Henrik

iTrader: (5)

Needed a new work hack as the subaru used about 70 quids worth of fuel in four days back and forth to work

Was looking at little clio's, diesels etc, and then I came across this on ebay:


Saab 9000 2.3 full pressure turbo (remapped) Surprisingly it's not too bad on fuel so far, and that's with me giving it a bit of welly everywhere as well!

Allegedly, about 250 ponies, and it actually accelerates very, very well once rolling. Would certainly worry a standard new-age WRX at motorway speeds.

Full service history, interior in fantastic condition considering it's 12 years / 150000 miles, body work isn't mint, but for the age is great.

And the best part is the price... 475 quid with 12 months MOT Let's see how long the gearbox lasts

mrtheedge2u2

If you wanted fuel economy fit for the budget of a tramp I would not of thought a 9000 turbo was the way to go

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

I couldn't resist, I've had a thing for 9000 turbo since I was a kid

So far I'm loving it... It's friggin huge as well... I can comfortably sit in the back seat and be driven around, and I'm 6'3" and never fit into back seats - Limo style!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

J4CKO, Scoobynets resident Saab pervert here.

Very nice, I tried to buy Skinters one but he wouldnt sell it !

dome

Nice. I love the big 9000's. I've got a twin engined Aero just now. I say twin engined, there's a knackered one under the bonnet and a new one in the boot waiting to get fitted...

Have a look on some of the Saab sites for a thing called T5 suite. It's software that with the addition of a connector soldered onto the ecu, allows you to custom tune your own map via a laptop

ak47mh

Can see the appeal mate. How are you actually saving though which was your primary aim with the petrol costs? Surely you have two sets of running costs now and a car that is surely not that much better on fuel than the Subaru was?

Cheers,
Ant

skinters

oh - saab radar went off there!

henrik - what year is it? If it's a late / 1998 manual it might have the Aero engine (TD04 turbo only real difference). If so, there's an easy 300bhp waiting.

big long 5th gear means about 33mpg is achievable on a well looked after car and a light foot. Jacko doesnt believe me but I used to get that all the time on Stage 1-3. It went down a bit with bigger injectors.

plenty of endless tuning options! Don't forget to put in some optimax and then do an adaptation run to teach it who's boss! Will feel more sparkly after that.

Although you've 'only' 250bhp the mid torque on a remap is hefty and it's 1450kgs which is actually getting quite light these days!

Whose map is it?

Jacko - mine is still in pieces on the drive getting bits added! I should have left it at stage5... If it isn't broke dont fix it....

what would scooby do

yeah my old 93 Turbo's boost guage went into the red zone on V-power

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

Right, it's a 1996, and I've actually found out that it's a low pressure converted to a full pressure (i.e. it's had the boost controller valve thingiemybobby added and a remap). Never mind, apparently it's just the clutch and flywheel that are different anyway (apart from the solenoid).

It has the standard garret turbo on there at the moment (T25?), with a stage one saabflight remap and an ITG air filter. I might stick a td04 on there at some point, it should mate right up to the manifold, right? Not sure, though, as I don't really want it to turn into another scoob which I've thrown money at and now it's too hard core to use for commuting, although according to the maptun site, 295'ish bhp should be available without too much work even on a standard LPT, so might possibly go down this route at some point
The main problem is getting hold of used parts here in England... in Sweden there's a big saab scene, so getting hold of parts is easy, where-as here it's a case of buying everything new, it seems.
The maptun stages are explained here: Maptun Performance I'm not going for exactly that spec, but I'll probably get a similarily sized turbo and just have it mapped on it's own (don't like "stages" tuning)

However, at the moment I'm more than happy with the straight line performance. The main thing I want to do is really change all the bushes for fresh ones, as it feels a bit soggy to be honest Not in a massive rush to do it, though, but still. Powerflex do a front end kit with all the bushes for about 130 quid I think.

I've already found the t5suite as well, that's partly why I went for a saab and not a volvo t5 to be honest (Why oh why do I always chose cars with chocolate gearboxes??). Seems like a really cool project, and I'll definitely start tinkering with that at some point.

