Saab 9-3 2.0T SE
Discussion
Well, after the scrapping of my Fiesta (Thread here: http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f... I've been on the look out for a new car. Being 18, insurance played a key part (well it was the deciding factor in what I purchased!). I ended up looking at Ford Pumas, ST24s, Primera GTs, Toledo V5s and I randomly decided to price up a Saab and was pleasantly surprised.
It's a 2002 2.0T SE HPT so 185bhp standard but it's at Stage 1 with around 210-220bhp. 139k on the clock but certainly doesn't feel like it! Some service history also. It had a new turbo around 6 months ago, a new clutch master and slave cylinder, and a sump drop and clean around 500 miles ago.
It's been wet and rainy every day since I picked it up (Friday) so I haven't had full use of the power tbh (wheels will spin in 3rd if you do a hard change at full boost) but it hasn't stopped me having fun. Got it down to 14.4MPG. Running it on 97 RON at the moment too!
Oh and the half leather seats are comfy as f
k!
It also has a Viggen kit on it.
Things to do: The SID needs reprogramming and I'll probably take it for a service at the South Wales Saab Specialists just to be on the safe side.
Plans for the future: None really! I'd like to get a different set of alloys on it. But no idea what and it's not too important. Maybe go to Stage 2 one day when funds allow. But for now I'm just enjoying it!
Any questions, fire away! Comments welcomed.
It's a 2002 2.0T SE HPT so 185bhp standard but it's at Stage 1 with around 210-220bhp. 139k on the clock but certainly doesn't feel like it! Some service history also. It had a new turbo around 6 months ago, a new clutch master and slave cylinder, and a sump drop and clean around 500 miles ago.
It's been wet and rainy every day since I picked it up (Friday) so I haven't had full use of the power tbh (wheels will spin in 3rd if you do a hard change at full boost) but it hasn't stopped me having fun. Got it down to 14.4MPG. Running it on 97 RON at the moment too!
Oh and the half leather seats are comfy as f
k!It also has a Viggen kit on it.
Things to do: The SID needs reprogramming and I'll probably take it for a service at the South Wales Saab Specialists just to be on the safe side.
Plans for the future: None really! I'd like to get a different set of alloys on it. But no idea what and it's not too important. Maybe go to Stage 2 one day when funds allow. But for now I'm just enjoying it!
Any questions, fire away! Comments welcomed.
Edited by 43034 on Monday 6th August 13:41
Very nice, I had an Aero Coupe when I was 21 or something. Loved it until the air-con broke.
Keep an eye on the bulkhead and fit one of those clamps, they are supposed to help with torque steer. I guess on an 02 you should have TC as well? Mine lacked that which was interesting.
How about these wheels?
PS, Is the Aero kit an option or has it been fitted? I know some special edition FPT cars had it but I thought they were all black!
Keep an eye on the bulkhead and fit one of those clamps, they are supposed to help with torque steer. I guess on an 02 you should have TC as well? Mine lacked that which was interesting.
How about these wheels?
PS, Is the Aero kit an option or has it been fitted? I know some special edition FPT cars had it but I thought they were all black!
Nice!
I have just inherited a 2.2tdi early 9-3. Bit of a culture shock from the 205gti I had before!
Love the viggen kit and those wheels on the black car are some of my favorite alloys. Either those or these: http://www.finishlinewheels.com/prodimg/ALY68198U....
Good choice on SWSS as well, my old man has used them for years and has nothing but praise for them.
I have just inherited a 2.2tdi early 9-3. Bit of a culture shock from the 205gti I had before!
Love the viggen kit and those wheels on the black car are some of my favorite alloys. Either those or these: http://www.finishlinewheels.com/prodimg/ALY68198U....
Good choice on SWSS as well, my old man has used them for years and has nothing but praise for them.
Hi, I love your car. Im getting to the stage in life where I really appreciate saabs. These 9-3s are pretty quick I believe.
