This Explosive Saab 9-5 R Is An Unhinged Supercar Slayer

There is little better than seeing a turbocharged Swedish barge with a chronic smoking habit

18 May 2015

What do you get when you take an unassuming saloon - a Saab 9-5 is a good place to start - and give it more power than a modern supercar? What you get, ladies and gents, is a fire-breathing, tyre-annihilating sleeper that'll batter, thrash and embarrass anything that dares cross its path.

This Saab 9-5 R 'Performance by Nordic' is proof of that...

Underneath its bonnet lies the original 9-5 2.3-litre turbocharged engine you'll find in any similar model. Added to this, however, are uprated pistons and camshafts, an uprated fuel pump and ECU and a massive Turbonetics Race Precision 6262 Turbo. You'll also find a custom made induction kit, ported head and bigger valves.

When running on E85 fuel, this psycho Saab develops 762bhp and 605lb ft of torque at 2.2bar boost. Put into context, that's 212bhp and 207lb ft more than a V10-powered, 5.2-litre Audi R8 Plus. Like the Audi, however, this Saab's good for 200mph.

The car's owner - Andreas Andy Gidlund from Sweden - has also installed a heavy-duty six-speed Quaife race gearbox with Quaife differential and a high performance clutch.

Because power is transferred through the 9-5 R's 18-inch front wheels only, Gidlund tells us that the car wheelspins from 60-100mph, which the video above easily attests to.

Stopping power is taken care of with Porsche brakes on each corner and the 9-5 also features coilover suspension. You'll also spot a roll-cage inside for safety.

If there's one thing the Swedes do right, it's tuning the hell out of the cars we love most. What do you guys make of Andreas' unhinged supercar slayer?