200+ MPH in a C900?

[ric]

I say go for it!
I have heard people here in Sweden claim that they have been doing like 178mph with #8 primary with roughly 400hp and beating BMW m3´s and m5´s at top speed... However I don´t know if it´s true.
I would strongly recommend Rallyho´s advise, make the car smooth.
And build a "venturitunnel" (does it spell like this? and does anyone understand what I mean?) . My 900 feels very light in the back when I pass 120mph.

[Jordan]

I think your describing a "wind-tunnel"? A place to test aerodynamics at certain speeds?

[Rallyho]

Sounds like you're talking about a splitter for the front spoiler or a rear diffuser to clean up the air under the ass-end of the car.

[Geoff]

Venturi tunnel, that's correct.

What it is is a tunnel under the car that speeds up airflow which creates a low pressure zone under the car. This sucks the car down. The first F1 car that had one was dominating the races for a while (few races, half the season, something like that), then one of the cars flipped and the secret was out. I think by the next race everyone else had some form of one on their car.

178 in a near-stock C900.
Were they looking at the stock odometer/speedometer (which can be way off)? Or maybe using short tires which will skew the speedometer? Who knows, maybe its possible.

[ric]

Yes the 178mph is what I heard but...
The latest rumour here is a 325 BMW non turbo that delivers +1000 bhp... I don´t believe that either.
The venturi tunnel (thank you Geoff), something like this

Or rather like this maybe

Or this

You really want the down force at 200mph but a big wing on the back will take a lot of "wind"? excuse my bad English. And if you choose to use a wing/spoiler at the back of the car it should be behind the car because you want to have the air pressure difference between the car and the ground, not between the wing and the car. But if you build a proper venturi and diffuser you can cheat a little bit

[SwedeSport]

I dunno dude, whatever is going on on that car, doesnt look like it worked???

Used to be that you wanted to limit the air passing under the car. But its more beneficial to manage the air. The air passing under the car is directed out the back in such a way that it reduces the turbulence. The sucker cars were like a vacuum concept but I think that was around the time when all this technology was blooming. So Im sure that one advancement led to the next. It all feeds on itself.

R.J. Gotlieb has a stock body 69 Z28 Camaro that hit 226 mph. Of course the 1000+ hp Donovan aluminum big block helps.

I read that the current formula one cars have so much downforce that the car would stay planted to the road if it was upside down. (the road included )

Anyone have access to a wind tunnel?

[SwedeSport]

I found a video of the Camaro on youtube.

search "big red"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJTDcMWsqd0

[ric]

yea but a big block is a big block, a lot of torque and bhp and that is far from the SAAB 900
Now we are going to help our friend to reach 200+ mph not tell him how many cars that already done it. I am probably very impolite, I´m sorry. This sentence only made it worse I guess .
But I would really really like to see a SAAB 900 pass 200 mph

[SwedeSport]

If I didn't have 4 project cars already, I would either build a speed record car, or a drag car. One of my projects is nearly
complete. But I promised myself I would finish 2 projects for every new one I want to start.

It was just a daydream I had, that turned into a curiosity. Maybe one day I will build it. The combined knowledge on this forum could certainly make it happen. Anyone got a spare 5-700hp Saab Turbo motor they want to donate to the cause?

[airsweden]

I got my car up to 90 once, still wasn't enough to keep up with traffic on I-84... Ha!

What's your potential top speed when you put a stock 4 speed ring/pinion in a S&R crashbox? All 4 gears super high in comparison? Maybe thats an angle on that part of the problem.

[Luke]

I got my car up to 90 once, still wasn't enough to keep up with traffic on I-84... Ha!

What's your potential top speed when you put a stock 4 speed ring/pinion in a S&R crashbox? All 4 gears super high in comparison? Maybe thats an angle on that part of the problem.

nope 4th gear (or 5th for that matter) is always a function of the primaries and the R&P, its 1:1

[airsweden]

I thought that swapping a stock final drive into one of those would bump all 4 gears up to practically un-usable heights. I was thinking that then you could change primaries to try to bring it back down a little.

[ric]

I looked in a instruction book for the saab 900 1988.
There I could read that with the 5speed gearbox called M5E and tyres 195/60,(probably 15"
rims standard) the speed at 1000 rpm should be:
1 gear 9 kmh
2 gear 15 kmh
3 gear 23 kmh
4 gear 32 kmh
5 gear 39 kmh
reverse 8 kmh

If so , you would have to rev your engine to 8205 rpm to reach 200 mph. I can´t see the problem . But if you rev it to 10 000 rpm your top speed would be 243.75 mph and that must be better !

[SwedeSport]

With valvetrain mods I could see 8k being possible, hell my 8 valve would probably handle 8.5k. The increase in power needed to reach the next level of speed is exponential. It might take 400 HP to get to 175 but another 250 to get the next 25. Assuming 8k rpm is a safe Max , and maybe 5-6 hundred horse. Would that gearing be enough to get there without Aero mods? Maybe a trick wing or a spoiler or 2 , just to help its inherent instability at speed.

So I think we agree that the chassis could handle the speed with the right setup. And the transmission could probably complete the task with the right parts list , and a smooth application of power.
And the body can be tweaked enough to make it safe at speed. This brings us to HP. How to make enough of it, without NOS, or jato rockets , just pure turbocharged Saab goodness?

[SwedeSport]

Check this out. Anyone interested in taking a car here next summer? It sure beats going 2300 miles out west to play with your car.

http://www.ecta-lsr.com/Records.php