Pavel’s Racing Engines has been involved in Bonneville land speed racing for the last 3 seasons. They current project consist of a 1966 Saab 96 Monte Carlo 850.
The Saab 96 is owned by Bertil Sollenskog, and Pavel Racing Tuning (Pavel Osovets) has helped with restoration since 2006 and Bonneville preparation since 2009, handling most of the chassis work and all the wiring/dyno prep work. A new goal was set: land speed record for Saab!
Engines modifications list is extensive and not all of them can be revealed. Original Saab engine was a 841cc, 3 cylinder, 2 stroke engine with 3 down-draft Solex carburetors. Engines produced 57hp at 5500rpm in stock form. Highly modified engine in this Bonneville race car produces 95hp at 7000rpm.
Original record was held by a Honda z600 at 103.9xxmph. They broke that record by running 107.282mph and on the last day Pavel bumped it to 110.113mph!
As of August 16, 2011 this Saab 96 broke Bonneville Salt Flats record in the J-PRO class(!) with an average speed of 110.113 MPH or 177kmph:
According to Pavel, Currently the car is disassembled and both engines are being rebuilt. they are also designing a turbo system to run “blown gas” classes at Bonneville, for next record.
