TheKench
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 07:22 PM |
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Saab advice please! Choices, choices...
Hello chaps! (and chapesses)
After recently selling my RX8 I've got about 3.5k to spend on a more practical daily drive with a bit more space (no doubt small humans will be
arriving soon...). I have said for ages that I would get an E46 3 series but after driving my father-in-law's Saab 9000 cse I got a bit of
excitement about something with turbo power! There's a 2003 9-3 Aero for sale nearby, with 80k on the clock, and I'm tempted to have a
look. Anything I should watch out for? Also, with Saab going under are spare parts going to be an issue?
Equally, is there something I'm overlooking? I've never been as much of a fan of Audi interiors, but for the right car at the right
price...
Thanks in advance people!
Rob
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StevieB
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 07:48 PM |
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I have an '06 9-3 Aero estate and find it hard to fault - had it for 12 months and both the wife and myself still love it.
The build quality maybe isn't on a par with the german stuff, but it's more interesting, better looking (IMHO) and quick too.
Maybe a bit thirsty on fuel, but coming from an RX8 it'll be a big improvement 
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TheKench
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 07:53 PM |
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Thanks, that's good to hear. You're right about the RX8 - a bit of a sucker punch when you pour 70 quid into it and the trip computer
reads 210 miles... at the best!
Anything particular to check when I look round the car?
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T66
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 07:59 PM |
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Have a look at froggy has done with his T5 Saab engine - Some inspiration.
My Saab has just been sold to the Czech Republic - Basic software swap with the standard Aero turbo can see 240-250bhp, mine was around 290bhp and
very quick for an old mans car, on the stock turbo & injectors.
Bump up and spend some money on hardware, will give a very reliable 300bhp & 450nm.
The 9000 is going to be the T5 lump, so aslong as its been looked after (ish) the big restriction is the turbo, refer you to froggy again.
The T5 with a bigger turbo & injectors will give 450bhp with a decent downpipe & system, every day of the week, its stopping and steering
which becomes the problem.
Parts are very cheap, and very plentiful - GM based so Vectra/Omega
look at Saabscene
http://jzwtuning.com/
http://ecuproject.com/index.html
http://trionic.mobixs.eu/
Ive only ever owned two cars of the same manufacturer in over 30 years motoring, both were Saab Turbos
PS - My Aero would sh1t on most German stuff, and the RX8 and still see 360 miles after a £70 fill up.
[Edited on 9/10/11 by T66]
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paulbeyer
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 08:24 PM |
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Get yourself over to http://www.uksaabs.co.uk and ask your Saab related questions on the forum. They are a friendly and helpful bunch and
very knowledgeable.
I have owned Saabs since 1998 and couldn't imagine being without one. I used to own one of the last 9000 Aero's that had been tuned with
T5 Suite. I used to deliberately bait all sorts of exotica just to embarrass the owners. Only 2 cars got the better of me, a BMW M3 and Merc AMG Black
but I sold it in the end before I lost my license. I have and old C900 Turbo now which is more sensible, or it was until I realised I could T5 that as
well. So for an outlay of £150 I have gone from 170BHP to 245BHP. That's the great thing about Saabs you can dial in a massive amount of power
for very little money and the car / engine can handle it. Looks like I didn't learn my lesson with the Aero. 
7 out of 10 people suffer with hemorrhoids. Does that mean the other 3 enjoy them?
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T66
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 08:26 PM |
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Engine oil sludge issues - no problems with regular changes of fully synthetic.
9-3 had bulkhead cracking issues near the rack mounts- not on mine ...
The Low pressure turbo is exactly the same as the high pressure turbo model, with a different software fill on the ecu. Hardware is the same.
The Aero has the 15g Mitsubishi TD04 turbo - manages to 300bhp, the 19g (Volvo T5?) turbo with bigger injectors lets you go further, but the T7 Saab
engine has lighter pistons than the T5 Saab, so doesnt like to go beyond 320bhp without risk of pistons breaking. I always stayed on the bottom side
of 300bhp for this reason.
The power is all in the downpipe, so do that first before the rest. The induction side delivery pipe is next, use a 250bhp 9-5 Aero cobra pipe.
The Saab stock airbox and paper filter is good for big bhp, so save your money, likewise the pressure side pipe into the throttle body is plastic, and
not changed until you get near the 500bhp mark. It manages well...
Bigger bar type intercoolers help a lot , the Saab one is tiny, the Aero one is a crossflow but can be improved easily.
Froggy has the Holset turbo - big fella...