I know someone in the trade who was offered an 07 Reg Aero recently with just 38,000 miles on it for 3 grand. Well I'd have it like a shot, but Im on my own with that one.as my wife really hates Saabs!
I know someone in the trade who was offered an 07 Reg Aero recently with just 38,000 miles on it for 3 grand. Well I'd have it like a shot, but Im on my own with that one.as my wife really hates Saabs!
I like it mate. It must be fun knowing you can get wheel-spin in 3rd if you wanted. I want a SAAB lately as I think it would suprise many drivers. If you are going to change the wheels, go for the wheels pictured by another poster earlier in the thread. IMO the best wheels SAAB did (apart from the new 9-3 Turbo X alloys)
Enjoy mate!
Enjoy mate!
Cheers guys. I am a great fan of the HOT wheels pictured above, as well as the 3 spokes. The kit was purchased separately by the previous owner.
Weather has still been poor so i've been pootling about in Economy for the time being. Up to 15.1mpg on the trip computer but i'm adamant it's slow to update as i've hardly been thrashing it at all.
The weather is meant to be nice on the weekend so hopefully i'll get a chance to get some photos and have a nice drive.
Weather has still been poor so i've been pootling about in Economy for the time being. Up to 15.1mpg on the trip computer but i'm adamant it's slow to update as i've hardly been thrashing it at all.
Bezza1969 said:
Hi, I love your car. Im getting to the stage in life where I really appreciate saabs. These 9-3s are pretty quick I believe.
I know someone in the trade who was offered an 07 Reg Aero recently with just 38,000 miles on it for 3 grand. Well I'd have it like a shot, but Im on my own with that one.as my wife really hates Saabs!
Thanks you! But, Bugger! You're at 'that stage' at 43 years old haha, i'm only 18 and have managed it. Yeah it was 7.6 to 60 as standard which isn't bad at all, with the re-map I suppose it'll be a bit quicker. It's the mid range pull I really adore though. 30-50 and 50-70 is very quick (well, coming from a Fiesta anyway).I know someone in the trade who was offered an 07 Reg Aero recently with just 38,000 miles on it for 3 grand. Well I'd have it like a shot, but Im on my own with that one.as my wife really hates Saabs!
The weather is meant to be nice on the weekend so hopefully i'll get a chance to get some photos and have a nice drive.
Cracking car. Especially for an 18 yo. I drove my mothers dog of an SE 2.0t auto the other week (150bhp I believe) and although it pulled well, I found that the steering gave me absolutely 0 feedback of the road surface/grip levels, and the roll on roundabouts meant it felt like it was about to capsize. Would be interested for someone to reassure me that the AERO/VIGGEN models don't all handle like hovercrafts?
GTiFrank said:
Cracking car. Especially for an 18 yo. I drove my mothers dog of an SE 2.0t auto the other week (150bhp I believe) and although it pulled well, I found that the steering gave me absolutely 0 feedback of the road surface/grip levels, and the roll on roundabouts meant it felt like it was about to capsize. Would be interested for someone to reassure me that the AERO/VIGGEN models don't all handle like hovercrafts?
I haven't driven mine all that hard due to weather. Never driven anything with any real power so want to get used to it before doing so. But with P6000s (all have bloody good tread left so don't really want to change just yet either) on all 4 corners here I wouldn't say the handling is all that great either. That is a great car, congratulations on the purchase!
If there is one thing I will say, is get these bloody P6000s off it ASAP. My car came with them and it was absolutely terrible. I could kick the back out at 1250 rpm in second gear round a damp roundabout. A set of Michelin Primacys put a stop to that, and vastly improved the ride and handeling.
Any pics of the interior?
If there is one thing I will say, is get these bloody P6000s off it ASAP. My car came with them and it was absolutely terrible. I could kick the back out at 1250 rpm in second gear round a damp roundabout. A set of Michelin Primacys put a stop to that, and vastly improved the ride and handeling.
Any pics of the interior?
