Powertrain Layout
George asked now about the engine compartment of the 900. He’s used up two of his three wishes so far, but without further ado…
Hmm. That almost worked. It’s hard to scan in something 2 pages wide on a scanner meant for only one page. In any case, shown above is about .85 of the beautiful cutaway drawing of the 1992 Saab 900 SPG. It differs from my car in that mine has no turbocharger, breakerless electronic ignition, nor front and rear spoilers. The powertrain layout is the same, though. The engine is longitudinally mounted, with the drive belts at the back (against the firewall) and the clutch at the front/bottom of the engine, with the transmission directly behind it, as shown below. The above illustration fails to include the air conditioning compressor, which is mounted basically atop the engine at the back where it can get a drive belt to run it. It’s in the way of everything, from belt changes to oil changes to radiator hose changes. I’ve finally got the tools, so removing that beast is one of the next orders of business.
So the 900 is either ass-backwards in how the engine is installed, or ass-sideways. You can be the judge of that.
Wish #3: Infinite amount of wishes!
You know, if SAAB switched that arrangement around (the engine and transaxle configuration, that is), they could have moved the wheels farther forward toward the car’s corners, presumably improving handling characterstics due to a more favorable center of gravity. SAAB also would have saved you the frustration of dealing with serp belts and accessories in the most awkward of spaces, not to mention several layers of knuckle skin. Which leads me to my REAL theory as to why SAAB installed the engine backwards: Swedes are sadistic and evil!
So do you think all of the powertrain components hanging out above/in front of the front wheels negatively affect the handling?
You’ve gotta be careful badmouthing Swedes around here. I’m living the family heritage by driving Swedish engineered cars. I’ve still got relatives living there in the old country.
It’s just a theory…
Have you seen how much dead weight is hanging out behind the wheels?