Front brakes can be swapped to the 9-5 Aero discs, mine had the bigger Aero/Viggen discs so was fine with decent pads.
Suspension is mushy and wallows, changed mine to KYB gas jobbies - Try Ebay.com and Koni coils, so lowered slightly.
Steering rack moves on the bulkhead (cracks it) so an Abbott Racing rack clamp firms it all up.
And at the rear stick a fatter 22mm arb - mine came from SAS / some folk piggy back 2 Saab arbs and clamp them .. not for me.
The suspenson bushes on mine were stock, and were still ok without it becoming crashy to drive.
Reliable, comfortable and a bit different.
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TheKench
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 09:13 PM |
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See, several good reasons why I love this forum. Thanks you lot. Can't wait to have a drive of it now and if it's good then we're on
to a winner. There is a mapping company, www.saabremap.co.uk, who seem to quote 200 quid to come to me and sort it... anyone used them?
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flibble
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 09:27 PM |
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No need for a tuning company, go to the ecuproject and buy a usb-bdm adaptor from "johnc", get a spare ecu and tune it yourself at the
press of a button.. and yes, it is that simple. (one tricky bit of soldering aside, hence the spare ecu..)
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T66
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 07:28 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by TheKench
See, several good reasons why I love this forum. Thanks you lot. Can't wait to have a drive of it now and if it's good then we're on
to a winner. There is a mapping company, www.saabremap.co.uk, who seem to quote 200 quid to come to me and sort it... anyone used them?
other option is use jzw in that link, he is from the ecuproject and is very well respected, he will ship you an ecu with a file in it suitable to your
needs. You send him your old ecu back.
Dont know who that tuner is you mention, I got fairly well into my saabs but havent heard of them before. The bdm/canusb connector and spare ecu is
fairly easy to use, its been a while since I last looked at t5suite but it may have an easy tune one click button, ie plug your ecu in and it will
modify the bin file for you. Software will get you to 2oobhp at least, maybe more.
Otherwise your relying on someone emailing you a prepared bin file for your ecu, Ive got a good stage 2 one in my pc somewhere if you want it, at your
own risk of course. It was in mine for 2 years or so without issue. All I had for that was a decent catback setup.
Download the relevant reading and software from the mobix link, there is a lot of information to absorb , and all free..ab tuning kit last
I sold a complete Saab tuning kit last week, ecu/canusb/bdm & modded ecu harness for £90 - crap timing or what
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pewe
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 08:40 AM |
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Probably the most important thing as mentioned above ^^ is to ensure it has been run on fully synth all its life.
IIRC SAAB in their "wisdom" (probably something to do with GM sourced ones being cheaper or more readily available) down-specced the oil
pump from the old 9000 one.
To compensate they added a finer mesh filter on the pick-up which if run on normal or even partly synth had a tendency to clog up.
That doesn't mean to say engines run on oils other than fully synth will fail as a sump drop and filter clean prevent oil starvation BUT there
will still have been sludge circulating around the engine. So given the choice I'd always go for one run on fully synth.
Other items to consider - Ignition packs have been known to fail but rel cheap from specialists, heater valve inside the engine compartment can weep
on older cars - look for a plastic junction with three pipes attached just behind the engine & centrally below the scuttle for weeps,
heater/aircon should all be working, pollen filter needs regular replacement or it will start recycling cabin moisture (!) which can then flood the
ECU under the front passenger seat, theft alarm batteries can be replaced (as opposed to the whole unit main stealers will try to sell you) and last
but not least auxilliary belts (should you need one ) can be done in situ - as opposed to the official engine out dictat.
All in all talk to most SAAB owners on here (self included) and you'll find them decdicated marque owners.
They are very competent motors and generally sensibly engineered.
As for parts I don't see a major problem short to medium term as there are numerous after-market parts suppliers and specialists who handle
service, repair and second-hand parts.
HTH. Cheers, Pewe 
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flibble
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 08:49 AM |
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quote:
been a while since I last looked at t5suite but it may have an easy tune one click button
Yes, the GUI is much more friendly than when T5suite (and T7suite) first popped up, it has a 1 button click for stg 1, 2 and 3, an 'auto
tune' + simple tick boxes for 3 bar map sensor etc..
Without it my kit would probably have never run at all
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T66
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 09:34 AM |
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Thats really moved on from when I last looked, the easy tune button was only new and didnt work that well, thats the likes of Dilemma from the
ecuproject. There are some decent DIY tuners on there, and some seriously clever blokes who can read & understand hexidecimal code.
Guy that was really helpful with me all the way from Sweden was Mackan - Top bloke & Saab tuner.
