JZW Stage 5 Saab 9-3 v6 Aero
Discussion
Found a guide on a Cobalt forum, should have put the car in 4th before I started taking the bloody shifter assembly apart!!! Would have bolted straight up and the clamp would just need a bit of fine adjusting up & down the selector & saved me a couple hours messing around filing it down, refitting, file, refit, file...... 
http://www.cobaltss.net/forums/how-guide-43/chevro...
I'll get a spare cover off a breaker then start again when I'm off work for the week. Gearchanges feel miles better though with this fitted, solid bushes also made a nice improvement over the rubber ones.
That's about as good as I can get this side now
Billet Pro Shop shifter
Solid shifter mount kit
Taliaferro Shifter reinforcement kit
CG 777 paddle clutch kit
Quaife ATB LSD
Decent gear oil
Powerflex Yellow engine mounts
Next job: New fuel pump & couple sensors, then sort the ABS/TCS/Stability control faul out (should just be a duff abs sensor) then give it some beans to get the runs logged and hopefully get the map sorted.
http://www.cobaltss.net/forums/how-guide-43/chevro...
I'll get a spare cover off a breaker then start again when I'm off work for the week. Gearchanges feel miles better though with this fitted, solid bushes also made a nice improvement over the rubber ones.
That's about as good as I can get this side now
Billet Pro Shop shifter
Solid shifter mount kit
Taliaferro Shifter reinforcement kit
CG 777 paddle clutch kit
Quaife ATB LSD
Decent gear oil
Powerflex Yellow engine mounts
Next job: New fuel pump & couple sensors, then sort the ABS/TCS/Stability control faul out (should just be a duff abs sensor) then give it some beans to get the runs logged and hopefully get the map sorted.
Finally got the short shifter sorted. Luckily I had a spare cover sent to me from one of the UKsaabs forum guys otherwise I'd have to buy a complete shifter assembly! Then followed the guide above from the cobalt forum. Had to shave down a few mm on the inside again to get it over the shifter stick. Bolted everything back up but still can't get 1st 
Tried moving the shifter clamp all the way up and down the cable in 4th to adjust it but still the same, I can only get 1st if I lift the reverse collar and gently try and hit 1st and not reverse (can get a little interesting sat at the lights!!!) that's no good!
So had another look at the shifter, it's slightly thicker on the left side and fouls the cover, just feels like it needs to go across a tad more left and you can see the metal scraping the plastic, so had to file around 4-5mm straight down the side but not touch the reverse lock like last time or I'm back in the same boat!
And it's done the job
What a fk about!!! Hours & hours of messing where it should be a straight swap.
All the messing aside, nice little mod
Tried moving the shifter clamp all the way up and down the cable in 4th to adjust it but still the same, I can only get 1st if I lift the reverse collar and gently try and hit 1st and not reverse (can get a little interesting sat at the lights!!!) that's no good!
So had another look at the shifter, it's slightly thicker on the left side and fouls the cover, just feels like it needs to go across a tad more left and you can see the metal scraping the plastic, so had to file around 4-5mm straight down the side but not touch the reverse lock like last time or I'm back in the same boat!
And it's done the job
What a f
k about!!! Hours & hours of messing where it should be a straight swap. All the messing aside, nice little mod
I was going to hold off doing this until part August but I've got a few weeks off coming up so I'll crack on with it next week and try and get everything fitted Gonna be very pic heavy this and all about a long overdue audio upgrade....started back in 2013 then left 80% finished!! So a couple guides on how to fit a single din headunit into a 2003-2006 car, bypass the standard system, rewiring, a bit (well lots!!) of sound deadening and then trying to get a nice 4 way active SQ system.
It's a nightmare with the 9-3
Basically all the audio options on these cars are pants, as in comically bad, with these older 9-3's you don't have a normal system with a traditional single/double din head unit or something you can easily rip out and upgrade with a dash fascia kit. SAAB being SAAB
decided to give us a wonderful fibre optic set up which to put it nicely.....is a pile of steaming horse st and impossible to upgrade without a ton of work. This is on the 2003-2006 cars although some 2006 cars came with the facelift dash (and higher tax bracket) so if your dash looks like this:
Late 2006 pre facelift & 2007 onwards
Then none of the below really applies as you've got the more traditional set up and MILES easier to upgrade with a double din head unit and run a couple amps from there. We can do this on ours (well you can if you hack the dash up and try to squeeze one in as the 'headunit' isn't single or double din size and there's no dash kits for it..... so you have to do a load of fabrication work to get it in there)
With the fibre optic set up there's no actual headunit, what you see is the Infotainment Control Module in the dash (ICM) and the actual 'headunit' is hidden inside the dash behind the Entertainment Head Unit (EHU) and all this is connected by fibre optics and this also connects to the amps again via the fibre optic cables (if you've got amps) a lot haven't and just have the very basic set up.
Some cars have a single din CD player, some multichanger....these go tits up all the time so your left with either the radio or getting an aux in kit and use your phone/iPod for music via the 3.5mm ear phone jack.
