Saab 9-5 Aero - Hybrid Turbo and 9000 Bottom End - 350 bhp

[HybridAero]

Quick update - mineral oil drained out and replaced with gm 5w30 fully synthetic at 400 miles, running a lot smoother now, mileage now at 700 since rebuild and next weekend the 19t-7 turbo, kinugawa actuator, king cobra inlet and green giant injectors will be installed, followed by a remap. Excited!

[AntiLagGC8]

That sounds fantastic! I would be excited too!

Please post your results, I'd love to see

[Shotdog]

Love these old saabs absolute sleepers! My dad had a 900 turbo that was chipped when I was growing up it was a right weapon! I too am interested in a VmAx type event! Drag racing from a standstill is alright but I struggle for traction I prefer rolling starts and embarrassing the big boys!

[griffin dai]

Looking forward to seeing it mapped Will be nice & rapid!!

You should get some decent top end oomph with the larger #7 exhaust housing

Definitely look into the LSD though, made a huge difference on mine

Most of the Saab guys go for the Quaife, but I wish I'd given the Wavetrac diff a go now on this v6....sounds a little better

[HybridAero]

Thanks all, yeh will have to check out the Vmax section of this forum, would love to race an E39 M5 once everything is fitted and mapped. Definitely need an LSD at some point, but think the first major mod after the engine work is a set of Bilstein B12s, unless anyone can recommend a better suspension set-up? Not looking to make it a full-on track weapon because it isn't exactly a good base car, but on standard springs and dampers it's a wallowy old hector.

Currently waiting for Maptun / Neo Bros to have a black recirculating dump valve in stock, and also apparently I need some fuel rail washers for installation of the green giant injectors, but can't work out where to source them.

Turbo and everything else being fitted around 23rd Jan, and almost at 1000 miles so will start revving past 4000 rpm occasionally.

[HybridAero]

Shotdog said:

Love these old saabs absolute sleepers! My dad had a 900 turbo that was chipped when I was growing up it was a right weapon! I too am interested in a VmAx type event! Drag racing from a standstill is alright but I struggle for traction I prefer rolling starts and embarrassing the big boys!

Yeh they're cool ain't they, especially the older 900s and 9000s. Seen your 135i, what a monster! Funnily enough I went out in my boss's stock 135i the other day and was amazed how it pulls so strong from low down, and then pulls even harder from 4000 rpm onwards, proper weapons, can't imagine what yours must be like with 500 bhp!

[HybridAero]

Turns out Maptun had some fuel rail washers and recirculating dump / diverter valve in stock, so ordered them.

Also ordered some 'high performance' spark plugs from Maptun, which 'run at a cooler temperature giving better results for highly tuned 9-5s'.

https://www.maptunparts.com/service-items/spark-pl...

Just got to wait for 19t turbo bits to arrive, then will begin installation.

[PhillipM]

Same plugs I'm running in the supercharged S2k engine*, they're usually only about 7-8 quid for a set of four through most places.

• well, for the minute as you can get them over the counter, there's a set of BKR8EIX on the way.

Edited by PhillipM on Friday 15th January 14:32

[mighty kitten]

You don't really need 8,s until your pushing 450+hp in the Saab . I only run 8,s in summer for track days as the 7,s get a but warm and trigger some knock activity

[AeroBlack]

mighty kitten said:

You don't really need 8,s until your pushing 450+hp in the Saab . I only run 8,s in summer for track days as the 7,s get a but warm and trigger some knock activity

Then wouldn't it be better to have the 8s instead of 7s based on that?

[HybridAero]

19t turbo blade is held up in customs, so my engine tuner Tony has had to put off the final build for a few weeks, which is frustrating.

On the bright side, have received the following items.

Maptun recirculating dump valve, in black to keep the black theme going:







NGK BCR8ES spark plugs, recommended for higher performance B235R / B234 powered Saabs:



..and a set of fuel rail washers, all ordered direct from Maptun in Sweden:



Car has now surpassed 1000 miles since rebuild so gave it some welly up to 5k revs and it feels very smooth, can't imagine what it will be like with the 19t and king cobra installed and mapped, along with all the other parts.

I'm considering a suspension upgrade for this. Can anyone recommend whether Bilstein B12s are worth a look? I have no current plans for any track days but there is so much room for improvement with the current setup.

Edited by HybridAero on Saturday 18th February 12:33

[griffin dai]

Try eBay for the plugs next time now you know the p/n. I think I used to pay around 2 quid a plug back then.

I've got the Eibachs & b8's on my 9-3, so same as the b12 kit. No complaints here but the 9-3's not that bad handling standard, these just lowered it an extra 20mm and helped with cornering on long sweeping bends. Nice/popular combo on mine but not sure how they'll be on the 9-5 (usually can't go wrong with Eibach & Billies though)

[HybridAero]

griffin dai said:

Have you upgraded the fuel pump & map sensor? I had to on the 9000 when going above stage 3 to stage 4 with the bigger IC & GG's (roughly 310/315bhp....standard td04 was maxed out there though)

There's was some info on a cheap(ish) LSD on UKS but I can't find the thread.

Found out I don't need an uprated map sensor as that only applies to t5 engine management, whereas mine is running t7.

[HybridAero]

griffin dai said:

Try eBay for the plugs next time now you know the p/n. I think I used to pay around 2 quid a plug back then.

I've got the Eibachs & b8's on my 9-3, so same as the b12 kit. No complaints here but the 9-3's not that bad handling standard, these just lowered it an extra 20mm and helped with cornering on long sweeping bends. Nice/popular combo on mine but not sure how they'll be on the 9-5 (usually can't go wrong with Eibach & Billies though)

Yeh I paid over the odds for the spark plugs but wanted to get everything in one order ready for today, but turns out there wasn't any need to rush. Are the Bilsteins / Eibachs adjustable? I only want a 10mm drop as worried about the downpipe hitting anything.

[griffin dai]

I think you'll need Koni's or just go for coilovers if you want adjustable suspension on there budd. SAS arb's also worth looking into and seem a popular upgrade although a little expensive. They down make any for mine

Best bet is ask the 9-5 lot on UKS for suspension upgrades and stuff like best place for polybushing/replacing any known parts that fail (may aswel replace these things for new while your at it to save stripping it all down again)

Try Neos for the bushes/suspension bits & b12 kit or Maptun coilovers, Abbott Racing for the Konis and parts for saabs for the SAS bars. PFS also sell a Saab Road Holding kit, I had this on my first 9000 and found it awful (pretty scary tbh!!) but it's meant to be pretty good on the 9-5.

Also (double check this though!) I'm 99% sure the Vectra B shares the same suspension as the 9-5? So maybe other options if you go this route? Like cheaper coilovers vs the Maptun kit...

[Bri957]

The B12 kit is about £200 cheaper from German eBay than UK suppliers (inc Neo's).

I'd recommend poly bushing the subframe mounts and adding a poly torque mount as well.

[griffin dai]

Bri957 said:

The B12 kit is about £200 cheaper from German eBay than UK suppliers (inc Neo's).

I'd recommend poly bushing the subframe mounts and adding a poly torque mount as well.

Gotta love PH

There you go! 200 bucks saved towards these

http://www.partsforsaabs.com/product_info.php?cPat...

[Bri957]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/361374148078

There are other sellers around the same price range.

[HybridAero]

Bri957 said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/361374148078

There are other sellers around the same price range.

Thanks, that's over 100 quid cheaper than off UK eBay inc postage!

[Evoluzione]

HybridAero said:

19t turbo blade is held up in customs, so my engine tuner Tony has had to put off the final build for a few weeks, which is frustrating.

On the bright side, have received the following items.

Maptun recirculating dump valve, in black to keep the black theme going:

Edited by HybridAero on Friday 22 January 23:43

They're £20 - £30 delivered on Ebay too...