First up, however, is some general maintenance, e.g. brake pads etc. Also the turbo oil feed pipe looks a bit rusty, so I think I'll end up changing this sooner than later (i.e. before it breaks!).


Well, my subaru is really bad on fuel (no, honestly), plus it's mapped with a bottle of NF per tank. This means that I get about 200 miles out of 70-75 quids worth of fuel inc booster The saab hopefully does about twice that See, the problem is that when I had the scoob mapped, it was the second car, but then my wife wanted to start using our clio instead (the subaru used to be her little shopping trolley and my hobby), so the subaru became my "drive to work" car. At first, I didn't think it was too bad on fuel, but my god, it's really starting to hurt paying almost 100 quid a week to go to work in it

If the subaru can once again become the hobby car, it can go back to being driven about 3-4000 miles a year (this is what it has averaged over the past three years), and servicing etc will not kill me as badly (not to mention, the tyres will last a lot longer (the saab is on 16" so will be cheaper to replace too)). That way, I don't have to worry about the subaru being a pain in the **** to drive in traffic either, the saab is fantastic
I might even do a "swede" (i.e. this is what all swedish car enthusiasts do) and just have the subaru taxed over the summer months, as it gets all dirty and salty in winter anyway. Certainly will help if I don't have to pay 400 quid a year for a car that doesn't get used

Plus, for the next two years, I get paid to drive to our new offices anyway (70 miles round-trip), so hopefully I'll use less than 40p/mile for fuel and running costs for the saab, which can offset the extra insurance and tax on it.

skinters

ahh - good man

Stock T25 only good for 265 /270bhp - to get 295 it needs sent of and converted to increase the flow ££. But I think you know that anyway
TD04 will bolt straight on and good for 310bhp on a good day. Be sure to get the full water and oil line set with it as you can sink a LOT of cash into that bit of the conversion.

But all this costs a fair whack overall - maybe better to just fit 3" exhaust, map to stage3/ 270bhp and focus on handling as you'll end up in a hedge.

In fact just do the handling! You'll enjoy the power it has....

austinwrx

used to have a saab cab many years ago.

never saw better than 24 mpg.

good luck with yr economy drive !!!!!!

Kevin Mc

I'm using an old Saab 9-5 2.3LPT Auto (170BHP). Mines doing 33mpg (acutal) on the commute to work and back. £550 gets me 234BHP My old 9000 2.3 Auto did more like 29mpg on the same journey

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

Yeah I'm replacing the bushes on it, definitely. It feels plenty fast for a commuting-car to be honest. I'm gonna strip the front end down some weekend and scrape most of the rust off and treat the suspension bits as well. Not sure how much difference it will make in the long run, but it can't do any harm, surely.

The exhaust is rusty so when it goes, I'll probably replace it with a 3" turbo back thingy, but that's definitely in the future.

It wont be brilliant, but most of my miles will be motorway soon anyway, so shouldn't be too bad... If it gives 26-27 on the commute which is mostly motorway I'll be a happy chappy

skinters

For economy: (and power tbh)

New NGK BCR7ES plugs gapped to 1mm. the only plugs. Cheap.
New filters all round including fuel
Adaptation run. Check your uksaabs forum
V-power - better economy if you keep a light foot but costs more.
0W-40W syth oil
No boost, intake or exhaust leaks. Check all the little hoses for crumbling.
Engine temp sensors (coolant and air), lambda all happy campers.

If you still get below 30 with a light foot I will eat my hat.

dome

I'll second that. On a gentle motorway cruise (70 with cruise sontrol on) I managed to average 40mpg. More typically on an A road run with 3 up and 3 bikes in it(IN the car, no bike rack nonsense when you've this much space ) It'll average 30mpg with an enthusiastic right foot. 27 round town usually.

Saab Parts, Saab Spares and Accessories: online ordering, mail order parts, UK based site - PartsforSaabs are pretty good for bits, they even send you sweets with your order!

How's your upper engine mount? Bet it's goosed. Spend 50 quid on an uprated one, makes a big difference and a million times easier to fit than a standard one I've got polybushed wishbone mounts and anti-rollbar mounts too, feels nice and tight now.

Brian