So you get 3 ICM systems (ICM 1/2/3) but can end up with a mix & match of speakers & amps, so it gets a bit confusing trying to work out what kit comes with the car unless you have a good look around it. (This is for the saloon, the wagon & vert are a bit different)
4 speaker set up
This is the very basic base level ICM1 with 2x 3.5" dash mids & 2x4" mids in the rear shelf. It's awful!!! Worst I've ever heard.
ICM 1 looks like this, just buttons and no display:
Next up is ICM1 with the above speakers plus 6.5" door mids and a 4" center dash mid, plus an amp to power them. The amp lives under the passenger seat, get wet/shagged over time and is called 'AMP1' These fail a lot, some just bypass it with a fibre optic loop to get the 4 speakers working again plus your warning Bing Bongs & indicator sounds, but then you lose the door & center dash speakers. Replacement amps are around £75-150 and still prone to dying easily.
7 speaker set up
Again with icm1
ICM 1
AMP1
Next up is the same 7 speaker set up plus amp1 but a different ICM, this ones ICM2 and has the small green LCD display.
ICM 2
So looks a little better but it's still poor, LCD can be a bit temperamental and not come on, buttons are a bit flaky.
After this it's the full speaker set up again with ICM2, but with 13 speakers so you get a little bass, but it still sounds crap! With this you get an additional pair of tweeters in the dash next to the 3.5" mids, tweeters in the shelf next to the 4" mids and some 6x9 subs again in the shelf.
13 speaker set up
Dash speaker/tweeter
It's sort of an active set up but done badly! Each set of speakers gets its own frequency from the amps, so you get high/mid/low up front & the rear. The 6x9's are powered by another amp in the boot called AMP2.
AMP2
And lastly there's the satnav set up which is called ICM3, this should come with the full 13 speakers plus 2 amps....and still pretty crap by the sounds of it. I don't think it's even got post code entry & I think the maps are well out of date since Saab went belly up. The nav looks better in the dash but that's about it! Probably looking at £300+ to upgrade to the nav and looks aside its just not worth it. Was tempted until I priced everything up!
ICM 3
Speakers are all 4ohm bar the 6.5 door woofers which are 2ohm. Speakers are pretty easy to upgrade but finding decent 2ohm 6.5" mids can be hard.
So that's the basic set up to upgrade, mines ICM2 with the 13 speakers & 2 amps, so I could just upgrade the speakers and be done with it....but I t's all getting/been ripped out and bypassed with an independent system, single din headunit with 3 ways up front, 6x9 subs in the shelf, couple amps and lots & lots of deadening. Going for a 4 way active SQ system, all TA'd (time alignment) & EQ'd as best I can get it.
More later, long way to go!!
Gonna be very pic heavy this and all about a long overdue audio upgrade....started back in 2013 then left 80% finished!! So a couple guides on how to fit a single din headunit into a 2003-2006 car, bypass the standard system, rewiring, a bit (well lots!!) of sound deadening and then trying to get a nice 4 way active SQ system. It's a nightmare with the 9-3
Basically all the audio options on these cars are pants, as in comically bad, with these older 9-3's you don't have a normal system with a traditional single/double din head unit or something you can easily rip out and upgrade with a dash fascia kit. SAAB being SAAB
decided to give us a wonderful fibre optic set up which to put it nicely.....is a pile of steaming horse st and impossible to upgrade without a ton of work. This is on the 2003-2006 cars although some 2006 cars came with the facelift dash (and higher tax bracket) so if your dash looks like this:Late 2006 pre facelift & 2007 onwards
Then none of the below really applies as you've got the more traditional set up and MILES easier to upgrade with a double din head unit and run a couple amps from there. We can do this on ours (well you can if you hack the dash up and try to squeeze one in as the 'headunit' isn't single or double din size and there's no dash kits for it..... so you have to do a load of fabrication work to get it in there)
With the fibre optic set up there's no actual headunit, what you see is the Infotainment Control Module in the dash (ICM) and the actual 'headunit' is hidden inside the dash behind the Entertainment Head Unit (EHU) and all this is connected by fibre optics and this also connects to the amps again via the fibre optic cables (if you've got amps) a lot haven't and just have the very basic set up.
Some cars have a single din CD player, some multichanger....these go tits up all the time so your left with either the radio or getting an aux in kit and use your phone/iPod for music via the 3.5mm ear phone jack.
So you get 3 ICM systems (ICM 1/2/3) but can end up with a mix & match of speakers & amps, so it gets a bit confusing trying to work out what kit comes with the car unless you have a good look around it. (This is for the saloon, the wagon & vert are a bit different)
4 speaker set up
This is the very basic base level ICM1 with 2x 3.5" dash mids & 2x4" mids in the rear shelf. It's awful!!! Worst I've ever heard.
