Saab Two-stroke

The Saab two-stroke was a two-stroke cycle, inline, two cylinder, and later three cylinder engine manufactured by Swedish automotive manufacturer Saab that was based on a design by German manufacturer DKW.

Two-cylinder

The first version was a displacement straight-twin that was transversally mounted in the 1950–1956 Saab 92. It had with , and a top speed of . For the 1954 model year the engine received a new Solex 32BI carburetor and a new ignition coil which raised engine output to . It had some features only found in modern cars such as one ignition coil per cylinder.

Three-cylinder

The second type of Saab two stroke engine was a longitudinally placed inline-three cylinder of and initially . It was used in the Saabs 93, 94 (Sonett I, with an engine tuned to ), Saab Sonett II, 95, 96, Saab GT750, the Saab Formula Junior and the Saab Quantum. The engine had a combined belt driven DC dynamo and a coolant water pump.

The Saab Formula Junior used a 'bored-out' horizontally mounted version which utilized two dual Solex carburettors developing some . One of these carburettors was cut in half, thus providing three chokes with one for each of the three cylinders.

The engine used in the 1966 Saab 96 used pre-mix oil and appeared with a three throat Solex carburetor in which the center carburetor handled start, idle, and low speed functions, increasing the power to . The same carburetor had been used in the Saab 96 Monte Carlo and Sport models. A common throttle shaft minimized carburetor synchronization problems.

The 1958-59 Sports version of the 93B had in base version and in the super version. This model had triple carburetors and a motor oil injection system, rather than oil pre-mixed with the petrol.

From 1959 displacement was raised to with . For model year 1966, the 'standard' 3-cylinder two-stroke engine had triple carburetors. From model year 1967 Saab began replacing it with the Ford Taunus V4 engine.

A special version known as the 'Shrike' was built for the United States' 1967 and 1968 model years. It was sleeved down to to avoid new emission regulations which exempted engines under .

Saab also made some experimental V6 engines, by mounting two three cylinder two-stroke engines together, at an angle. One had carburetors on the outside, while another was more conventional, with a carburetor in between the two blocks.

Production

Initially all two-stroke engines were built at the Saab Trollhättan plant, however in 1953 engines and gearbox production was moved to an old washing machine factory in Gothenburg.

When Saab discontinued production of the two stroke engine and replaced it with a four stroke V4 engine built by Ford in Germany, the plant in Gothenburg never again produced engines, however this was as the production capacity was needed for the increased demand of gearboxes due to the introduction of the Saab 99 a few years later.

Applications

Two-cylinder

* Saab 92

Three-cylinder

* Saab 93
* Saab 94 Sonett I
* Saab 95
* Saab 96
* Saab Formula Junior
* Saab GT750
* Saab Quantum
* Saab Sonett II
* Saab Monster
** used twin 748 cc (45.6 cu in) two-stroke three-cylinder engines

See also

* Ford Taunus V4
** the engine which replaced the Saab two-stroke
* Saab B engine
* Saab H engine

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saab Two-Stroke
Saab engines
Gasoline engines by model
Two-stroke gasoline engines