Pulling in the standing mile at 193.25 miles per hour, this 9-3 broke the world record for fastest Saab standing mile. Running fifty psi, it's pretty obvious that this is no standard build. To run these kinds of boost levels, the average engine must be fully built and balanced otherwise catastrophe is sure to strike; but not the Saab. This one is running stock internals! This is one of those cars that is built extremely strong from the factory and can take this kind of punishment. Other engines that would be comparable are BMW, Volvo, and GM's Ecotec.
This 9-3 features a 2.0 liter inline four cylinder motor, which is ideal for boost thanks to it's 9.5 to one compression ratio and general design which allows extremely short manifold runners. With a short intake and exhaust manifold, the turbo is almost sitting right on top of the heads, allowing instant boost into the unknown. The shorter the distance from the turbo to the heads, the more power you will generally make. This is one reason why builders typically choose the inline design instead of the V or horizontally opposed boxer styles. Discuss this article with CarDomain.com
More high speed by the mile!
Watching this standing mile run, this is one amazing Saab 9-3! With stock power levels at only 175 horsepower at 5,500 RPM and 195 foot pounds of torque at just 2,500 RPM, someone spent a lot of money and wrench time under the hood of this beast. I would guess that a minimum of $20,000 was invested in parts alone, and if you add up the man hours we're probably talking a $50,000 build to match what we've got here. Enjoy the following run, with stock internals I'm pretty sure there won't be many more 50 psi runs! (50 psi @ 9.5:1 = 475 psi combustion pressure)
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