SAAB Modifications
In order to fit the Suzuki G10T Engine to the SAAB 96 body and transaxle the following modification were completed by SAAB Engineering Skunkworks:
Adaptation to Gearbox
Gauges
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Body
Under the hood, a bolt-on aluminum chassis stiffening bar replaced the welded steel one that had been removed for engine clearance.
No significant external changes were made to the stock test car while it was driving around with the G10T engine. In fact, it even had a V4 badge on the boot lid. With engine testing completed, a few styling ideas, primarily involving the front grill area and exterior lighting were explored, but these were never publicly shown. The goals were: improved night lighting, improved visibility of the car by other drivers, lower cost with fewer parts, lighter weight and better corrosion resistance at mounting points. The new LED technology was found to be robust and its low energy demand allowed use of lighter gauge wiring and a smaller alternator and battery, reducing both car weight and cost. Because the test car did not have air conditioning, green tinted glass was installed for improved driver comfort.
A pair of gas struts were fitted to a slightly modified boot lid to allow improved ease of use and wider opening. Gas struts had not been invented when the original SAAB 93 & 96 were designed in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Boot lid weatherstripping was updated to the 99/900 style to reduce corrosion tendency in the boot area.
Very late in the development program, high strength steel, sequential crush, tubular bumpers were fabricated and installed to present a more contemporary look while retaining the light-weight character of the SAAB 96 design. These bumpers were less expensive to build and replace than the earlier chrome 5-piece ones or later bulky composite steel, rubber and plastic block units and weight was comparable. The tubular steel bumpers were designed to meet all of the EU crash safety test requirements proposed thru 1988. They were never publicly shown.
No significant external changes were made to the stock test car while it was driving around with the G10T engine. In fact, it even had a V4 badge on the boot lid. With engine testing completed, a few styling ideas, primarily involving the front grill area and exterior lighting were explored, but these were never publicly shown. The goals were: improved night lighting, improved visibility of the car by other drivers, lower cost with fewer parts, lighter weight and better corrosion resistance at mounting points. The new LED technology was found to be robust and its low energy demand allowed use of lighter gauge wiring and a smaller alternator and battery, reducing both car weight and cost. Because the test car did not have air conditioning, green tinted glass was installed for improved driver comfort.
A pair of gas struts were fitted to a slightly modified boot lid to allow improved ease of use and wider opening. Gas struts had not been invented when the original SAAB 93 & 96 were designed in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Boot lid weatherstripping was updated to the 99/900 style to reduce corrosion tendency in the boot area.
Very late in the development program, high strength steel, sequential crush, tubular bumpers were fabricated and installed to present a more contemporary look while retaining the light-weight character of the SAAB 96 design. These bumpers were less expensive to build and replace than the earlier chrome 5-piece ones or later bulky composite steel, rubber and plastic block units and weight was comparable. The tubular steel bumpers were designed to meet all of the EU crash safety test requirements proposed thru 1988. They were never publicly shown.
Interior
Subsequent to the G10T engine development program, the dash was redesigned to retain the simple design character of the earlier 96 while including many SAAB technical instrument updates and improved controls from the SAAB 900 program. SAAB 99 front bucket seats had been fitted to production 95’s & 96’s during the last few years but the team worked with an Italian seat manufacture to adapt lighter & smaller seats from another project the company was working on. The resulting seats proved to be well suited to the 2-door SAAB 96T3. Improvements included a slide forward function of the front seats to ease entry into the rear and 50/50 rear seatback folding for flexible cargo capacity. Retractable 3 point seat belts were installed for all 4 seats.
