Swedish Viking Defeated By Black Japanese On High Way

W201 sweden · July 20, 2006

Not much serious information in this post, but...

A month ago or so, I was driving home from work very late. Cruising peacefully on the almost empty highway (the LS sure makes you a relaxed driver), I was approached from rear by a SAAB. For those who don't know it - eh that would probably be most of you - I'm an avid SAAB fan. Anything SAAB between -70 and -96 has a special place in my heart. :blushing:

OK, this charcoal grey SAAB 900 turbo16 AERO from -91 or so, was oozing (?) street tuning. Lowered, clear corners, sport exhaust etc. Three younger kids in it. B)

I know these turbo SAABs to be real performers in between 70 and 150 km/h, especially if you concider the 2.0 liter capacity.

It is also VERY easy to tune them, and 230 hp (from 175 stock) is normal in these cars.

These kids passed me slowly, not very interested in my boring car. :whistles:

So I increased my speed a bit, and passed them - shall we dance?

The driver accelerated past me again, now with a bit more attitude. We where now doing 150 km/h (93mph) or so.

I passed him again (anyone seeing a pattern here), still not flooring the LS, and levelled off in 175 km/h (110mph).

THEN, after some seconds, I saw him in my mirror, coming REALLY fast - a lot faster than me. :o

Of course I floored it, and sure the LS responded. Kick down, and the big invisble hand pushed my car from behind like a force of nature. (One of the smaller natural forces, that is...)

The SAAB grew bigger in my mirror, showed up next to me, and STARTED to pass me. But he never came past. I'm still impressed today, that my car, accelerating from much lower speed could catch up with his "rolling" speed so easily. I was at 210 km/h (131 mph) at no time, it felt! And just to really show him my rear lights, I kept going for some more seconds. :D

I left him SOOO behind, and 210 km/h is very far from the top speed in my car, I can tell you that!

/Alexander from Sweden

jainla · July 20, 2006

I loved those old Saabs....sturdy fun little cars. They were fast, and the turbo lag made them even more fun .....especially in the rain... IMHO the 'new' ones from GM are crap (just another Oldsmo-buick).

The LS has always had the great advantage of superior drag CD..so even at high speeds when other cars are using all their power to overcome wind resistance the LS still has some kick left (I think Toyota has always done a good job choosing the gearing as well).

The pre '01 cars should easily do 150 mph...the newer ones (at least in the US) are limited to 130 for the ULEV certification. I hear in the UK the LS430s can do 170+.

Not many people on the street take the LS seriously but it's wicked fast if you push it. Someone in the office was showing me the new VW direct injected turbo four in in the new Passat...that thing felt like a little rocket. I come back to my desk and discover to my shock that my LS430 is almost a full second FASTER to 60 mph....AND the LS faster than the GTI with the 2 liter turbo and neck and neck with the Passat 3.6.

Despite weighing 800 pounds more the LS gives up little in EPA fuel economy to the 3.6....outstanding.

My favorite thing to do however is to start up the on-ramp and keep the tach around 2800 rpm...the car just magically slingshots itself onto the freeway without any apparent effort. Talk about the invisible hand of something....

:cheers: