Saab 9-3 SE Turbo.
Discussion
Hey dudes
After loosing a shedload of money on a 2011 9-3 aero TTID and then a clutch slave failure on the 9-5 aero I replaced it with I was left with a Saab shaped hole and a very small budget!
I managed to pick up this 2002 9-3 SE Turbo. It's still a 2.0L turbo but has the smaller "Light Pressure Turbo" Garret GT17 and only 150bhp/177lbft.
The previous owner had spend almost £3000 on maintenance in the 2 years he'd owned it and that included a Maptun stage 1 tuning box which he never installed as the instructions looked too complicated! LOL
Needless to say I had the Maptun map installed as soon as I got it back as 150bhp felt very pedestrian after the 260+bhp the 9-5 had! I was blown away by the change the map made to the 9-3!! It's power is now around the 225bhp mark and torque should be around the 250lb/ft, the speed of this thing now is about the same as the 9-5, the boost pressure is peaking at 20psi and the thing pulls like a train! LOL
It's in pretty decent shape for a 15 year old car with 155k miles on the clock. The interior looked like someone had walked through a coalmine before getting in so I cleaned all the carpets and then cleaned/treated the leather on the seats and doorcards.
This generation 9-3 suffer with arch corrosion and mine was showing signs of it so I took some basic remedial action. Luckily the corrosion was only on the outside and was actually caused by water being trapped underneath clear stick on arch protectors. I ground off the rust, treated the metal and then gave it several coats of Hammerite direct to rust, it's not pretty but it will do until I can sort the arches properly.
Overall the car is perfroming great, it was meant to be a cheap runner for the daily commute but I have a weirdly large level of enthusiasm for it and am keen on getting stuck in and turning it into something great.
I have the caliper carriers from a 9-5 aero so I can fit 310mm discs on the front and I also have a good, low mileage TDO4 turbo ready to go on. With another remap the TDO4 will take the car up to around 250bhp and around 280lb/ft which in the smaller, lighter 9-3 should make it nicely entertaining. Bigger 310mm front discs, beefier anti roll bars and a proper sort out of the arches will follow too.
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|https://thumbsnap.com/2ncNbFNE[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/XjS8NzD2[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/lljF75qp[/url]
After loosing a shedload of money on a 2011 9-3 aero TTID and then a clutch slave failure on the 9-5 aero I replaced it with I was left with a Saab shaped hole and a very small budget!
I managed to pick up this 2002 9-3 SE Turbo. It's still a 2.0L turbo but has the smaller "Light Pressure Turbo" Garret GT17 and only 150bhp/177lbft.
The previous owner had spend almost £3000 on maintenance in the 2 years he'd owned it and that included a Maptun stage 1 tuning box which he never installed as the instructions looked too complicated! LOL
Needless to say I had the Maptun map installed as soon as I got it back as 150bhp felt very pedestrian after the 260+bhp the 9-5 had! I was blown away by the change the map made to the 9-3!! It's power is now around the 225bhp mark and torque should be around the 250lb/ft, the speed of this thing now is about the same as the 9-5, the boost pressure is peaking at 20psi and the thing pulls like a train! LOL
It's in pretty decent shape for a 15 year old car with 155k miles on the clock. The interior looked like someone had walked through a coalmine before getting in so I cleaned all the carpets and then cleaned/treated the leather on the seats and doorcards.
This generation 9-3 suffer with arch corrosion and mine was showing signs of it so I took some basic remedial action. Luckily the corrosion was only on the outside and was actually caused by water being trapped underneath clear stick on arch protectors. I ground off the rust, treated the metal and then gave it several coats of Hammerite direct to rust, it's not pretty but it will do until I can sort the arches properly.
Overall the car is perfroming great, it was meant to be a cheap runner for the daily commute but I have a weirdly large level of enthusiasm for it and am keen on getting stuck in and turning it into something great.
I have the caliper carriers from a 9-5 aero so I can fit 310mm discs on the front and I also have a good, low mileage TDO4 turbo ready to go on. With another remap the TDO4 will take the car up to around 250bhp and around 280lb/ft which in the smaller, lighter 9-3 should make it nicely entertaining. Bigger 310mm front discs, beefier anti roll bars and a proper sort out of the arches will follow too.
[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/2ncNbFNE[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/XjS8NzD2[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/lljF75qp[/url]I had one of these, a 2001, one of my favourites in terms of cars i have owned, always seemed far faster than the 150 bhp it allegedly had, I went for a later model Aero next and it barely felt quicker, handled better but needed a remap to make it feel noticeably faster, spent another 8 grand and to be honest, preferred the previous one.
I used to own a 2011 9-3 ttid and this OG 9-3 is far better built, has more comfy seats and the autobox is far smoother and better shifting than the GM 6 speed auto my previous 9-3 had.
From what I've gathered the autobox I have in my 9-3 is limited to something around 280-300lb/ft so fitting the tdo4 and getting the map tweaked will be about as far as I can go power wise. But that doesn't bother me though as even on just the stage 1 map it's nicely entertaining and gave a mk5 golf r32 a very tough time! Lol.
I may fit either aftermarket or stock aero suspension but I'm undecided as my 66 mile a day commute is mostly over Oxfordshire's B roads and I'm finding the tall squishy suspension is helping handling.
From what I've gathered the autobox I have in my 9-3 is limited to something around 280-300lb/ft so fitting the tdo4 and getting the map tweaked will be about as far as I can go power wise. But that doesn't bother me though as even on just the stage 1 map it's nicely entertaining and gave a mk5 golf r32 a very tough time! Lol.
I may fit either aftermarket or stock aero suspension but I'm undecided as my 66 mile a day commute is mostly over Oxfordshire's B roads and I'm finding the tall squishy suspension is helping handling.
These are odd cars for me, I really want to like them and owned a 2001 9-3 Aero HOT coupe for a few months back in 2008.
Not too bad in a straight line, but dynamically comically bad. Light years behind a 3 series of the same vintage IMO.
They are cheap though, I paid a grand for a 7 year old range topper at the time.
Not too bad in a straight line, but dynamically comically bad. Light years behind a 3 series of the same vintage IMO.
They are cheap though, I paid a grand for a 7 year old range topper at the time.
I find all the torque steer etc just makes it entertaining! Lol.
I don't drive it very fast all that often to be honest, I prefer to just waft my way to and from work and I've found all 3 Saabs have been amazingly "wafty".
I do like having power though, I like being able to rip past that lorry followed by 4 cars that refuse to attempt and overtake (it happens a lot!) and I also like being to dispose of morons in Kias who sit up your back bumper because their car is new and has daytime lights and is therefore superior! Lol
I don't drive it very fast all that often to be honest, I prefer to just waft my way to and from work and I've found all 3 Saabs have been amazingly "wafty".
I do like having power though, I like being able to rip past that lorry followed by 4 cars that refuse to attempt and overtake (it happens a lot!) and I also like being to dispose of morons in Kias who sit up your back bumper because their car is new and has daytime lights and is therefore superior! Lol
gazmk2 said:
I find all the torque steer etc just makes it entertaining! Lol.
I don't drive it very fast all that often to be honest, I prefer to just waft my way to and from work and I've found all 3 Saabs have been amazingly "wafty".
I do like having power though, I like being able to rip past that lorry followed by 4 cars that refuse to attempt and overtake (it happens a lot!) and I also like being to dispose of morons in Kias who sit up your back bumper because their car is new and has daytime lights and is therefore superior! Lol
I've a 9-3 Aero at the minute and the above is precisely why...I don't drive it very fast all that often to be honest, I prefer to just waft my way to and from work and I've found all 3 Saabs have been amazingly "wafty".
I do like having power though, I like being able to rip past that lorry followed by 4 cars that refuse to attempt and overtake (it happens a lot!) and I also like being to dispose of morons in Kias who sit up your back bumper because their car is new and has daytime lights and is therefore superior! Lol
One the way to work this morning, stuck behind a row of four cars dawdling behind a tractor, mines a manual so I dropped a couple of gears, let the torque steer pull me to the other side of the road and then proceeded to overtake the lot of them.
