Great news is what the Saab world needs more than anything right now. We need to go full throttle into the future. That is just what Tom Donney from Fort Dodge, Iowa USA have done on the salty flats of Bonneville.
The record says 159,27 km/h or 98,968 mph.
Big congratulations from SaabsUnited and SUHRT.
Tom runs a Saab outfit in Fort Dodge.
Piece of trivia Tom sold a Saab 93 to Jay Leno some years ago, here is that video.
Tom Donney and Jay Leno
He is quite a collector of old Saabs and specializes in Sonetts. Piece of trivia but he sold a Saab 93 to Jay Leno there is a link on Tom homepage featuring Jay and Tom.
There are more picture in Tom Donneys Facebook. Also I will add more technical specifications etc. as the story unfolds.
Gods Speed!
Stunning!
HI, OK so I am a touch confused. What is the class of this record? is it for a 2 stroke? Car has a V4 hood. I would have thought a V4 or even a hot 2 stroe would have gone faster than this
I agree.
Any 96V4 in good shape does 145 kmh, so I guess that this car has had no modifications at all and that the smaller cabind does all the difference. There must have been a class for these vehicles also. Unmodified swedish twoseaters, perhaps.. 🙂
They’re running 2-stroke engines; IIRC, they’re running both 750cc and 940cc engines.
Yes and most 96 V4 do 155km/h stock with 2″ exhaust and 2 port carburetor. Check out this video of my old darling, doing 170km/h, easy! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6037936308794925052&hl=fi
Now that baby was not stock but it sure ran great 🙂
LOL is that one still online ! 😀
need to get my movies from the old rust bucket.. also topped out around 155-160Km/h
these days I just want to get a barn and by as many Saabs i can ..
Found this link, Tom Donney’s report from last year. Enjoy!
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/76019868/bonneville-flats-2010
I know Tom, but have not spoken to him about this record. I do know Bonneville and am quite involved with the motorcycle side of Bonneville, having done TV shows and other video on the event over the years.
Also currently involved in an upcoming land speed record run for a motorcycle streamliner.
If this speed does not sound high, you have to know a couple things about Bonneville. This is salt, that at its BEST has 10% less traction than macadam at its worse a lot more. The moisture content changes all the time. Also the track has to be groomed to make it smooth. At a big event like Speedweeks with over 500 entries the salt can get very rough.
Second thing is elevation. Bonneville is 4219 feet above sea level. That cuts your HP by quite a bit. Turbos are very popular at Bonneville because of the decreased oxygen in the air. Less oxygen, = less power.
It is very exciting that Tom set this record. I am anxious to hear more details.
I am sure it was a 3 cylinder 2 stroke….or maybe a couple of engines.
Oh man! I was out there for 4 days this year and I didn’t see this. The awesome thing about Bonneville is that there’s so much there you never know what to expect…but it also makes it easy to totally miss stuff like this, unless you happen to see it in the pits or out in the starting line.