Saab Extends Diesels to Australia
30 August 2006
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| Saab 9-3 TiD sedan. |
GM Saab is expanding its product offering in Australia with the addition of the 9-3 1.9-liter TiD vehicles beginning in January 2007. The common rail 1.9-liter turbo diesel engine will initially appear in the 9-3 Sport Sedan and SportCombi, but Saab says it is also considering the introduction of a diesel version of its 9-3 Convertible.
Euro-4 compliant, the DOHC 1.9TiD engine produces 110 kW (147 hp) and 320 Nm (235 lb-ft) of torque. Fuel consumption on the combined European cycle is 6.3 l/100km, or 37 mpg US—a 25% improvement over the 1.8-liter gasoline engine model.
Common rail technology provides consistently high injection nozzle pressures of 1,600 bar, providing finer control over combustion to improve fuel consumption and reduce emissions.
The Bosch ECM continually adjusts the number, frequency and size of the injections according to three main parameters: current engine speed, the requested throttle setting and engine coolant temperature. Each injection pulse may be separated by as little as 150 microseconds, delivering a quantity of fuel as tiny as one cubic millimeter.
A low-inertia Garrett turbocharger, operating at 1.35 bar boost, with variable vane geometry (VNT) provides quick pick-up at low engine speeds. An electro/hydraulic power steering system also helps improve fuel consumption.
The 1.9TiD powertrain includes a self-cleaning diesel particulate filter. Located in the exhaust system downstream of the close-coupled catalyst, the housing for the filter also includes a secondary oxidation catalyst to remove residual hydrocarbons (HC). The exhaust gases pass through this first, before entering the filter’s ceramic core, made from a honeycomb of silicon carbide.
The active regeneration process boosts the exhaust temperature to 600 ° C to burn off accumulated soot. Active regeneration is automatically initiated when back pressure in the exhaust system reaches a certain level.
Enabled by the multiple injection strategy, the self-cleaning process takes place whenever necessary, irrespective of throttle load or engine temperature.
i think 45mpg should be normal,
a car under 45mpg should no be allowed
basta
Posted by: italy | 30 August 2006 at 07:47 AM
Another NOx blowout on the Australian market. Nobody needs the Fiat-Diesel in a Saab.
Why not introducing a small 1.4-1.6 turbocharged patrol engine. It´s clean and more coast effective to the Diesel.
Posted by: Geoff | 30 August 2006 at 10:00 AM
Because petrol & diesel is too cheap in Oz like in N. America and everyone thinks they need at least 150hp in any car otherwise they will be a loser...
...and 37mpgUS is 44 normal mpg, so that's not too bad.
Posted by: tug | 30 August 2006 at 10:49 AM
Wrong this was done on the Euro fuel consumption cycle and just converted to mpg straight from l/100km for US readers to better digest the numbers. It would probably hit mid to low 30's on the US driving cycle for combined.
BTW with combined at 37mpg it probably does hit close to 45mpg on the highway.
Considering the typical weight of a Saab 9-3 you would not want a motor of much less than what they put on it. Moving a 3200lb vehicle with a lower torque gasoline engine of much less than 150hp would probably have you running the engine under higher load for a greater percentage of the time. Typical drivers (in the USA) have an aggressive style of driving and accelerating to 60 in less than 15 seconds is typical rather than smoothly and gradually accelerating over a period of 20-25 seconds (which would allow a less powerful engine).
Posted by: Patrick | 30 August 2006 at 03:54 PM
Patrick, why do you say that the US driving cycle is more aggresive in its testing? The Euro is a combination of city and extra-urban (motorway) so it's the same as city/highway.
This review said the 9-3 get about 48mpg (manual).
http://www.channel4.com/4car/feature/feature.jsp?id=1117
Posted by: kol | 31 August 2006 at 05:09 AM
Well, it seems that they turn out to be the same for combined gas mileage. It took a bit of work to find two models equipped exactly the same between various European countries and the US but I found that the European city drive cycle is more aggressive (lower mpg numbers) and the highway drive cycle is less aggressive (higher mpg numbers) and it seems to usually average out to be roughly the same. The new fuel mileage procedures being put into use in the US very soon will change that though.
I would then say that if you were to compare fuel economy figures for US only vehicles or Europe only vehicles use the combined gas mileage numbers for a point of reference. (make sure you compare the L/km figures with UK cars as their imperial gallons are larger than US gallons...why can't everybody just use the much simpler metric system?)
Posted by: Patrick | 31 August 2006 at 10:16 AM
Driving this cars earlier version with 2.2 the worst mileage obtained with many winter starts was 32mpg...summer full tanks have been over 45. Its a joy to drive and with an earlier blog noting that Mercedes CDIs 6 cylinder just missed bin5(without Adblue), this motor should be there and would be a welcome addition to Saabs and GMs NA lineup. Tonawanda should toolup.
Posted by: fred@dzlsabe.com | 31 August 2006 at 10:45 AM