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Saab Shows Two New Vehicles at LA Motor Show

Despite Financial Woes, Saab Shows New Models at LA Motor Show

One of the biggest problems with cars, particularly those with high performance, high pressure turbos, or direct injection technology, is that the real price you pay comes every time you need to refill. Theres also another toll, one rarely spoken about in car magazines, being the cost such engines are to the environment.

Swedish carmaker Saab has come up with a rather clever way of reducing the impact on the world around us with its new BioPower Concept car, which will make its debut at this years Los Angeles Motor Show next week.

The BioPower Concept car isnt exactly the stunner its name might imply. You wont find a low profile, ultra-fast wedge, or a wacky-looking Tokyo-style

Saabs BioPower Concept shows that conserving the environment and performance arent mutually exclusive entities. (Photo: General Motors)

dream vehicle, but instead the BioPower concept is based off of the recently revised 9-5 SportCombi station wagon, in super fast aero trim, and if it werent for the gigantic decals plastered on its doors it would appear identical to any new 9-5 wagon. It must be said, however, that the new warparound headlamps and blackout detailing do make it look a lot like the 9-x concept car.

Using BioPower technology, Saabs engineers managed to extract a truly impressive

The BioPower showcases Saabs latest innovations - the new, facelifted 9-5 SportCombi aero and Saabs innovative E85 technology. (Photo: General Motors)

310 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque out of the 9-5s 2.3 liter turbocharged motor, when the car is fuelled with ethanol-enriched E85. That marks a 20 percent increase in horsepower (260), and 25 percent more torque (258 lb-ft) over the standard 9-5 Aero, a total output that enables this midsize near-luxury family hauler to scorch past 60 mph in less than six seconds.
While its difficult to believe that merely pouring a new kind of fuel (thats currently available in many North American filling stations) in your tank could yield an extra 20 percent more power, according to Saab

The new nose is the only part of the BioPower Concept that looks like a concept. (Photo: General Motors)

its true. When compared to premium unleaded, ethanol has an octane rating equivalent to 108, an amazing 17 points higher, allowing for higher turbo boost, advanced engine timing, without the potentially damaging results of pre-detonation and knocking.

From an environmental perspective, E85 is considered to be almost carbon-neutral. While it is true that carbon dioxide gasses are released when it is burned, scientists say that the amount released when burned is equivalent to the amount removed from the atmosphere when corn and other grain crops, planted for fuel generation, grow during natural photosynthesis. As such, it is a much, much friendlier fuel, leaving less of an ecological footprint than diesel or gasoline.

The unique trait

A regular 9-5 SportCombi by comparison. (Photo: General Motors)

about the BioPower fuel technology is that cars employing it can run on E85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline), regular gasoline or any combination of the two. Saabs engineers have modified the Trionic engine management system to automatically adapt and adjust to the type of fuel added to the gas tank. Interestingly, the differences between the engines in the BioPower Concept and regular 9-5 aero is minimal, consisting of the new computer, stronger valves, valve seats, and ethanol-compliant fuel lines, tanks and pump.

Earlier last year we reported on Saabs E85-powered 9-5, which has since gone on sale across Europe. Remarkably, its helped turn sales of the 9-5 completely around. The E85 9-5 accounts for 70 percent of sales, and it also picked up Popular Mechanics Best of Whats New Award for 2005. By introducing the BioPower Concept at LA, it hopes to garner the

Celebrating two decades of premium convertibles - the limited edition Saab 9-3 20 Years Edition (Photo: General Motors)

interest of the North American buying public, who may want to partake in helping the environment without resorting to hybrid or diesel power.

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