ICM 1 looks like this, just buttons and no display:
Next up is ICM1 with the above speakers plus 6.5" door mids and a 4" center dash mid, plus an amp to power them. The amp lives under the passenger seat, get wet/shagged over time and is called 'AMP1' These fail a lot, some just bypass it with a fibre optic loop to get the 4 speakers working again plus your warning Bing Bongs & indicator sounds, but then you lose the door & center dash speakers. Replacement amps are around £75-150 and still prone to dying easily.
7 speaker set up
Again with icm1
ICM 1
AMP1
Next up is the same 7 speaker set up plus amp1 but a different ICM, this ones ICM2 and has the small green LCD display.
ICM 2
So looks a little better but it's still poor, LCD can be a bit temperamental and not come on, buttons are a bit flaky.
After this it's the full speaker set up again with ICM2, but with 13 speakers so you get a little bass, but it still sounds crap! With this you get an additional pair of tweeters in the dash next to the 3.5" mids, tweeters in the shelf next to the 4" mids and some 6x9 subs again in the shelf.
13 speaker set up
Dash speaker/tweeter
It's sort of an active set up but done badly! Each set of speakers gets its own frequency from the amps, so you get high/mid/low up front & the rear. The 6x9's are powered by another amp in the boot called AMP2.
AMP2
And lastly there's the satnav set up which is called ICM3, this should come with the full 13 speakers plus 2 amps....and still pretty crap by the sounds of it. I don't think it's even got post code entry & I think the maps are well out of date since Saab went belly up. The nav looks better in the dash but that's about it! Probably looking at £300+ to upgrade to the nav and looks aside its just not worth it. Was tempted until I priced everything up!
ICM 3
Speakers are all 4ohm bar the 6.5 door woofers which are 2ohm. Speakers are pretty easy to upgrade but finding decent 2ohm 6.5" mids can be hard.
So that's the basic set up to upgrade, mines ICM2 with the 13 speakers & 2 amps, so I could just upgrade the speakers and be done with it....but I t's all getting/been ripped out and bypassed with an independent system, single din headunit with 3 ways up front, 6x9 subs in the shelf, couple amps and lots & lots of deadening. Going for a 4 way active SQ system, all TA'd (time alignment) & EQ'd as best I can get it.
More later, long way to go!!
I didn't realize the front end was different on the newer cars, is that the Bose system?
4" each corner would have been ideal for me, my mids are way to big to fit in the dash so I need to have a good think there. A local audio specialist think either the windscreen has to come out, dash out or worst case both That's not happening!!
4" each corner would have been ideal for me, my mids are way to big to fit in the dash so I need to have a good think there. A local audio specialist think either the windscreen has to come out, dash out or worst case both
That's not happening!!Deadening & wiring bits
RCA's I'm reusing from the older Saab, these are custom made Van-Damme cables, speaker wires are a mix of 2.5mm for the mids & tweeters and 4mm for the subs. Just some cheapish ofc stuff off eBay. I splashed out a bit on the amp wiring kit & some fancy fuse holders. A decent wiring kit makes it miles easier to work with!! The cheaper stuff hardly bends expecially if your using thicker 0 gauge or 00 gauge wires, plus the cheaper 0 gauge is really more like 4 gauge and most use CCA (Coper Clad Aluminium) instead of pure OFC copper so not as good quality. Also picked up a couple meters of 100% copper welding cable in case I run short for TB3 in the engine bay!
Knukonceptz Kolossus 0 gauge wiring kit
Knukonceptz Kolossus 4awg wire (from disto block into amps)
Covered with polyester braid to add a little protection
Audison Connection BFH-11 0awg fuse holder (next to car battery) 50/50 if this will be up to the job, may be better with a more heat resistent holder as the turbo lives right next to the battery! So might use the Knukonceptz holder that came in the kit.
Audison Connection SFD41C Distribution Block (splits to amps)
This is a combined earth & fused power distro block and takes 0awg in, spits it into 1x 2awg & 3x 4awg out and the same for the earth side. Keeps it nice for a cleaner instal instead of having cables running everywhere to separate blocks, can run up to 4 separate amps here.
Knukoncepz Tripple 0AWG battery terminals
Also comes with a 4AWG adapter. Pretty good terminals as long as they're fitted correctly! With these I can run the normal car power cable into the 4 gauge, run the amps 0 gauge plus add another 0 gauge for the big three upgrade.
Deadening products, mainly Silent Coat as its miles cheaper than Dynamat especially if your using a lot!! 2mm stuff is what I'd recommend going for, very easy to work with and if you feel it needs more deadening just double up.
Silent Coat 2mm CLD (Inner door skin/floor/boot/roof)
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/silent-coat-mat-bu...
Silent Coat 4mm Multilayer Extra CLD (outer door skin & roof, miles more rigid but harder to work with, found it best on large open panels)
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/silent-coat-multil...
Silent Coat Isolator 4 CCF (Doors & Roof)
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/sil-isolator4-bulk...
Silent Coat Isolator 8 CCF (Door & Floor) found this a bit too thick, if your using this plus 4mm silent coat and the 2mm MLV it's pretty hard to get door cards back on or carpets/trim back in place.
