480 bhp and 1360 kg Saab 9000 Aero

[HybridAero]

After acquiring my first Saab in 2015, a 2002 9-5 Aero, I quickly began tuning it and it became really addictive (and financially crippling!).

Detailed in a thread that some of you are familiar with, I took it from stock to stage 5, around 340 bhp and 388 lb ft, which was fantastic fun.

Here's the 9-5 build thread:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

The plan was to eventually take it to 500 bhp with supporting mods. Well that was the plan.

A friend from UKSaabs posted his 1995 480 bhp 9000 Aero for sale which had been used on track quite extensively, but had an insane amount of upgrades.

Luckily the owner had followed the build of my 9-5 and was looking for a rapid daily driver, so a deal was made!

Last wash of the 9-5 was pretty emotional but the excitement helped!



The 9000 feels so much more retro and is actually more practical being a hatchback rather than a saloon.

Going from a 19t turbo to a Garrett GT3071r has been really interesting. While the GT30 is very laggy in comparison, when it kicks in it goes hard, and I mean HARD. It's massively addictive so as you can tell I'm on



Bye bye 9-5, you will be sorely missed! The quest for more power beckons though..



Spec list and more pics as follows:

Engine rebored to just under 2.4L (Sutton Rebore)

3000 mile old rebuild - all new timing, oil pump, seals, shells, bearings etc.

Wossner pistons

Balanced B234 rods

Balanced crank/flywheel

ARP Studs

Maptun 268 Cams

Baffled deep sump

Custom large plenum intake Mani (perhaps this is what gives it a Ferrari-esque engine note? )video to follow)

Tubular Manifold

Garrett GT3071r turbo with braided lines

Tial 38mm External wastegate

Walbro 255 pump

Forge dump valve

Oversize ITG filter

Uprated alloy radiator (40% thicker)

60mm Allard intercooler

630cc siemens injectors

3 bar map sensor

Running approx. 444hp and 420ftlbs at the hubs (480 at the fly) at 1.6bar but will happily push over 500 if boost and ignition is pushed.

Poly bushed

3" V-banded downpipe and JT exhaust

Gearbox and transmission

Rebuilt box with shot peened and cryogenic treated 4.45 gearset and longer 9-5 5th.

Quaife LSD

Circlip and dowel strengthening mod

2004 crush sleeve

All new bearings

Millers CFS LS 75-140 NT oil

New driveshaft tripods

New SKF CV joints

New intermediate bearing

Lightweight flywheel 5.5kg

Poly bushed

Auber Temperature sensor / gauge

Sachs uprated clutch cover, Cg motorsport solid paddle friction plate, braided hose, uprated modified clutch master cylinder (ensures cleaner disengagement)

2k mile Bilstein B6/8 custom coilovers

SAS anti roll bars front rear

350lb front coilover conversions (adjustable height)

600lb rear coilovers (adjustable height)

New SKF wheel bearing

Poly bushed

AP Racing 330mm calipers

Reyland front discs

Abbott racing rear discs

Ferodo DS3000 pads all round



Braided lines all round

ABS removed

OZ Superleggera 17X7.5J

2 sets:
Road tyres - Nankang NS2R

Track tyres - Michelin slicks

Full Aero interior:



Alpine Ezi-Dab with amp, gain controller and front speakers only - can't seem to work this out, anyone got or used one of these?

330mm flocked Nardi steering wheel with Driftworks snap-off boss

Auber digital gauges / programmable: Oil pressure, Water Temp, Gearbox Temp.

Afr gauge

Knock led

All in custom made carbon panels

Abbott triangulated/bolted rear strut brace

Maptun lightweight alloy front strut brace

Car lightened throughout - Weighs 1360 kg with full interior

Where the magic happens:





Future plans are to take this to a Vmax event, race some supercars and also as the LSD in in a separate supplied gearbox, take that out and fit it in the current box. Also could do with some bodywork tidying up. Might apply rust protection treatment at some stage.

Other than that, possibly a trip to the Nürburgring, Santa Pod and Street Racers Rolling Road Tuning for a dyno sesh.

Edited by HybridAero on Sunday 1st October 13:34

[HybridAero]

Thanks both, unfortunately stock wheels won't fit over these brakes.

Yes I will probably remove the towing eye at some point.

It's savage but actually quite a relaxing drive, turbo is basically fast asleep at sane speeds. Poke it with a stick though and it's like a big angry bear!

Like piloting an SR71 Blackbird

[HybridAero]

xjay1337 said:

Very retro indeed.

Yes lots of little quirks and features.

This is arguably the best:

[HybridAero]

Scobblelotcher said:

Awesome build! I followed the previous thread as well.

In what gear are you able to go full power? Also has it ever been timed? I’m curious of the numbers as I’d imagine it takes careful application if the throttle to get it launched well.

If you ever record it I’d love to hear how it sounds! ??

A lot done to it! The intake plenum is my favourite part.

You need to be in 3rd to go full power.

2nd is silly, just hops to the redline instantaneously.

Not timed yet no, I will make some acceleration vids but need to find a decent phone mount, can't find one anywhere as the speedometer is in an awkward place.

Would like to try a Vbox to time it from 0-100 mph, 100-200 km/h etc but couldn't justify buying one. Wonder if anyone on here has one they could lend me in exchange for a small fee?

Edited by HybridAero on Monday 2nd October 02:19

[HybridAero]

akirk said:

Is that still front-wheel drive?!
My standard 2.3 turbo 9000 of the same age would torque steer in virtually every gear - so I hate to think of the challenges with that much extra power!
but what an awesome car

Yes it is, I really need to fit the LSD to give it half a chance! The suspension is heavily reworked which I guess helps with the traction and there isn't any torque steer, just lots of wheelspin!

[HybridAero]

madwrx said:

if you were looking for better drivabillity and possible 570-580bhp (maybe more) top end, you could change the old 71 compressor wheel for a gtx3071r wheel
.these basically are a lighter amd much more efficient wheel.
the front housing will need machining for the taller compressor wheel which is pretty standard upgrade work for most turbo companies -
if your feeling flush the whole CHRA can be bought to up grade to a ball bearing centre as well and maybe the newest 9 blade turbine wheel.

compared to an old school 3071 the gtx core will pull into the boost threshhold quicker and make the same power with lower boost. the larger wheel flows more air per revolution- good upgrade imo -

my own turbo is having a 3076 gtx CHRA being fitted at the moment to replace the noisy chra in my bb turbo.i should be able to give some feedback after its fitted-

I've been told this GT3071r is a ball bearing turbo, but the reason it doesn't spool up quickly is due to the 0.86 exhaust (plus point of this being better top end; 0.64 would be faster spool up but less top end).

Better low end driveability would be excellent though as you can't make fast progress using the bottom half of the rev counter like you could with the 19t.

[HybridAero]

Steve93 said:

Is this Faeros old car from UKS?

I'm sure I saw the for sale ad

That's correct, bought it off the guy who bought off him. Had a look at the build thread but all the old photos are gone thanks to Photobucket.

[HybridAero]

akirk said:

google search on "firefox photobucket fix" there are plugins for firefox which will show you the photos... the photobucket issue is generally that the photos are still on photobucket, just not showing embedded on a 3rd party website - unless the owner has removed them they should still be in the original account...

You sir are a genius, that's my evening sorted thanks!

[HybridAero]

Penguinracer said:

The Garret GTX 3071R has been updated - there's a Generation II GTX3071R.

Yes I heard that the Gen 2 have better flow than before. The lag on this leaves a lot to be desired! Nothing, nothing, nothing, bang!!

[HybridAero]

Acceleration is sprightly shall we say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc_CvBCLCfc

100-200 km/h was approx 8.5 seconds although would need a Vbox to confirm that.

[HybridAero]

griffin dai said:

Good buy (a LOT of blood, sweat & tears gone into that one!!!) loads of history on the car/tuning side in the UKS projects forum when Faero had it.

How are you finding the gt30 vs the old 19t? When I upgraded from the gt28rs to gt30 it was fun for a bit but the extra lag got on my nerves after a while, but that was a larger gt3076r and a fair bit more laggy than yours. Didn't really get going until 70 ish....things went bat st crazy above here though, like a jet taking off!

Been reading the thread, yeh an insane amount of work, not much else out there like it!

I now understand what you mean about these bigger turbos (having never experienced one before).

For example, if I'm in a 60 wanting to overtake a tractor doing 20, 2nd is basically useless so I need 3rd, and there's no boost until 60!

So in a scenario like the above, the 19t is a much quicker car.

The 76 must be outrageous, I guess the 268 cams on this must help at the top end as well as the 0.86 exhaust housing.

[HybridAero]

[HybridAero]

madwrx said:

hmm you definately need something with some modern billet internals-even my sc54 which is a 570 brake turbo has some positive boost at 2000 rpm on my 2.1 litre ej20.
although during my engine rebuild i had approx 9-1 compression which is night and day difference with the off/low boost torque- the cams and general build will massively dictate how the car drives on and off boost .
certainly remember my own 3071 being quite laggy on my last 2.0 forged classic impreza, 4000rpm then bang 250 bhp added in a few hundred rpm lol.
i,m quite surprised a 2.4 does,nt spool a 3071 for fun. A 2.5 litre impreza with standard cams would come on boost at 3000 easily with full boost before 3500 imo ....dont forget thats with 10 feet of exhaust piping before it reaches the turbine lol

Hmm maybe the more aggressive cams as a trade off affect low end driveability?

[HybridAero]

Scobblelotcher said:

Awesome build! I followed the previous thread as well.

If you ever record it I’d love to hear how it sounds! ??

Thanks!

Sound as requested

https://youtu.be/Lc_CvBCLCfc

[HybridAero]

Scobblelotcher said:

Yikes that’s quick! Is it as quiet as it sounds in the video?

It's quieter than it could be due to the exhaust system which apparently has a slight muffler effect (will get pics when it's next off the ground).

But get the revs past 5k and singing towards 7k in 3rd and 4th and it feels like this lol



Friend of mine has some proper camera equipment so should be able to capture the sound better later this week.

[HybridAero]

strummerville said:

Do you have any 9-5 Aero manual gearboxes left over from the previous build? I’m looking for one for my Dame Edna. I tried a PM but think the email is a bit old.

Cheers

Hi m8 i emailed back unfortunately I don't have any as they went to the new owner. If you search for James Vey on the Saab Nuts Facebook group he's always breaking Saabs and is only in Hinckley.

[HybridAero]

wormus said:

Interesting choice & not many nice ones about anymore. Watching with interest!

Thanks! Yes only around 170 left registered according to How Many Left:



I'd like to give it a full respray in dark green at some point.

[HybridAero]

Immediate plans are as follows:

- Full service
- New brake light, rear left door and front wings off a breaker car
- Brake caliper respray in black
- New OZ centre cap for front right wheel
- Remove towing strap
- Remove stickers
- Churchill dog for the rear parcel shelf
- Meet the previous owner for a mapping session as AFR is reading too high at WOT in 3rd (running too lean)
- Powerful rear speakers (currently no speakers in rear)

Longer term:

- Get LSD installed
- OMP flocked steering wheel
- Sparco Evo 3 bucket seats
- Willans harnesses

Bucket list:

- Quaife 6 speed gearbox (dogbox)
- (or) 4WD conversion
- Full concourse bare metal respray in black

Edited by HybridAero on Monday 9th October 20:01

[HybridAero]

madwrx said:

your not usually talking about n/a car type race cams though -turbo grinds just tend to flow more right through the range and are likely to improve spool if anything- my own car is just a bit iffy on idle(just as likely to be non standard inlet sizes) but just hauls as normal after 2krpm -mine is on 272 fast road jobbies. sound like you would benefit from mapping or a more precise aftermarket ecu...

the guy who mapped my syvecs spent literally only 25minutes doing the power phase of the map 3800 to 7700rpm redline butttt spent the next 3 hours getting the idle and low rev spool and drivabillity spot on ,it really does take a good time to optomise it all.

i can fully appreciate where you are though- the previous engine that went pop -had incorrectly timed cams and a piss poor map and it was literally like a switch had been turned on at 4100rpm.
made it impossible to drive in top gear under 85mph,,, it was flat as a pan .

i do have to say your standard dash boost gauge was making boost at circa 3krpm though

Yeh will get a proper live mapping session done soon. True it does hit full boost just over 3k which isn't much later than the 19t; I guess it helps being a ball bearing turbo.

Here's some vids by the previous owner..

Thrashing it around Blyton Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqsAjI36p2I

Gearbox blowing up at Snetterton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIftka86p8Q

Scaring his mate silly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqQbZzhKVDg

Dyno where it made 462 bhp 490 lb ft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCxnMLKX7T0

[HybridAero]

New oil arrived ready for a service.



Having spoken to a friend about the rust concerns we're going to make fibreglass boot, bonnet and front wings. This combined with rear seat removal and bucket seats will make this a sub 1200 kg car!