Saab is a line of automobiles manufactured by Saab Automobile AB, and is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of the General Motors Corporation. The first SAAB automobile was the SAAB 92001, the ‘Ursaab’. Various Saab car engines were used in their SAAB’s not just B and H (see below) but a two-stroke, a Ford Taunus V4 and a V8.
Saab engines are available at enginesandgearboxes.co.uk as used, reconditioned or secondhand and are 100% guaranteed.
The Saab B engine
This was created in 1972. The design was based on the Triumph Slant-4 engine, but with an increased engine displacement from 1.9 to 2.0 litres. This engine shared much with the original Triumph design, including bore centers and bearings, but was substantially redesigned.
The Saab 90 was a continuation of the Saab 99 and it was basically a Saab 99 from the B-pillar forward with the rear of a Saab 900 sedan. It was only available as a two door sedan and came with the 2.0 L Saab H engine, giving 100 hp (74 kW). In 1977, Saab added a turbocharger, creating one of the earliest turbocharged engines in volume production. This was placed in the Saab 99 Turbo model. In 1981, Saab began lightening and redesigning the engine, creating the Saab H engine.
The Saab H engine
is a redesign of the Saab B engine. Despite the name it is not an H engine, but a slanted inline-4. The H engine was introduced in 1981 in the Saab 900 and was also used in the Saab 99 from 1982 onwards and the Saab 90. It continued in use in the 900 / In 1984, Saab added a 16 valve cylinder head, with double overhead camshafts, creating the world’s first multi-valve turbo engine. They retroactively renamed the 8-valve version the B201 and used B202 as the name of the new multi-valve unit 9-3, 9000, and 9-5.
The 2003 Epsilon 9-3 switched to the GM Ecotec, leaving the 9-5 as the sole user of the H engine. The engine line will likely end with the 2008 replacement of the current 9-5 model.
The engines were given numbers, for instance B201 is a 2.0 litre (20) engine with one overhead camshaft. In 1991, Saab introduced the 2.1 liter normally-aspirated 16 valve engine, with an increased displacement of (2119 cc/129 in³). A new, shorter B204 version was introduced in 1994 for the transverse Opel-derived Saab 900 (NG).
Engine displacement is officially 2.0 litre (1985 cc) from a 90 mm bore and 78 mm stroke. This engine also had a pair of counter-rotating balance shafts. The B204 has also been used in the first production years of the Saab 9-3 until 2000, when it was replaced by B205. The B234 was a new 2.3 L (2290 cc) version with many changes.
It was stroked by 12 mm to a square 90 mm bore and stroke. Also notable are the two balance shafts to smooth the large four’s vibrations. The B234 was selected as one of Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 1995 and 1996. 1996 saw the Ecopower variant added.
Some other models include:
Current: Saab 9-2X, Saab 9-3, Saab 9-5, Saab 9-7X
Planned: Saab 9-4X, Saab 9-1
Historic: 92, 93, Sonett, GT750, Sport, Formula Junior, 95, 96, 600, 99, 90, 900, 9000
Concept cars: Quantum, 98, Saab EV-1, 9-3X, Aero-X, 9-7X Aero Concept.