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/silent-coat-isolat...
Silent Coal Sound Absorber 15 (Back of door cards & fix any dash/trim squeaks)
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/sil-absorber15-bul...
Dodo Barrier MLV (super super heavy! I think there was 10 or 12 large sheets and took two of us to get the box off the van and into the garage!!)
http://www.deadening.co.uk/productsw/dodo-barrier-...
Foam solutions CCF, bit cheaper than the silent coat stuff and a little thinner at 3mm & 6mm
2mtr x 500mm x 3mm
http://www.foamsolutionsuk.co.uk/self-adhesive-clo...
2mtr x 500mm x 6mm
http://www.foamsolutionsuk.co.uk/self-adhesive-clo...
Pic of the first order from CAD, basically had another 3 boxes of silent coat after this plus a fair bit more CCF, all used up but still have the roof & boot to do.
RCA's I'm reusing from the older Saab, these are custom made Van-Damme cables, speaker wires are a mix of 2.5mm for the mids & tweeters and 4mm for the subs. Just some cheapish ofc stuff off eBay. I splashed out a bit on the amp wiring kit & some fancy fuse holders. A decent wiring kit makes it miles easier to work with!! The cheaper stuff hardly bends expecially if your using thicker 0 gauge or 00 gauge wires, plus the cheaper 0 gauge is really more like 4 gauge and most use CCA (Coper Clad Aluminium) instead of pure OFC copper so not as good quality. Also picked up a couple meters of 100% copper welding cable in case I run short for TB3 in the engine bay!
Knukonceptz Kolossus 0 gauge wiring kit
Knukonceptz Kolossus 4awg wire (from disto block into amps)
Covered with polyester braid to add a little protection
Audison Connection BFH-11 0awg fuse holder (next to car battery) 50/50 if this will be up to the job, may be better with a more heat resistent holder as the turbo lives right next to the battery! So might use the Knukonceptz holder that came in the kit.
Audison Connection SFD41C Distribution Block (splits to amps)
This is a combined earth & fused power distro block and takes 0awg in, spits it into 1x 2awg & 3x 4awg out and the same for the earth side. Keeps it nice for a cleaner instal instead of having cables running everywhere to separate blocks, can run up to 4 separate amps here.
Knukoncepz Tripple 0AWG battery terminals
Also comes with a 4AWG adapter. Pretty good terminals as long as they're fitted correctly! With these I can run the normal car power cable into the 4 gauge, run the amps 0 gauge plus add another 0 gauge for the big three upgrade.
Deadening products, mainly Silent Coat as its miles cheaper than Dynamat especially if your using a lot!! 2mm stuff is what I'd recommend going for, very easy to work with and if you feel it needs more deadening just double up.
Silent Coat 2mm CLD (Inner door skin/floor/boot/roof)
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/silent-coat-mat-bu...
Silent Coat 4mm Multilayer Extra CLD (outer door skin & roof, miles more rigid but harder to work with, found it best on large open panels)
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/silent-coat-multil...
Silent Coat Isolator 4 CCF (Doors & Roof)
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/sil-isolator4-bulk...
Silent Coat Isolator 8 CCF (Door & Floor) found this a bit too thick, if your using this plus 4mm silent coat and the 2mm MLV it's pretty hard to get door cards back on or carpets/trim back in place.
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/silent-coat-isolat...
Silent Coal Sound Absorber 15 (Back of door cards & fix any dash/trim squeaks)
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/sil-absorber15-bul...
Dodo Barrier MLV (super super heavy! I think there was 10 or 12 large sheets and took two of us to get the box off the van and into the garage!!)
http://www.deadening.co.uk/productsw/dodo-barrier-...
Foam solutions CCF, bit cheaper than the silent coat stuff and a little thinner at 3mm & 6mm
2mtr x 500mm x 3mm
http://www.foamsolutionsuk.co.uk/self-adhesive-clo...
2mtr x 500mm x 6mm
http://www.foamsolutionsuk.co.uk/self-adhesive-clo...
Pic of the first order from CAD, basically had another 3 boxes of silent coat after this plus a fair bit more CCF, all used up but still have the roof & boot to do.
Ruskie said:
Just read the thread in full. At what point does the challenge of getting so much power and torque down become futile? More a general question but obviously relevant to your car.
From what I can see you have had months and months of issues and after a lot of money and time you were left with a car that was only drivable with WOT restrictions.
If I didn't have the Quaife fitted it would be a nightmare to drive, but I've got no issues here really, 1st spins if your kicking the arse out of it but 2nd onwards just hooks up & goes. Definitely worth fitting, even with the amount of extra torque a JZW stage 1 map gives i think it's worth going for the diff. It's not that bad really considering its fwd and a bit of a barge. Decent tyres & suspension has helped here, the handlings about as good as I can get it now. From what I can see you have had months and months of issues and after a lot of money and time you were left with a car that was only drivable with WOT restrictions.
