The Aerodynamics of the Saab Automobiles

Posted on 01. Apr, 2007 by Ryan in 1940-1949, 1950-1959, 1960-1969, 1970-1979, 1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2009, 9-3 SS, 92, 97 (Sonett II & III)

Source: Johnson, Cutnell PHYSICS: Fifth Edition Wiley, New York, NY 2001

A colleague recently mentioned that there is a website that showcases the Saab Automobile’s drag coefficients of various Saab models throughout the years including the current 9-3 model.

I have decided to provide this information to you here, properly citing the source but before I do that I should provide some information about the drag coefficient and how it is broken down.

Drag coefficient (Cd) defined:A dimensionless quantity that describes a characteristic amount of aerodynamic drag caused by fluid flow, used in the drag equation

According to the source, a drag coefficient (Cd) equal to 1, is when all fluid is that approaches an object is “brought to rest”. This is why drag coefficients are less than 1 in automobiles today where the fluid (air movement) is spread across the vehicle with very little air “resting” in any one place for a sustained period of time. If there was a force of air movement sustained on all parts of an automobile the coefficient would be equal to 1.

Source: Drag Coefficient

Here are some of the drag coefficients for the Saab Automobiles from source. If someone has additional data for more of Saab’s models that I have not been able to find, it would be interesting to see a complete year over year and model vs. model comparison of drag coefficients.

– Ursaab 92001 (1946-1947)

0.32 – Saab 92, (1949 – 1956)

– Saab 93 (1956 – 1959)

– Saab 94 (1956)

– Saab 95 (1959-1978)

– Saab 96 (1960-1980)

– Saab 97 (Sonett II 1966-1967)

0.320 – Saab 97 (Sonett V4 1968-1969)

0.31 – Saab 97 Sonett III, (1970-1974)

0.37 – Saab 99 (1967-1984)

– Saab 90 (1984-1987)

0.34 – Saab 900 (1979-1993)

0.40 – 0.42 – Saab 900 GLI (1979-1984)

0.340 – Saab 9000CC (1985-1992)

– Saab 9000CD (1988-1993)

– Saab 9000CS (1993-1998)

0.34 – Saab 900 NG (1994-1998)

0.30 – Saab 9-3 (1999-2002)

0.34 – Saab 9-3 Convertible (1999-2002)

0.31 – Saab 9-3 (Viggen) (1999 – 2002)

0.33 – Saab 9-3 (Viggen Convertible) (2000 – 2002)

0.28 – Saab 9-3 SS (2003-
0.33 – Saab 9-3 SC (2005 -
0.34 – Saab 9-3 CVT(2004 -

0.29 – Saab 9-5 (1998 – 2005)
0.31 – Saab 9-5 Wagon/ SportCombi (2000-2005)

0.29 – Saab 9-5 (2006 -
0.31 – Saab 9-5 Wagon/ SportCombi (2006-

0.395 – Saab 9-7x (2005-

.35 – Saab 9-2x Linear (2005-2006)
.34 – Saab 9-2x Aero (2005-2006)

Tags: 9-3, 9-5, Aero, Automotive Component Group, model, new 9-5, new saab 9-3, saab, saab 9-3, saab 9-4x, saab 9-5, saab 9-5 wagon, saab 900, saab 9000, Saab 96, saab 99, Saab Automobile, saab ng900