "'"" T"",ngcl",~c- 3,ff", Foont 110-0.dbco. "O""'- !SA'~ 127at 5AOO""" I DRMTRAlN, -~ BRAKES Tm~m""on Roo. "",,",-'10~ "boo 'O..ue'b.'cSAE~:: ~~1a.;~~"""'" 'oom 103-'" ..nled doc. 3~" WHEELSAND TIRES DRIVETRAIN .~, 11""-d~ '",nom".'o" --mo",,"1 Wheel...13510, 390mmI w/- W!t"LS AND TIRES 'moldo,. .atlo .731 Wheel , 15 " WheellypeAftov DIMENSIONS n~ make and PO.195/60 HR15 Wheelbo.. 1043" II..~ c~~~~ '",ck '" 563/53510. r--_u..'..'.FI.~I~ ~ TEST RESULTS ~ -'-c:::21RESULTS 25 :' 'RAKING BRAKING '-.. 30 4) 50 '" Me"! 11 IT'..' ,- 30 It) 50 60 MPH --2338 3""~.~n; ,.5 59 '00 "ET 25 50 ,. 100 125 FEETo2ESi ;5' ;BI ""~"5 D; 1 MOTOR TREND SEPTEMBER 1981 77 ~~,~, vo's stodgy image. The intramural perfor- the unblown edition lies primarily be- four adult passengersinside. Comfort is mance junta is extensive and goes all the neath the hood. There's some restrained high, although we prefer the Saabseats to way up to Dan Web in, Volvo's vice presi- black exterior trim, a little chin spoiler to the Volvo's lumbar-supported numbers <tent for product planning. While there reinforce the performance feeling, and primarily because the Saab units offer isn't much chance of Volvo returning to Pirelli P6 radials to help put the perfor- better lateral support. There's also a bit prod]Jction of a sports car, sucb as tl)e late mance onto the asphalt. .But about the more leg room in the Saab's back seat. lamented 1800E, there is a substantial only other clue that this Volvo is some- Although the Volvo's suspension- ch&nce we'll be seeing more machines thing out of the ordinary is the little MacPhersonstruts front, live rear axle-is such as this one; Volvos that can do "Turbo" badge on the back. a bit qated, it nevertheless represents a something besides make you feel pious. Like the Saab, the Volvo is a pretty successfulblend of spring and damping The difference between this GLT and good-sized car, with plenty of room for rates for a very pleasanthighway ride. Living proof that Saabs are actually designed, rather than organically grown H is favorite car is the 1963 Ferrari Okay, then, if weird is a bit strong, thered by Chief Engineer Gunnar 250 GT Lusso, followed closely surely we can say that Saabs are Ljungstrom and independent designer by the original AIfa Sprint Veloce and unique. That Saabs are Saabs and Sixten Sason before Envall had even the 1967Camaro. He acceptsthe crea- nothing else. passedhis boards for the Swedish Roy- tions of Pininfarina-save for those so- "Well, that's fine, as far as it goes," al College of Art. The 92 positively called "heavy" Ferraris penned during says Envall. "But we would like people oozedweirdness. Michelotti's residency-chapter and to understandthat Saabsare Saabsbe- But we can't let Envall off the hook verse. He has an unexpectedly wacky cause of what Saab stands for. It's re- entirely, becauseit was the 92 that at- senseof humor and a shrewd way of re- ally difficult to get people to under- tracted him to a career in autodom. gressing into "yah shoors" and um- He took his first job with Sason De- lauts when the questions bore into ter- sign, in Stockholm, in 1956, cleaning ritory be regards as proprietary.