For what I want it for (which is quick as possible sub 80/90) I don't think it's worth going for any more power here, obviously a bigger turbo will give more oomph higher up but I've been there with my old 9000 and that didn't really get going until 70 so day to day I ended up with a slower car. I guess a billet 20T would be the next to look at and won't break the bank as its a bolt on swap with a rebuilt standard turbo, but again I can't see it being much quicker where I need it, it's quick enough for me now. I think money's better spent on sorting the cooling side with a bigger rad, better IC and have this pushed right up front and not sandwiched between the AC & radiator (only way it would fit properly as its 90mm thick) and maybe an external oil cooler. Then a few things like get the DP, turbo & manifolds ceramic coated.
Yeah it's been a bit of a pain since going to stage 5. Stage 1 was pretty much problem free (and if I'm honest it was more than quick enough for a dd!!) I still think the stage 5 map is too full on for this turbo and would be better on the 19t/20T, should also make a fair bit more power & especially torque with the 20T although the actual real world performance there only seems to be maybe 0.3s difference on a 60-90 pull, so nothing really and probably not worth the 6/700 quid it's gonna cost to get there.....but above that it should walk it.
Had loads of maps to try and a fair few 60-90 runs logged to see what's happening on the standard map sensor and then the 3.5 bar sensor, the new map is slightly richer lower down and this has helped a lot with the throttle cut issue I was having, so where as before I just couldn't really get my foot down until 3k as it dumped the boost early, now I can build the power up from around 2k and it's fine, so feels a for bit quicker here but at the same time it's taken some sparkle away up top (can't have it both ways I suppose!) I think the way it's been mapped is to give as much acceleration as possible above 3k all the way to redline, also to save stress on the rods & box giving it the beans too low down which he doesn't recommend you do. From what I've read other tuners prefer to map it with a more linear torque curve like Hirsh & Maptun.
We think the main problem here is a weak fuel pump, I've had a few CEL's in the past and it's usually the start of a failing pump so this needs to be changed pretty soon. I'll give a new pump a try and see how it goes with the full map back on there & 3.5 bar map sensor. Also get it on a Dynojet dyno and see what's happening.
Still the same and I'll get a fablon bus pass or swap it for a skateboard.....
Speakers & amps
Here's the system that might be going in, head units a definite and subs, amps I've got a few to choose from, all old school 90's stuff, Rockford Fosgate, Denon and Caliber, the speakers I bought are looking less & less likely to be fitted here as its a ton of work (they're massive!!) so I'll probably keep these for a different car and just dust off & use what's left from the old car.
So it's going to be a 4 way active system, 3 ways up front (high/mid/low) to just create a decent front stage, 6x9 subs in the rear shelf and the whole system EQ'd & Time Aligned to the drivers seat to get it sounding nice.
Time Alignment makes a massive difference, had it on the last car with just a pair of Focal 165kp 2 ways up front running active off a DLS A7 amp (one speaker per channel as opposed to using a passive x-over, and a Pioneer DEH-80PRS head unit, can run both 3 way active (high/mid/low) or normal front/rear/subs. Really good and didn't even feel the need for a sub here, takes a bit of setting up but well worth the effort. Ideally I'd have liked to have a couple small subs up front in the foot wells but it's more work and my fabrication skills are pretty poor!!! So I'll have to TA the subs from the rear as best I can. Can sound brilliant when you get it right as everything hits you at the same time.
Speakers that might be used are Sinfoni S Series:
S25T Tweeters
S100M 4" mids
S165W 6.5" mids
The 4" mids are too big/chunky to fit in the dash, so might even end up with just a 2 way set up in the front. Looks like the dash will have to come out to fit these. Mega headache to just fit some speakers!
Custom tweeter pods from Germany, machined to an exact fit for the s25t
The S165W's are massive to be fair, more like small 6.5" subs than mids, so if these won't fit I've got some old MB Quart mids to go in there so should be easy to fit with some mdf. Bit of a step down from Simfoni though!
MB Quart PWE160
The 6x9's are Genesis P69's I think these also came on some Mini's? Cracking little subs, not as good as an enclosed 10" or 12" but still give a nice clean punchy bass. Never felt these were lacking so they're staying put.
Genesis P69 subs
Headunit's a Pioneer DEX-P99RS, I sold the 80PRS and decided on this, can run 4 way active here vs the 3 way on the 80PRS and a true SQ head unit.
Amps:
Got a few to choose from here but will probably go for the Caliber Evolution amps and the RF Punch for the subs.
2x Rockford Fosgate Punch 40i DSM (2 channel) only small but packs a decent punch.
Caliber Evolution 4300 (4 channel)
Also have a Caliber Evolution 6400 which is the 6 channel version of above (beast!!) and a Denon DCA800 6 channel, so enough amps to try out and see what combo sounds the best, the Denon could easily run most of the system as its got 2 sub channels, so will see how it sounds on its own and go from there.
Here's the system that might be going in, head units a definite and subs, amps I've got a few to choose from, all old school 90's stuff, Rockford Fosgate, Denon and Caliber, the speakers I bought are looking less & less likely to be fitted here as its a ton of work (they're massive!!) so I'll probably keep these for a different car and just dust off & use what's left from the old car.
