Saab engines with & without their turbo

[Pbuck1]

Inquiring minds want to know ...
My old '91 Integra with its 1.8L engine put out about 120 Hp, and you had to rev it up pretty high to get the torgue into the range where the car responded. Is there any information about the performance of the Saab engines with & without their turbo.? For example, the 2.3 is a pretty big 4 cylinder engine. Obviously the turbo adds a lot to the Hp and torgue output from the engine (in whatever guise, 2.3t LPT, 2.3T LPT or full Aero). What would it be like without the turbo.?

[Mike Brennan]

I believe Caddy had the 2.3. Without a turbo.
Pretty much everyone hated it.

[CaptainMediocre]

What would it be like without the turbo.?

[RichSPK]

I don't know if it's comparable, but I had a couple Merkur XR4Tis with 2.3 liter turbo 4-cylinders. That engine was also used, with minor changes, in the Mustang SVO and Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. It was also used without the turbo in base Mustangs and Rangers. I never drove one of the non-turbo variants, but maybe someone else here has?

[nordwulf]

When you look at similar sized engines like the 2.5 from VW or 2.3 from Nissan, they produce about 170 hp. My 2001 2.3t had 185hp and it was ok. Without the turbo, the 2.3 would probably be around 170hp. Enough for getting around but not much fun.

[XLR99]

I had 9000s both with and without turbo. The S had 150hp/157lb-ft, which was adequate. The Aero had 225hp and ?250lb-ft from the factory, but got got better gas mileage while going much faster and weighing a bit more. The non-turbo had higher compression and had a shorter final drive.

[DeviousByNature]

Pending final gear output through the drive train its really hard to say. As XLR mentioned a Boosted or (turbo ) engine runs on a lower compression and uses less fuel. This is because the piston doesnt need to have as much compression, the turbo solves this and I'll explain how, the advantage to a lower compression cylinder thats got forced air ( Turbo ) is that due to the forced air you get a faster finer mix of fuel that combusts hotter and faster at a lower compression because its such a fine mix of air and fuel, so at regular drive around banter you get great acceleration and amazing fuel ratios, how ever its dis-advantage is that at higher RPM's you start to dump the pressure through the waste gate which caused a drop in air to gas ratio, so the ECU or electronic control module adds or rather richens the fuel to air ratio to compensate for the loss in pressure. A non turbo engine runs a consistent pressure, so as the mix is heavier and requires more pressure in the cylinder to get it to combust, your actually running a higher fuel to air mix at regular driving than you would be raising cain.Due to a consistent pressure and an increase in piston speed ( RPM's ) there is usually still fire in the cylinder due to the higher compression not being able to fully evacuate prior to the next cycle of the piston which in turn means it requires less fuel to keep the cycle going.
So it's kind of a stand off, a turbo driven car gives you the power you like off line with minimal gas and consumes more the faster you go, where as a non turbo uses more fuel and lacks the common city power most want for jumping out in front of the dotards doing 10mph, however if you push it, you might not get the accel you want but you should find a decent top end with minimal fuel consumption. There are many variables that can change these things about but this is the base principal of turbo vr non. (Turbo)= Better accel-0-60 and uses less fuel at lower RPm's. Sucks gas back as the turbo dumps at higher rpms,. ( Non-Turbo ) Junk accel, mass fuel hog at lower RPms, has better gas mileage on the top end, freeway speeds of 60+. So if you're a city commuter you probably want a turbo, if your a freeway person you want non, if you dont care about fuel but like to raise caine, once you go turbo you'll never go back Only forward ( Superchargers, cams, head spacers, nos MSD ignition ect lol.. Hope this breaks it down pretty well for you.
As a side note how ever, pending how the ECU or Electronic control module is programmed, the gearing of the transmission, the final output gear ect, these variable can be altered dramaticaly at the cost of either fuel or power.