Saab ng900 and rallyx

I have never owned a Saab and I feel like I need to correct that over site. I'm even willing to overlook that it's wrong wheel drive. But I have a certain need to rally cross and was wondering how they would fair in the rough stuff.

They are torque-steer monsters but other than that I see no reason one wouldn't do well.

Does the ng have the rear suspension that is a beam axle and something similar to a double watt linkage setup or am I thinking of something else?

No real experience and I've only seen one or two rallycross over the years. My impression on those occasions were that it was not fast or competitive. Can't say if that was due to the car, car setup, or the driver...it would definitely not be my choice.

In reply to irish44j:

I'm not looking to be competitive. Just like autocross, the experience of doing the thing is more important than the results of the thing for me. Seriously, coming in DFL but having a blast is better than coming in first but not enjoying the experience.

I just don't want to constantly be replacing bent linkages and the like.

I guess what I'm asking is would the car hold together relatively well over the course of a season without needing to be completely rebuilt?

the really weak spot on those cars is the firewall mounted steering rack. It is also the reason those cars like to Torque steer into the nearest kerb. reinforce that and it should hold up. I do know the subframe under the engine is aluminum. I dropped mine enough time working on the engine to know it is not hard and only held in with a hand full of large diameter bolts.

The ng900/early 9-3 is a good (potentially great) engine in a mediocre chassis. At this point I only look at ng900s as parts donors for c900 t5 conversions.

They do have a beam type rear axel with a track bar type location link. It doesn't hurt the cars performance in any way, the steering does that.

If you want a GM era SAAB to go sporting in (for cheap) I think a 9-5 aero would be a better choice.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: In reply to irish44j: I'm not looking to be competitive. Just like autocross, the experience of doing the thing is more important than the results of the thing for me. Seriously, coming in DFL but having a blast is better than coming in first but not enjoying the experience. I just don't want to constantly be replacing bent linkages and the like. I guess what I'm asking is would the car hold together relatively well over the course of a season without needing to be completely rebuilt?

It all depends on the condition of the car. Things like bad motor mounts can cause bad things to happen on any car at rallycross. Also depends a lot on what your rallycross courses locally look like - we've run at places that were basically a smooth, soft field - and places that are brutally rutted, rocky, and bumpy.

Good example - I've run almost 5 full seasons in a 1985 e30 (first seasons were virtually stock) with pretty much zero mechanical or suspension issues, or any other real damage. Other guys locally with e30s have had various problems in all of those categories - some in stock/beaters, others in prepped cars. Stay on top of maintenance, figure out what needs to be protected (fuel lines, or oil pans, or other things are vulnerable on various cars). In terms of power, rallycross presents the same difficulties as autocross (if a car's engine is known to grenade at constant high rpms, don't pick that car). So you can use peoples' experiences at autocrossing or tracking the NG900 as being relevant for rallycross.

Just my own biased opinion, but if fun and toughness are your main goals, older RWD cars are the way to go. There's a reason over half of our last rallycross (almost 50 cars) was older RWD cars....they're cheap, tough, and tons of fun. YMMV though. If you want a Saab because you want a Saab....go get a Saab and figure out what you need to do to make it survive rallycross. I doubt that it has any true "fatal flaw" that would make it inherently a bad choice compared to, say, a Civic, or Golf, or whatever....

also would note that the c900 cars have a pretty extensive rally heritage, so if you just want a Saab to have a Saab, the c900 may be a better choice for rallycross - both for the body of knowledge on them and because they just look much cooler doing rally

irish44j wrote: also would note that the c900 cars have a pretty extensive rally heritage, so if you just want a Saab to have a Saab, the c900 may be a better choice for rallycross - both for the body of knowledge on them and because they just look much cooler doing rally

Oh, that would be my pick as well. They are hard to find though, I've only found one in Texas. There are more ng cars around.

I've been a Saab person, since, well, I can remember riding in my grandparents' last two smoker as a young kid. However, unless you stumble onto a stupidly smoking deal like BGKast's $50 tweaker car, I'd vote to go with something more common, preferably RWD. That way you're not trying to re-invent the wheel with setup, you know more or less what will break, and there's a chance of someone having a replacement part if/when you break something.

I did a few rallycrosses in a 9000; after the novelty wore off, it was more fun to co drive other peoples Foci, GTi's, etc.

I think the firewall mounted rack, which I did not know about, is a deal breaker for these for me. I think by now, most of these will have that sheet metal pretty well fatigued and the likely hood of abuse related breakage is fairly high.

I vastly prefer RWD any way, just been having a Saab itch.