So it's going to be a 4 way active system, 3 ways up front (high/mid/low) to just create a decent front stage, 6x9 subs in the rear shelf and the whole system EQ'd & Time Aligned to the drivers seat to get it sounding nice.
Time Alignment makes a massive difference, had it on the last car with just a pair of Focal 165kp 2 ways up front running active off a DLS A7 amp (one speaker per channel as opposed to using a passive x-over, and a Pioneer DEH-80PRS head unit, can run both 3 way active (high/mid/low) or normal front/rear/subs. Really good and didn't even feel the need for a sub here, takes a bit of setting up but well worth the effort. Ideally I'd have liked to have a couple small subs up front in the foot wells but it's more work and my fabrication skills are pretty poor!!! So I'll have to TA the subs from the rear as best I can. Can sound brilliant when you get it right as everything hits you at the same time.
Speakers that might be used are Sinfoni S Series:
S25T Tweeters
S100M 4" mids
S165W 6.5" mids
The 4" mids are too big/chunky to fit in the dash, so might even end up with just a 2 way set up in the front. Looks like the dash will have to come out to fit these. Mega headache to just fit some speakers!
Custom tweeter pods from Germany, machined to an exact fit for the s25t
The S165W's are massive to be fair, more like small 6.5" subs than mids, so if these won't fit I've got some old MB Quart mids to go in there so should be easy to fit with some mdf. Bit of a step down from Simfoni though!
MB Quart PWE160
The 6x9's are Genesis P69's I think these also came on some Mini's? Cracking little subs, not as good as an enclosed 10" or 12" but still give a nice clean punchy bass. Never felt these were lacking so they're staying put.
Genesis P69 subs
Headunit's a Pioneer DEX-P99RS, I sold the 80PRS and decided on this, can run 4 way active here vs the 3 way on the 80PRS and a true SQ head unit.
Amps:
Got a few to choose from here but will probably go for the Caliber Evolution amps and the RF Punch for the subs.
2x Rockford Fosgate Punch 40i DSM (2 channel) only small but packs a decent punch.
Caliber Evolution 4300 (4 channel)
Also have a Caliber Evolution 6400 which is the 6 channel version of above (beast!!) and a Denon DCA800 6 channel, so enough amps to try out and see what combo sounds the best, the Denon could easily run most of the system as its got 2 sub channels, so will see how it sounds on its own and go from there.
Onto the wiring harness for the P99.....headache trying to figure this one out!!
There's nothing like Autoleads etc available for the 03-06 cars so you have to make your own harness up if you want to run a single din (a lot of that about to happen!!)
I had an old wiring harness lying around so cut this and kept the small grey block with wires attached, these wires then got soldered up to the cars phone kit connecting harness, and that plugged into the cars phone kit connector in the passenger footwell, then found a SOT kit but only really needed the connecting block in the end with the right wires, plugged the grey block into this and soldered these wires onto the P99 harness with the DC/DC converter.
SOT kit, most didnt even get used and was binned! I only needed the one connector plus wires to solder onto the p99's harness!!
Telephone loom
And this goes here into the cars phone connector.
So the only wires I need from the phone kit are-
Red 12v memory
Red/blue 12v power
Black earth
Here's the harness from the P99, needs a connector soldered on, then I can just plugin as normal.
All done, unused wires shrink wrapped here just to test it out to se if the HU fired up, but eventually pulled out of the connector & harness taped up for a neater finish
There's nothing like Autoleads etc available for the 03-06 cars so you have to make your own harness up if you want to run a single din (a lot of that about to happen!!)
I had an old wiring harness lying around so cut this and kept the small grey block with wires attached, these wires then got soldered up to the cars phone kit connecting harness, and that plugged into the cars phone kit connector in the passenger footwell, then found a SOT kit but only really needed the connecting block in the end with the right wires, plugged the grey block into this and soldered these wires onto the P99 harness with the DC/DC converter.
SOT kit, most didnt even get used and was binned! I only needed the one connector plus wires to solder onto the p99's harness!!
Telephone loom
And this goes here into the cars phone connector.
So the only wires I need from the phone kit are-
Red 12v memory
Red/blue 12v power
Black earth
Here's the harness from the P99, needs a connector soldered on, then I can just plugin as normal.
All done, unused wires shrink wrapped here just to test it out to se if the HU fired up, but eventually pulled out of the connector & harness taped up for a neater finish
MOT'd for another year
Few things to address over the next couple months:
New fuel pump & sensor (running the tame map here & standard sensor and missing the oomph of the mental map & 3.5 bar sensor) can definitely feel the lack of performance with this fuel pump on its way out The S4 around the corners proper getting it when it's fixed!! 
