Stipud's SAAB 9-5 (part deux)

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stipud
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Stipud's SAAB 9-5 (part deux)

Post by stipud »

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I just posted my stereo up here, so I may as well do a brief writeup on the tuning I have done to my car as well.

I hope you guys will follow suit. I especially want to hear about Brian's 325 (or is it 328?), Errin's Jetta, Mastiff's .:R and HoseHead's Tbird, or any of you other guys who have clean rides!


Tuning

It all started off pretty boring. Stock 175hp auto, 16" triangular rims, no tint. Still a decent car, but not mindblowingly awesome.

Modification started small. I got it tinted (35% front, 5% rear), fabricated my own mesh inserts, debadged it, put on smoked side markers, and broke the ugly orange reflectors out of my turn signals (pain in the ass). I also added a Greddy boost gauge which matches the stock lighting perfectly... I also have it set up to dim along with the factory lighting, so it looks damn near stock. The location isn't ideal to see while you're driving, but it's there as a diagnostic tool, rather than bling.

Later I added an open intake (which still needs a splashguard after a year of use), that allows you to hear the whine of the turbo suction, and the dumping of the bypass valve (upgraded to a Hyperboost Adjustible). I will probably revert to an airbox setup, because I prefer the grunty torque moan of the exhaust over the turbo whine, and want a safer setup for my car.

The alternator also crapped out right after I got the car, so I installed a Wrangler NW externally regulated 190 amp. Unfortunately the case was very different than the stock one, and the car had some bracing run around the stock alt... It took my mechanic friend Jason quite a few evenings of carefully grinding bits and pieces in the engine bay to get the alternator to fit. That location was a complete BITCH to reach as well... you had to remove an engine mount and pry against the block to even get the alternator past the subframe. Next time I will probably go with a stock alt, unless I have gobs of room available, because this was one serious headache. No fault of WranglerNW, their bracket mounted PERFECTLY... it's just that the stock location was heavily built around the existing weak-ass bosch alt. The battery was also upgraded at this time to be able to handle the 0 gauge power and ground feeds off the new alt.

Finally it was time to upgrade the chassis. The stock suspension was lofty, wallowy, and lame. The car was capable of great speed, but the suspension scared the pants off of you every time you tried to do something fun. I picked up beefier anti-roll bars and springs from the 02+ Aero (fast top of the line version of my car), and coupled them with Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks and struts. This suspension is AMAZING... I LOVE THE HELL out of the Bilstein's... I don't think I will ever buy another brand of shock in my life. They have amazing variable rate damping that stiffens up my suspension the harder I drive, but feel amazingly complacent, while still giving a shitload of feedback on a cruise. There was also a group buy on www.saabcentral.com where I picked up a subframe brace for $120 shipped. This thing REMARKABLY stiffened the chassis, and made my car insanely responsive and snappy. Next step will be hub and strut braces to get everything completely tweaked. The car sits great now, with a good drop over stock, but not so low as to make my car useless over speedbumps and in winter.

While I did that, I also got a set of Nexen N3000 tires (cheap and sticky) put on some 17" Aero "Klingon" rims. The stock 16" rims got a set of Continental WinterContact TS790V's for winter driving.

Brakes were also upgraded with Axxis Ultimate Ceramic pads and Brembo High Carbon OEM style rotors. I grinded and painted the calipers black and rotor hats silver, which looks a great deal better than the stock rust look.

Finally with braking, suspension and grip out of the way, it was time to upgrade the engine. It all started by a freak of nature accident... a bolt somehow jumping up and into a tiny awkward hole, and finding it's way into my turbo compressor housing. That little bastard completely destroyed the stock turbo... So I upgraded it with an Abbott Racing Hybrid GT17. The other option was to get a TD04 from the Aero, which has more high end output, but spools much slower. Since I have an automatic, I opted to get more low end torque and quicker response instead of peak output, so that my car would be quicker for day-to-day driving than on the track. Luckily nothing other than the turbo was seriously damaged by the bolt, as most of the turbo fragments got stuck in the hose and intercooler. Looking under the valve cover, fortunately everything is still intact.

Last step was to tune the car. The Saab has a very very complicated "Trionic" engine management system, which requires extremely talented people with complicated software to tune properly. Fortunately Nick at www.genuinesaab.com was beyond amazing, and sorted everything out for me. I installed a huge intake and 3" downpipe on the turbo. Nick had Rolf at Nordic of Sweden write me a custom Stage 3 ECU to take full advantage of the Abbott turbo. End result is approximately 285 crank horsepower, or 235 WHP through the autobox, and 290 ft/lbs torque. And god damn... SO MUCH TORQUE. I hit peak boost (and torque) around 2000rpm, and then the torque just plateaus until about 5000. The feeling is insane, the car just grunts and throws you, no matter where your revs are, or what gear you are in. It's sick.

So, hopefully I have convinced some of you that Saabs aren't just an old man car. If you still don't believe me, check out this one ( :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: ) pic, thread, dyno slip.

