Old Saabs freewheeling features
 

Do any of you have current or past experience with these old Saabs, the 96s or the 95s or the Sonett? I have read that perhaps regular civilian type people could get in the mid-40s miles per gallon with these if it is the Sonett. I could imagine that one of us from the Forum could do maybe much better? I guess the system was a little bit fragile, as apparently some people had trouble with them to the extent that they literally welded them so they wouldn't have effect? Would be curious to hear some thoughts on all this . The V4 sounds like an interesting engine. I know that some engine parts must be hard to obtain at least here in the states.

Wait... Was the freewheeling device fitted to Ford-powered Saabs too? I knew it was a standard feature of the DKW-powered ones.

I drove several v-4 Saabs while working at an import shop in the 70s. Yes they had the one way clutch. It had a lever you could move and convert it to a conventional setup. In the one way position you used the clutch to start and stop but you could upshift by breaking torque. Of course there was no engine braking and you could coast in gear just like neutral. The engine would drop to idle and would catch back up with throttle. I would imagine that it could be fragile with abuse.

V4 equipped cars had the freewheel too. Yes it was fragile.

Was this Saab freewheeling clutch for all gears?

The VW Lupo 3L had a freewheel for the top gear only, and could not be engaged/disengaged at will, iirc.

Are we talking about like a 3 speed manual overdrive free wheel from the 50's?

It affects all gears.