SAAB Aero-X ethanol powered car goes 0-62 in 4.9 seconds!

[JohnWxy]

http://www.seriouswheels.com/top-2006-Saab-Aero-X-Concept.htm

Saab Aero X also comes with a powerplant with a difference. The 400 bhp, twin-turbo, BioPower V6 engine is fueled entirely by bioethanol, a sustainable energy source that is kinder to the environment by cutting fossil CO2 emissions. The 'green power' of this advanced engine gives new meaning to the phrase 'performance with responsibility'. This car accelerates from 0-62 mph in 4.9 seconds. IT's twin turbo chargers produce 12 pounds of boost! (You'll have a hard time doing that with a gasoline (octane 87) powered car.)


---- Specifications ----

Engine: 2.8 liter
Weight: 3307 lbs
Aspiration: twin turbochargers

Torque:     369 lb-ft @ 2000-5000 rpm
HP:     400 hp @ 5000 rpm
HP/Weight:     8.3 lbs per hp
HP/Liter     143 hp per liter 1/4 mile
--
0-62 mph     4.9 seconds
Top Speed     155 mph (electronically limited)

Now this car is a concept car. It's obviously too wild for the average people mover application.

But it demonstrates something about the advantage of the higher octane of ethanol (over gasoline) - you can use turbo (or super-charging) to effectively boost compression and as result get more power out of a given amount of cubic inches. Now, what this means is you can use a smaller engine to get the same amount of power.

...and what does that do? - well, with less cubic inches you will be using less fuel! You have to use torque (not horsepower), as torque is the measure of your pulling power, to determine how much engine you will need for a given weight (of the car). But with a smaller engine you will reduce your fuel consumption(even if your fuel consumption goes up, per cubic inch, if you are using a smaller, more powerful engine, it roughly will balance out). BUT, you have to use turbo-charging (or super-charging) to take advantage of the higher octane of the ethanol. The Saab 9-5 Bio-Power uses computer controlled turbo charging, variable valve timing and variable ignition timing to take advantage of the higher octane in ethanol 85.


See what a little bit of effort and ingenuity can do for ya!

Are you listening GM and Ford?

[billbuckhead]

1. SAAB is owned by GM

[JohnWxy]

2. yes. And they were consulted with when Saab was designing the

9-5 Bio-Power. They know all about how to make engines perform. They just don't want to make the extra effort. (in their defense, there are damn few E85 stations in the U.S. so they probably think it wouldn't pay off to make turbo charging an option on some of their FFVs.

[FreakinDJ]

3. Ever hear of Top Fuel Dragsters - NHRA

They are all running methenol aka: alcohol and they run as much power as the piston rods and crank shaft well allow

Here is another example of Methenol powered

[lindisfarne]

4. BUT who needs to accelerate from 0-62 mph in 4.9 sec - trade power

for fuel efficiency, and I'll be impressed.

[JohnWxy]

6. allow me to quote to you from the original post:

"Now this car is a concept car. It's obviously too wild for the average people mover application.

But it demonstrates something about the advantage of the higher octane of ethanol (over gasoline) - you can use turbo (or super-charging) to effectively boost compression and as result get more power out of a given amount of cubic inches. Now, what this means is you can use a smaller engine to get the same amount of power (as you would get from a larger non turbo-charged gasoline powered car__JW).

...and what does that do? - well, with less cubic inches you will be using less fuel! You have to use torque (not horsepower), as torque is the measure of your pulling power, to determine how much engine you will need for a given weight (of the car). But with a smaller engine you will reduce your fuel consumption(even if your fuel consumption goes up, per cubic inch, if you are using a smaller, more powerful engine, it roughly will balance out)."


...and D-Parrot asks me why I use bold typeface.....

[dcfirefighter]

8. smaller cubic inches with turbo boost

is pretty much equivalent to more cubic inches, albeit from a lighter powerplant - which means that it can rev higher.

For each revolution of the piston, a (more or less) stochiometric mixture of fuel and air are burned in the cylinder. If the engine is normally aspirated (not a turbo or supercharger) the initial mixture occurs at slightly less than atmospheric pressure, so that a 500 cc cylinder would be filled with 500 cc of air & fuel. When running with a boosted intake system, such as a supercharger or turbocharger, the mixture occurs at whatever pressure the compressor generates. For example, if the compressor boosted intake pressure to 2 atmospheres, that 500 cc cylinder would be filled with 1000 cc of air and fuel compressed to 500 cc's. It's a bit more complex than this, as when air is compressed, it's temperature rises and this heat is generally removed with an intercooler or aftercooler, but the idea is simple enough. Turbochargers use a turbine in the exhaust stream to compress intake air and depend on exhaust flow to build pressure (and suffer from 'turbo lag'), while superchargers use an engine-driven compressor.

The size of the compressor and the wastegate pressure can be designed such that the motor operates more or less as a small, conventionally aspirated engine at normal driving outputs, but has a large reserve of power for accelleration and hills.

Diesel motors, with their high compression ratios, benefit especially from turbocharging.

Turbocharged motors are generally designed to take advantage of their lower rotating mass through higher revolutions, making turbocharged motors relatively high output (high horsepower) in relation to their torque.

When designed for torque, output is generally optimized at lower RPMs, and the engines are characterized by relatively long crankarms, normal aspiration, and fairly low redlines (the low redlines being dictated by the long crankarms, which translate to a high linear pistion speed). The long crankarms operate something like a cheater bar on a wrench, giving the force generated by the pistion a longer lever arm with which to act on the crankshaft.

[gordontron]

5. that car is sick!

I'd take one any day...

[ManiacJoe]

7. The 0-60 in 4.9 secs is a bit misleading.

At the bottom of the article, you find out that this is computer simulations only.

Still, for a 2-door sports car, that looks like fun! The cockpit concept could to some good stuff for the driver.

[JohnWxy]

9. THis of course, is just a concept car. Here is a real world example from

Saab:http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/car-and-driving/saab-9-5-2.0t-biopower-range-1004997.html

FACTS AT A GLANCE

CAR: Saab 9-5 2.0t BioEthanol range
PRICES: from £21,651 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 13
CO2 EMISSIONS: 218g/km
PERFORMANCE: ( running on E85) 0-60mph 8.5s / Max Speed 139mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 21.2mpg / (extra urban) 39.8mpg / (combined) 30mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin airbags, front side airbags, ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height 4810/2040/1450mm


This is something a bit more practical. I emphasized the mileage as it shows that by boosting torque and horsepower you not only get performance benefits in acceleration but also in fuel economy. This car probably weighs about 3500 lbs and to get 21 mpg, city, and 40 mpg highway is pretty good (especially since this is set-up as sporty model - fuel economy was probably not their top priority).

only available in England and Europe, so far.