What's next? A catback. I am running a little rich right now due to the added exhaust backpressure, as the stage 3 tune is expecting a freer-flowing 2.5" catback over my highly restrictive stock 2.25" setup. I am thinking about getting a 3" stainless setup from Custom Tubes Inc. After that I will likely put the stock airbox back, with a better airfilter and huge intake snorkel that sucks from a better location. And for the summer I will probably add a good stock replacement intercooler (that thing is as big as the radiator), rather than a more obvious front mount setup. After that my dream of a well rounded modest setup should be complete.

As always, I have a lot of pictures on my site:
http://photo.stipud.com/saab/
http://photo.stipud.com/stereo/saab/
Last edited by stipud on Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:16 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Bfowler
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Post by Bfowler »

I want to race you!!! Bad. What fun, how is the toruq steer? Do they make a LSD for it?
my ex-girlfriend said "its car audio or me"
i've had tougher choices at a soda machine...
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Post by Francious70 »

Modest?? Damn.
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Post by stipud »

Well, my car isn't really built for racing. Actually I think the only car I have ever raced from the lights was a Saturn Vue with the 250hp Honda V6. He gunned it at the lights, and I was already in a speeding mood, so I gave chase. I was pretty disappointed when I only kept up to him (literally side by side), though that wasn't terrible because it was on stock 175hp software and the bald tires I got with the car.

It's pretty tricky to race people in a Saab... either nobody notices it from a dig, or I completely destroy them with a rolling start, and they give up right away. Your BMW would probably give me a run for the money off the line though, because you have the advantage of RWD, gearing and peak power. Off the line a Saab is a complete slouch as well, due to FWD and turbo lag. Lag isn't a concern with me, but there is a good deal of burning rubber and occasional wheel hop. The Bilstein suspension does a great job of solving front end lift however.

Quaife has an LSD, but it won't fit in the autobox unfortunately. The torque steer is bearable, but you can't gun it as hard out of corners, as the turbo just peels out the front tires and makes you understeer like a bastard.

My next car will certainly be a 9-5, but it will be a manual, and an Aero. I will take the guts out of a Cobalt SS transmission (strangely enough it has upgraded 9-5 internals with a Quaife LSD... same engine block too, just supercharged), and put that on with a nice top-mount Garrett ball bearing setup and stage 5 tune. That will be a long time in the future however.
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Post by stipud »

Francious70 wrote:Modest?? Damn.
What I mean by that is that I went for an all-around setup. I fixed brakes, suspension, stereo... everything is "decent" but nothing is "amazing". I could have taken all of my money and put it into a "stage 7" upgrade, but it would handle like a donkey, and I would have buried it into another car's bumper a long time ago. Conversely I could have spent all my money on the stereo, or enormous bling rims and 17" brakes, or coilovers and bracing.

Feng shui... yin and yang... I wanted balance in my setup. It gives me inner peace doing so.

Altogether I have spent maybe $5-6k cad on the car, including the stereo (got the car for $13k as a graduation gift). Considering the performance, comfort, and luxury... not fucking bad. In hindsight I would certainly spend the extra $1-2k to get the Aero, which would have made my upgrading a lot cheaper in the end. If anyone is looking for a great car on a budget, check out a used Saab 9-5... they depreciate like mad, so you can spend the same amount for one of these as most kids pay for their used Sunfires.
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Post by fuzzysnuggleduck »

Modest?? Damn.
I ride in that thing several times a week and I tend to agree... it's not modest modest. It is however super-stealth.

The only real exterior hint that most people would have about this car is the tinting and perhaps the mesh... other than that, you'd never really know unless you're a car guy and can pick out all the little things, like I'm sure most of you can.

Then, you get in the car with Tom driving and you KNOW it's not stock :) Tom's no grandpa driver, I'll tell you that.

Also, whenever I get a chance to drive it, it's always feels like there is some little evil devil guy on my shoulder whispering this in my ear:

"C'mon buddy, speed! You know you want to! Floor me! Floor me!"

Who could resist?!?
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Post by stipud »

fuzzysnuggleduck wrote:Also, whenever I get a chance to drive it, it's always feels like there is some little evil devil guy on my shoulder whispering this in my ear:

"C'mon buddy, speed! You know you want to! Floor me! Floor me!"

Who could resist?!?
You don't even use sport mode :roll:
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Post by fuzzysnuggleduck »

You don't even use sport mode
Not when you're in the car with me... :shock: :lol: 8)
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Post by stipud »

fuzzysnuggleduck wrote:
You don't even use sport mode
Not when you're in the car with me... :shock: :lol: 8)
You know I like it when people drive my car fast when I'm in it 8)
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Post by TigraTunerke »

Nice ride...
[img]http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5825/phoenixgoldfan2av6.png[/img]
[img]http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3647/phoenixgoldxmaxownerle7.png[/img]
[img]http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/5709/phoenixgoldzx950owneras6.png[/img]
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