That reminds me - I have some rear 9-3 pads new in the box and a used ignition cassette if your interested - U2 me will sort out what Saab stuff I
have left if your interested, Haynes etc..
Ivan
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40inches
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 01:04 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by TheKench
See, several good reasons why I love this forum. Thanks you lot. Can't wait to have a drive of it now and if it's good then we're on
to a winner. There is a mapping company, www.saabremap.co.uk, who seem to quote 200 quid to come to me and sort it... anyone used them?
No, but a guy on UKSaabs will supply a stage 1-3 ECU for around
£100.UKSaabs
If the link doesn't work you may have to sign up and go to Services(trade)>t7 ecu's for sale... the guys name is lfteixeira. Highly
recommended.
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T66
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 02:10 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by 40inches
quote:
Originally posted by TheKench
See, several good reasons why I love this forum. Thanks you lot. Can't wait to have a drive of it now and if it's good then we're on
to a winner. There is a mapping company, www.saabremap.co.uk, who seem to quote 200 quid to come to me and sort it... anyone used them?
No, but a guy on UKSaabs will supply a stage 1-3 ECU for around
£100.UKSaabs
If the link doesn't work you may have to sign up and go to Services(trade)>t7 ecu's for sale... the guys name is lfteixeira. Highly
recommended.
knew I should of started charging folk.
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PeterV
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 02:17 PM |
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Had a 900 (156K miles), 93HOT (122K miles), 93 (76K miles) Coupe and a 95 2.3(114K Miles) with full Abbott Racing toy box, plus my WLR B204. Still got
the later 93 & 95 and still finishing the SAAB WLR.
All SAAB's are so easy to drive fast or cruise the massive miles in. Also so so easy to tune and the B204 motors were almost unbreakable. The
B205 / B235 had oil sludge problem and could blow heads & turbos if not mainitained, but are mostly bullet proof if loved. The only problem
I've had is with the 95 (B235) needing a new turbo due to oil seal fail, well it was tunned very hard and did 105K before losing intrest in life
You could say I'm a bias fan  and you'd be right!
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TheKench
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| posted on 11/10/11 at 09:18 PM |
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Chaps,
Just been to see the car and it is sweet as a nut in all respects with one exception. When first started, it reverted to a lumpy idle for a couple of
seconds before upping the revs to a smoother idle a bit higher in the range. anything to be concerned about? apologies if I haven't described it
too well.
Hopefully I shall be the proud owner of a Saab this weekend, and soon after that I will be looking for a list of small aftermarket jobs to do to it to
make it sparkle!
Rob
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T66
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| posted on 11/10/11 at 09:45 PM |
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Mine used to tick over a bit lumpy, but soon warmed through.
They are sensetive to plugs & di cassettes, dont use plugs other than NGK R plugs, owt else will play havoc with the di cassette, which may be
your problem.
bcpres-7s I recall - I have a new set in the garage,
I also have a 9-3 heat shield if you want to replace the airbox with a cone filter. Its from Speedparts Sweden.
And a Forge Billet BOV -
And a used DI cassette
I am bound to have more if I have a proper rummage.
http://shop.speedparts.se/en/?id=13102&XBLG13102=ff2011dcb003e1ce12754aca4559e26a
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T66
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| posted on 11/10/11 at 09:47 PM |
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heres the heatshield - I have the cone filter aswell
http://shop.speedparts.se/en/prod/9-3-98-02/engine/air-filter/open-air-kit/xf-970.html?XBLG13102=ff2011dcb003e1ce12754aca4559e26a
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pewe
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| posted on 19/10/11 at 06:01 PM |
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Rob, and ?????
Too busy out there hooning it I'll be bound.......
Cheers, Pewe
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ashg
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| posted on 19/10/11 at 06:35 PM |
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love the b204 motor in my roadster it will cruise at 50-60 all day long one squeeze of the and its faster than a stabbed rat. only problems i have
had is a blown turbo oil seal and i starved it of oil and did the big end shells but that was my own fault. amazingly it still got me home 300miles
knocking and on inspection the shells on 1 and 4 were shot but even more amazingly the crank was completely undamaged from my stupidity. the blown
turbo seal didn't stop me either managed 200 miles in France all be it a little bit smoky
edit..... p.s I wouldn't say i was a huge fan of their cars but the engines are incredibly good (although an old old 900 turbo would be nice as
a minter)
[Edited on 19/10/2011 by ashg]
Anything With Tits or Wheels Will cost you MONEY!!
Haynes Roadster (Finished)
Exocet (Finished & Sold)
New Project (Started)
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