Are you on UKSaabs? Saabnoob is the resident t7 tuner on there, well worth a quick PM to see about a live mapping session when the td04's fitted. How much do Maptun charge for a 2nd remap? Had the Maptun stage 3 on my old 9000 Aero when I bought it, kept hitting fuel cut so got it off a few days later then had Faero to remap it wth t5 suite.
Worth looking at a 3" DP if your fitting the TD04 and go straight to stage 3. Not sure if you need a 3.5bar fpr though. My old 9-3 Vert was a 2000 (t5) car with stage 1 map. Really liked it & spent a load sorting the handling on that thing!
22mm rear arb is a good mod, Viggen Rescue kit from Abbotts is good but expensive:
http://www.abbottsaab.com/product/viggen-rescue-ki...
I made my own up from different places and saved a few quid (AR add vat to prices and shipping so gets expensive)
6 point subframe brace from ebay (Abbotts is 2 point)
Polly TCA's from Neos
Spherical bearing kit (AR)
PFS steering rack brace (£100 vs AR £200)
Then fully pollubushed it & fitted AR springs with Bilstein B8 dampers ££££
You probably know about the bulkhead issues on these? The steering rack brace/clamp helps with the vague steering, subframe brace cuts down on scuttle shake (more prominent on the verts though)
Worth looking at a 3" DP if your fitting the TD04 and go straight to stage 3. Not sure if you need a 3.5bar fpr though. My old 9-3 Vert was a 2000 (t5) car with stage 1 map. Really liked it & spent a load sorting the handling on that thing!
22mm rear arb is a good mod, Viggen Rescue kit from Abbotts is good but expensive:
http://www.abbottsaab.com/product/viggen-rescue-ki...
I made my own up from different places and saved a few quid (AR add vat to prices and shipping so gets expensive)
6 point subframe brace from ebay (Abbotts is 2 point)
Polly TCA's from Neos
Spherical bearing kit (AR)
PFS steering rack brace (£100 vs AR £200)
Then fully pollubushed it & fitted AR springs with Bilstein B8 dampers ££££
You probably know about the bulkhead issues on these? The steering rack brace/clamp helps with the vague steering, subframe brace cuts down on scuttle shake (more prominent on the verts though)
Hey dude.
Yeah I'm also on UKSaabs (same username) I'm not sure about doing the whole 3" downpipe thing on this as I'm pretty sure just a TDO4 on a stage 1 map will see me at the upper end of the torque limit on the auto. I don't want to change to manual as my left leg is utterly spannered, my old manual 9-5 was utter purgatory at times! LOL
This being the last year they made this shape it has additional factory bracing so no bulkhead issues to worry about, also being auto the torque steer is far less than a manual.
I'm not sure how much Maptun would charge to tweak the map, I'd suspect quite a bit more than Karl charges! Once the TD04 is on I'll get hold of Karl and see what he suggests to do next. I can fit an external oil cooler to keep the gearbox a bit happier but I don't think that will raise any torque handling limits though.
It should be all good still though as 95% of the time i'm in full lazy boy cruise mode so it's not like the car gets a hammering every journey.
Yeah I'm also on UKSaabs (same username) I'm not sure about doing the whole 3" downpipe thing on this as I'm pretty sure just a TDO4 on a stage 1 map will see me at the upper end of the torque limit on the auto. I don't want to change to manual as my left leg is utterly spannered, my old manual 9-5 was utter purgatory at times! LOL
This being the last year they made this shape it has additional factory bracing so no bulkhead issues to worry about, also being auto the torque steer is far less than a manual.
I'm not sure how much Maptun would charge to tweak the map, I'd suspect quite a bit more than Karl charges! Once the TD04 is on I'll get hold of Karl and see what he suggests to do next. I can fit an external oil cooler to keep the gearbox a bit happier but I don't think that will raise any torque handling limits though.