New tyres all round, fronts are now 3 & 4mm (Rainsport 3's have lasted around 6k!!!) fantastic tyre in the wet, decent enough dry grip for the price on them but fancy something similar to my old Kumho V70A's, but needs to be higher load rating. Not sure what to go for here? Any sticky tyre suggestions for 235/45/17 with 94 load rating?
New discs & pads. Not sure on discs but probably mtec or Brembo and either Mintex M1144 or Ferodo DS2500/3000. The Mintex pads seem to be as good as ds2500 but cheaper. Really do fancy trying the ds3000's though!! They sound like good stoppers
Long term plan as its a keeper and I've shovelled way too much cash into it!! Sort the rust and treat it to a full respray or wrap. But that won't be for a couple years....
This weeks job is finish the audio side!! 80% done! Just needs the front speakers and amps fitted. Plan is to just use what's upstairs as the Sinfoni 3 ways aren't going in without a ton of work, so MB Quart mids & Focal tweeters, Genesis 6x9 subs in the shelf and run the lot active from the HU and a 1990 Denon DCA-800 6 channel amp I had last week:
^^^^^^ 26 years old that thing!!!
Few things to address over the next couple months:
New fuel pump & sensor (running the tame map here & standard sensor and missing the oomph of the mental map & 3.5 bar sensor) can definitely feel the lack of performance with this fuel pump on its way out
The S4 around the corners proper getting it when it's fixed!! New tyres all round, fronts are now 3 & 4mm (Rainsport 3's have lasted around 6k!!!) fantastic tyre in the wet, decent enough dry grip for the price on them but fancy something similar to my old Kumho V70A's, but needs to be higher load rating. Not sure what to go for here? Any sticky tyre suggestions for 235/45/17 with 94 load rating?
New discs & pads. Not sure on discs but probably mtec or Brembo and either Mintex M1144 or Ferodo DS2500/3000. The Mintex pads seem to be as good as ds2500 but cheaper. Really do fancy trying the ds3000's though!! They sound like good stoppers
Long term plan as its a keeper and I've shovelled way too much cash into it!! Sort the rust and treat it to a full respray or wrap. But that won't be for a couple years....
This weeks job is finish the audio side!! 80% done! Just needs the front speakers and amps fitted. Plan is to just use what's upstairs as the Sinfoni 3 ways aren't going in without a ton of work, so MB Quart mids & Focal tweeters, Genesis 6x9 subs in the shelf and run the lot active from the HU and a 1990 Denon DCA-800 6 channel amp I had last week:
^^^^^^ 26 years old that thing!!!
New tyres fitted today, could have had another 1,000 or so miles out of these but it's lost a fair bit of grip now and starting to struggle and wheel spin when pressing on. Rears had TONS of tread left on there but one had a deep gouge in the sidewall, no cord showing but I don't want to risk it. So went for new all round and will keep the best RS3 to use on a spare. (Space saver doesn't clear the 345 VXR brakes so need to find a cheap 17 to stick in the boot!!)
After coming close to getting some Federal 595 RSR's or just get 3 new RS3's I had another look online, read some reviews etc and decided on some Michelin Pilot Sport 4's....
I think I chose right here!! Bit more money that I wanted to spend but jeez they've got some mental grip!! No wheelspin at all off the line, feels a lot more planted on fast sweeping bends and nailing it off a roundabout just feels like a different car, can really feel this Quaife working now and the benefit of fitting it. Just floor it and it pulls the car around with zero fuss and no wheelspin at all!! Really good, pretty brutal
Also have a few service items coming to get done next week, 6 new LFR7AiX plugs, 2 genuine Bosch 112 coils to replace the original 104 coils so that's 6 X 112 coils fitted now and along with the fresh plugs should run better. Shell Helix oil (offer on opie oils now, 6 liters for £28!!) And some fresh RBF600 brake fluid. Then load the other map back in there with the 3.5bar sensor and see if it's any better (99% sure I need a new fuel pump though)
Been an expensive few weeks this!!!!
After coming close to getting some Federal 595 RSR's or just get 3 new RS3's I had another look online, read some reviews etc and decided on some Michelin Pilot Sport 4's....
I think I chose right here!! Bit more money that I wanted to spend but jeez they've got some mental grip!! No wheelspin at all off the line, feels a lot more planted on fast sweeping bends and nailing it off a roundabout just feels like a different car, can really feel this Quaife working now and the benefit of fitting it. Just floor it and it pulls the car around with zero fuss and no wheelspin at all!! Really good, pretty brutal
Also have a few service items coming to get done next week, 6 new LFR7AiX plugs, 2 genuine Bosch 112 coils to replace the original 104 coils so that's 6 X 112 coils fitted now and along with the fresh plugs should run better. Shell Helix oil (offer on opie oils now, 6 liters for £28!!) And some fresh RBF600 brake fluid. Then load the other map back in there with the 3.5bar sensor and see if it's any better (99% sure I need a new fuel pump though)
Been an expensive few weeks this!!!!
TotalControl said:
Really liking the progress so far.
Strangely, my man maths is telling me that my current Vector 1.8t (non remapped) isn't up for the task of a 25 mile (50 miles total) commute to a potential new place of work.