Aye. I know how shocking they are, and I will be changing ASAP. It just won't be for another 2-3 weeks or so. Whilst making progress, if you enter a corner at any sort of speed, it's horrible, under steers like the Exxon Valdez. In the wet as well, Jesus Christ!
Got some photos of the interior to follow now. There's a lot of scratches on the centre console, it's plastic, any idea how to get these off? Rather ruins the look of the interior. Floor mats needed a deep clean so they're out of the car for the time being whilst they dry.
Gave the inside a damn good clean today, outside will be done on the next nice day.
Scratching is just visible to the left of Climate Control. Any ideas?
Got some photos of the interior to follow now. There's a lot of scratches on the centre console, it's plastic, any idea how to get these off? Rather ruins the look of the interior. Floor mats needed a deep clean so they're out of the car for the time being whilst they dry.
Gave the inside a damn good clean today, outside will be done on the next nice day.
Scratching is just visible to the left of Climate Control. Any ideas?
Looks nice mate. Reading this reminds me to update my 9-3 thread! Job for tomorrow!
Before adding anymore power I'd 100% recommend sorting the handling first. Steering rack clamp and subframe brace make a nice difference (clamps essential IMO) as does a thicker rear arb. Clamp from PFS (£100) or from Abbott's (£200)...Abbotts better?? Cant say. Six point brace from eBay if available (£160/170) or Abbotts sell a 2 point brace. Rear arb...getting hard to find but keep an eye out for a 22mm bar from Genuine Saab (also called sway bar) there was a guy selling these and 6 point braces on eBay but haven't seem one for a while.
Then look at Neo Brothers website for some uprated springs/dampers. (I've got Abbott springs/Bilstein B8's on mine which are great, but Eibach springs are meant to be better) Neos also sell the complete Pollybush kit for these as do Larkspeed.
..and bin them tyres!! Lethal
(need to change mine)
If you've not done do register with Uksaabs as its a fountain of knowledge and will definitely save you a few quid with all the help/info on there!
Before adding anymore power I'd 100% recommend sorting the handling first. Steering rack clamp and subframe brace make a nice difference (clamps essential IMO) as does a thicker rear arb. Clamp from PFS (£100) or from Abbott's (£200)...Abbotts better?? Cant say. Six point brace from eBay if available (£160/170) or Abbotts sell a 2 point brace. Rear arb...getting hard to find but keep an eye out for a 22mm bar from Genuine Saab (also called sway bar) there was a guy selling these and 6 point braces on eBay but haven't seem one for a while.
Then look at Neo Brothers website for some uprated springs/dampers. (I've got Abbott springs/Bilstein B8's on mine which are great, but Eibach springs are meant to be better) Neos also sell the complete Pollybush kit for these as do Larkspeed.
..and bin them tyres!! Lethal
(need to change mine)If you've not done do register with Uksaabs as its a fountain of knowledge and will definitely save you a few quid with all the help/info on there!
griffin dai said:
Looks nice mate. Reading this reminds me to update my 9-3 thread! Job for tomorrow!
Before adding anymore power I'd 100% recommend sorting the handling first. Steering rack clamp and subframe brace make a nice difference (clamps essential IMO) as does a thicker rear arb. Clamp from PFS (£100) or from Abbott's (£200)...Abbotts better?? Cant say. Six point brace from eBay if available (£160/170) or Abbotts sell a 2 point brace. Rear arb...getting hard to find but keep an eye out for a 22mm bar from Genuine Saab (also called sway bar) there was a guy selling these and 6 point braces on eBay but haven't seem one for a while.
Then look at Neo Brothers website for some uprated springs/dampers. (I've got Abbott springs/Bilstein B8's on mine which are great, but Eibach springs are meant to be better) Neos also sell the complete Pollybush kit for these as do Larkspeed.
..and bin them tyres!! Lethal (need to change mine)
If you've not done do register with Uksaabs as its a fountain of knowledge and will definitely save you a few quid with all the help/info on there!