It should be all good still though as 95% of the time i'm in full lazy boy cruise mode so it's not like the car gets a hammering every journey.
Well, I figured I should maybe update this! LOL
So to start with, these cars suffer with developing sludge in the sump, this is caused by crap quality hoses usewd in the crankcase ventilation system and they break down on the inside depositing lumps of rubber in the sump.
The only cure is to take the sump off, scrape the gunk out, clean the strainer and then replace the entire PCV kit with a new updated type that does not perish. Once done you'll never see sludge again!
I had suspicions my car was sludged up as on a cold start I could hear a whine which sounded a lot like a struggling oil pump so I decided to drop the sump and do as I just said above, this is what I found;
holy rubber balls Batman!!;
After a good scrape N clean!
Sump back on and sealed using a non-silicone sealant (there was lumps of silicon in the sump too!
So to start with, these cars suffer with developing sludge in the sump, this is caused by crap quality hoses usewd in the crankcase ventilation system and they break down on the inside depositing lumps of rubber in the sump.
The only cure is to take the sump off, scrape the gunk out, clean the strainer and then replace the entire PCV kit with a new updated type that does not perish. Once done you'll never see sludge again!
I had suspicions my car was sludged up as on a cold start I could hear a whine which sounded a lot like a struggling oil pump so I decided to drop the sump and do as I just said above, this is what I found;
holy rubber balls Batman!!;
After a good scrape N clean!
Sump back on and sealed using a non-silicone sealant (there was lumps of silicon in the sump too!
Next up was something a bit more fun...bigger turbo! LOL
I removed the original Garret GT17 and found that the compressor wheel had a lot of lateral play, there was also evidence of it hitting the compressor housing and it looked like a chunk of blade had snapped off and rattled round in there! Either way it explains why the turbo was fairly vocal!
Got the new Mitsubishi TD04-15T installed, I had to swap over the coolant and oil lines too which was a little tricky at times! LOL This turbo is standard fit on the 205bhp aero models and is good for almost 300bhp.
Pile of bits I removed
Next up was to remove the ECU and send it off to Karl who does the well renowned Noobtune maps for an aero stage 1 map. This gives around 250bhp and around 270-280lb/ft of torque. The car is a different car to drive now, much less punchy in 1st and 2nd gear but pulls like a train in 3rd! Mine being a 4 speed auto 3rd gear goes from 70-100mph!
Here is a quick 60-90, well, more of a 65-95 but I make that just under 5 seconds?
https://youtu.be/lxRCxRzyRlA
Next up will be a lower stance as it's on stilts right now, bigger brakes from the aero and then a 3" dowmpipe and upgraded I/C followed by a Noobtune stage 3 map (280bhp and near 300lb/ft)
Amazingly i'm also getting 450+ miles from a £70 tank of super, all on B roads on my commute to work!
I removed the original Garret GT17 and found that the compressor wheel had a lot of lateral play, there was also evidence of it hitting the compressor housing and it looked like a chunk of blade had snapped off and rattled round in there! Either way it explains why the turbo was fairly vocal!
Got the new Mitsubishi TD04-15T installed, I had to swap over the coolant and oil lines too which was a little tricky at times! LOL This turbo is standard fit on the 205bhp aero models and is good for almost 300bhp.
Pile of bits I removed
Next up was to remove the ECU and send it off to Karl who does the well renowned Noobtune maps for an aero stage 1 map. This gives around 250bhp and around 270-280lb/ft of torque. The car is a different car to drive now, much less punchy in 1st and 2nd gear but pulls like a train in 3rd! Mine being a 4 speed auto 3rd gear goes from 70-100mph!
Here is a quick 60-90, well, more of a 65-95 but I make that just under 5 seconds?
https://youtu.be/lxRCxRzyRlA
Next up will be a lower stance as it's on stilts right now, bigger brakes from the aero and then a 3" dowmpipe and upgraded I/C followed by a Noobtune stage 3 map (280bhp and near 300lb/ft)
Amazingly i'm also getting 450+ miles from a £70 tank of super, all on B roads on my commute to work!
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