Eklund takes super Saab to the clouds

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

On Tuesday, Swedish rally driver Per Eklund will pilot a heavily modified Saab 9-3 Viggen in the annual Pikes Peak Hillclimb, a race against the clock popularly known as the Race to the Clouds.

He's never seen the 4300m Arizona mountain and has heard only tales about its 20km road. He knows it has 156 corners, some sealed, some with a surface of small granite stones. He also knows there are no guardrails.

But Saab has made sure Eklund, the reigning European rallycross champion, will get a good go at it, helped by limited practice sessions this weekend and on the day.

The Swedish carmaker's performance people have reworked the car's 2.0-litre, turbocharged four-cylinder engine to produce 515kW (700 bhp) and 800Nm of pulling power.

All that oomph will propel the car from zero to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds and go through a six-speed transmission to a four-wheel-drive system, understood to be an Extrac unit used in World Rally Championship cars.

But the trick to success in the Pikes Peak is to make sure the turbocharger gets enough air as the car sprints towards the finish line high in the sky.