Hey mate! Posted on your thread before noticing you posted here...Before adding anymore power I'd 100% recommend sorting the handling first. Steering rack clamp and subframe brace make a nice difference (clamps essential IMO) as does a thicker rear arb. Clamp from PFS (£100) or from Abbott's (£200)...Abbotts better?? Cant say. Six point brace from eBay if available (£160/170) or Abbotts sell a 2 point brace. Rear arb...getting hard to find but keep an eye out for a 22mm bar from Genuine Saab (also called sway bar) there was a guy selling these and 6 point braces on eBay but haven't seem one for a while.
Then look at Neo Brothers website for some uprated springs/dampers. (I've got Abbott springs/Bilstein B8's on mine which are great, but Eibach springs are meant to be better) Neos also sell the complete Pollybush kit for these as do Larkspeed.
..and bin them tyres!! Lethal
(need to change mine)If you've not done do register with Uksaabs as its a fountain of knowledge and will definitely save you a few quid with all the help/info on there!
I'm on UKSaabs, was there before buying the car as looked at a couple for sale on there. Bloke I purchased the car from was on there too. It's got a SaabNoob stage 1 remap also.
Am going to get the steering rack clamp soon and having done a bit of research the PFS one seems absolutely fine and the Abbott's certainly isn't worth double the price. Wondering if it's worth keeping an eye out on the Saab forums to see if someone is breaking a car with one already fitted, or is buying new better?
Didn't know about the 6 point brace and certainly not about the rear arb, will look in to getting those fitted also.
Tyres are coming first before anything though, I know how rancid they are. I was origianlly looking at GY Eagle F1 GSD3s but after research it appears they're lethal in the cold. Have been advised to go with Bridgestone Turanza ER300s? Anything you can specifically recommend?
Another cheap mod is just double up the rear arb with another one off a 9-3. I'm not sure how better the 22mm bar is to this but it'll be better than the standard bar alone. Loads of guys have done this on uks so there'll be some info there on how to do it. I did this with my 9000 but used an Abbott one...probably no difference to a standard bar but I got that cheap so just fitted it.
Tyres I'm still on these cheapo things for now but will probably fit some Kuhmo V70A's if I've got the cash when i get back to stage 6 or go for another set of Toyo R1R's like I had on the 9000 (good tyre & grip well in the summer/dry but not brilliant in the wet) A few guys use Conti Sport contact 3 and iirc Uniroyal Rainsport which seem a good tyre.
Ref the clamp, just get it from PFS mate, I came to the same conclusion as you and the Abbott ones just not worth the extra £100...put that towards the subframe brace instead. I'm not sure how essential the brace is on the 3/5 door cars but it's needed on the verts as the chassis is so bendy!! Made a nice difference to mine & reduced the horrible scuttle shake I used to get....still not perfect but miles better than before. Handlings pretty pants on these anyway...but they go like fk on the A470 with a big turbo bolted on 
Good call with using SWSS, I've been going there around 7 years now & they've done all the work on my Saabs....top guys.
Tyres I'm still on these cheapo things for now but will probably fit some Kuhmo V70A's if I've got the cash when i get back to stage 6 or go for another set of Toyo R1R's like I had on the 9000 (good tyre & grip well in the summer/dry but not brilliant in the wet) A few guys use Conti Sport contact 3 and iirc Uniroyal Rainsport which seem a good tyre.
Ref the clamp, just get it from PFS mate, I came to the same conclusion as you and the Abbott ones just not worth the extra £100...put that towards the subframe brace instead. I'm not sure how essential the brace is on the 3/5 door cars but it's needed on the verts as the chassis is so bendy!! Made a nice difference to mine & reduced the horrible scuttle shake I used to get....still not perfect but miles better than before. Handlings pretty pants on these anyway...but they go like f
k on the A470 with a big turbo bolted on Good call with using SWSS, I've been going there around 7 years now & they've done all the work on my Saabs....top guys.
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