What's the 2.8 like at motorway cruising/ mpg after a stage 1?
Around 26/27 mpg. Great on the motorway, the v6 definitely need a remap though to get it going, pretty tame standard. Take a look at JZW or Vtuner but you might need to upgrade the clutch here as they get a load of torque early on, maptun seems to be more linear and fine on a standard clutch. Strangely, my man maths is telling me that my current Vector 1.8t (non remapped) isn't up for the task of a 25 mile (50 miles total) commute to a potential new place of work.
What's the 2.8 like at motorway cruising/ mpg after a stage 1?
Also budget for new plugs and new coils, the old '104' coils tend to die once your mapped, the newer '112' coils are better
Hackney said:
Well (from the previous owner) I've got Maptun and JZW maps. After trying both I've stuck with the JZW which IIRC is around 320bhp
As you've tried both in the same car how do you find the JZW tune vs Maptun? From what I've read Maptun stage 1 is a more linear power delivery but still nice & quick, where my JZW stage 1 was pretty much full on from around 2k but started to die off around 4.5k and would be gone by 5k. One of the main reasons I went for the Inignia VXR turbo (18t) as its still pulling hard at redline but hardly any extra lag. Should really have gone for the 20T with the problems I've had but it won't be much quicker really where I need it sub 100 (miles quicker above a ton though from what I've seen!!) 20T 60-90 is 3.1s mines 3.3/3.4s so I don't think it's worth changing again, might have a different map on there though if this throttle cut issues still here after I fit a new fuel pump & sensor. I'm swapping the last couple coils over next week and fit the new plugs first see if that makes any difference....before dumping another 500 quid into it!
Ive been looking at Rabbid remaps who's got a decent rep with the VXR guys and custom tunes the cars on the dyno so that's definitely on the cards if there's no joy here. Shame as I've spent around a grand on the mapping incl the VCM scanner
Jimmy Recard said:
I had that Denon amp. A serious quality product and even quite nice looking. I'm considering doing a bit of audio in my Astra - I'd happily have one of those in it.
Great thread anyway. Thumbs up from me.
Yeah few marks on it but looks more or less new Great thread anyway. Thumbs up from me.
I just my other 800 last week, I'm keeping this though!!Hackney said:
JZW is more fun.
I picked up the car with the JZW map on it so got used to that. Then had a few scare stories (from a Maptun specialist, imagine that) so went for the Maptun map for a while. It's a year ago but what I remember was the feeling that it wasn't as quick.
I know that's a bit vague, but in general it felt like the car had been turned from 11 back down to 8 or 9.
I never drove the car with the standard map so can't comment on that, maybe Maptun feels better than standard.
In terms of delivery the JZW is very much - wait for it, wait for it, [3000 revs] WHOOSH!!!
Up to about 5,000 revs. At the moment I'm doing mostly motorway driving so it's great for when traffic clears and you want to get up to speed quickly.
3rd gear on a motorway sliproad is just hilarious.
I never felt that in the couple of weeks (if that) with the Maptun.
I'd be tempted to go for more as I'm about to change jobs and will be doing a lot less miles but one stipulation of the new job is if you "opt out" your car must be less than 4yrs old.
And even though the car is in amazing condition, the 08 plate gives it away.
They're pretty slow standard (well not slow, it's no slouch but nothing special) a lot come with the Hirsch tune which I believe was a dealer option between Saab & Hirsch, that's meant to liven things up a bit but still not as quick as Maptun.I picked up the car with the JZW map on it so got used to that. Then had a few scare stories (from a Maptun specialist, imagine that) so went for the Maptun map for a while. It's a year ago but what I remember was the feeling that it wasn't as quick.
I know that's a bit vague, but in general it felt like the car had been turned from 11 back down to 8 or 9.
I never drove the car with the standard map so can't comment on that, maybe Maptun feels better than standard.
In terms of delivery the JZW is very much - wait for it, wait for it, [3000 revs] WHOOSH!!!
Up to about 5,000 revs. At the moment I'm doing mostly motorway driving so it's great for when traffic clears and you want to get up to speed quickly.
3rd gear on a motorway sliproad is just hilarious.
I never felt that in the couple of weeks (if that) with the Maptun.
I'd be tempted to go for more as I'm about to change jobs and will be doing a lot less miles but one stipulation of the new job is if you "opt out" your car must be less than 4yrs old.
And even though the car is in amazing condition, the 08 plate gives it away.
Shame about the company car
Hackney said:
Yeah, it's a damn shame. Still, I got a new Golf R Estate on Friday so can't complain.
The 9-3 is now up for sale on some reputable websites
Well done mate, really nice cars The 9-3 is now up for sale on some reputable websites
Post some pics when you get it, there's a white one in the next street, looks the part & dying to have a play with it 
(probably kick my arse at the moment though) noticed a big drop in performance here so need to sort this fuel pump out but money keeps going elsewhere What's the score with remapping this if it's a works car? Will they be able to tell?
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